Sheepdog News

Amanda: Soldier Hollow, Day Three

The weather has cooled off entirely. Much of today was overcast with the odd sprinkling moisture (that’s how rain is measured in the desert). The dog running was fascinating, the sheep big show girls, without asking so many pointed questions as showing flat disdain for the dogs. It made it fun.

Dorey was the earliest high roller, with an adorable go around the course. With five full minutes at the pen, I could not put them in. Who knows how far you could have gone with Lavon Calzacorta at the trigger. What grips would have been tolerated? I tried every trick in the book, short of calling on Dorey to really shift them, and they never budged. She held an 82 without the pen, which turned out to be just enough to carry her into the final. Barbara Ray laid one down with Stella that scored her finalist status, and Bev delivered with Nan, scoring a ninety. Howell had qualified the day before but ran real well anyway, scoring an 88. The running was thrilling to execute, with good timing and canine authority rewarded at every turn. They sheep were devilish at the pen.

Allen Mills, of Texas, had one of the most memorable runs in the preliminaries. Sis, at ten years old, has had a brilliant career and now a long one to boot. She picks every sweet spot at the end of flanks and gives a perfect amount of ground to leave sheep relaxed within her turns. What a wonderful partner she has been for Allen, and I look forward to watching her at the next two trials. She didn’t quite pen, which cost her a spot on the final day.

Tomorrow the double lift Finals.

BevLive: Solider Hollow, Day Three

The quality of this day was fully revealed to me at its conclusion, when I had a really good run with Nan to qualify her for the final. It’s tough waiting until the end of the day to run, but it gave me an opportunity to watch many strategies on the course and make my own plans. Happily, it worked out.

Amanda ran early in the day and had a great run but no pen. Barbara ran in the mid-afternoon and did great, managing a perfect pen for an 85. Scott and Don won the day with 91. Ron Enzeroth and Mick had a good go they didn’t need, since they were already in, coming second. Nan was third. Dennis Gellings and Tess were the fifth team to qualify.

We’re all dinner now at the Zermatt. The running starts at 8:00 tomorrow. I can hardly wait. Good times.

BevLive: Solider Hollow, Day Two

Disappointing day for me and a few other people. Nan was up first and was great. Alas, she had a sheep that wanted to fight and kept attacking her. In spite of this we managed to get everything but only scored a 72 for 7th place. Nan was sure good. I’m really proud of her.

Amanda had more luck with Howell drawing a reasonable group and doing a good job with them.

Ran Joe at the end of the day and the best we could manage was a 74 for 5th place.

So that’s Amanda and me, each in with one. We will get another chance to get our second dogs in tomorrow. Amanda runs in the morning and I run near the end.

Amanda: Soldier Hollow, Day 1

The first day at Soldier Hollow is a quiet one. Only several hundred spectators. Handlers getting their feet on the ground, resting from the long commutes. The sheep were tall, racey and naive. They make great study for dog handlers as they expose so much about the dogs. Every wrong move. Every scaredy cat eventually is exposed on sheep like these. Every missing confidence. Many caved at the end of their runs with altitude wrecking their stamina. The heat in the afternoon, while not as as blistering as it can be, was harsh, compared to the chill of he early mornings.

Dorey’s fetch was good but argumentative with her sheep after a gratifying outrun. Timing killed the driveaway panel with sheep bolting up the drive and missing narrowly to the outside. I might have been OK with that, but not with the two minutes required to return the shed sheep to the ring for the march to the pen, where I couldn’t finish. She was seventh or eighth, not among the five guaranteed a spot on the final day. Her next run is Sunday morning–onward.

Louanne Twa, a last minute entry on a cancellation, rose up to the top for winning the day with 83 points. Her dog was forward and free, a skillful sheep manager and all round good looking representative for the Canadian flag.

We barbecued some King salmon and got some sleep.

BevLive: Soldier Hollow, Day 1

Exhausting day. I think the combination of altitude, heat, and tension, and I’m worn out.

The running was pretty good all day, although heat and wind diminished success during chunks of the day. We ran until almost 7:00 and the sheep seemed very sweet in the still, cool of the early evening. Of course, the sheep always look better for everyone else.

Bill Berhow started the day with quite a good run, scoring 74 and ultimately becoming the 5th place qualifier. The top five from each day qualify for the double lift. In the middle of the day I had a good run with Joe, scoring 79. My triumph was short lived though, as Tom Wilson with Meg and Luanne Twa with Gus both quickly bested me with 83s.

This remained the leader board until Ron Enzeroth and Mick had a smoking run, scoring 80 with no pen.

Barb Ray and Maverick ran very well but failed to pen out of the placings by a point. Amanda and Dorey got on well but missed a drive panel when her sheep took off running after the turn. That coupled with a failed pen just barely kept them off the leader board. They will both get another try and their dogs are running well, so they should have no problem next time.

I’m really pleased to have a dog through to the final. I’m up first in the morning with Nan. I hope it works for us.

BevLive: the calm before the storm

This was what they used to call a “make and mend day” in the navy. We did nothing. Visited with friends, had a great lunch with friends. Sat around with friends. Nice to see friends.

Lovely dinner at Sundance about which I have nothing more to say. Running begins in the morning more news then.

Amanda: extreme sheepdogging

Extreme sheepdog handling

I got up first and fired up the cafe. Our gang rode to the training field at Arvada in near darkness. Deer and antelope asked to be struck by our vehicles. No Wendy today on horse back, but we didn’t need her. Joni drove us to a second entrance to our practice field and said we could gather here. I asked where the sheep were, and I wouldn’t have seen them if she had not pointed them out. The dogs certainly didn’t see them. They were camouflaged against a very distant fence and in between were multiple crevasses and rough stuff, with many dips out of sight before any brave gatherer could reach sheep. “I want to try that!” The whole experience was dialed up off the radar. Dorey and Howell made it with a couple of redirects. We didn’t mostly bring them but returned them to the set out after the lift. All the dogs got expanded imaginations after the experience and new trust in redirection. What a test. The young ones drove a little more. By the time we took our turns, the hot weather returned and put the kibosh on more. I would have loved to have been there all day in the cool. Sublime.

We left Clearmont for points south. The country was wide open, vistas twenty kilometres distant. Buffalo, Casper, where I lost Roz many years ago, Rawlins, overnighting in Rock Springs, with a final ride through the red canyons, for Soldier Hollow early this morning.

Let the games begin.

BevLive: the early bird catches the sheep

Dennis and I got an early start working our dogs this morning, beating the heat. Open dogs worked terribly. I was ready to head home until my young dog cheered me up. Good to get the bad work out of the way before the main event.

Left Dennis’s at 9:09 intending to spend the night in western Wyoming. However, when I got to Utah there was plenty of daylight left and I drove on to Soldier Hollow.



Good to get where I was going. The parking is already half full with friends. Did some visiting and dog walking. Nothing too exciting. Mostly a day of driving with another 650 miles under our wheels. I have all day tomorrow to rest up before the running begins Friday. Very hot here when I arrived, in the 90s. I sure hope it cools off.

Amanda: a dog-centric day

A dog-centric day

Joni woke me up, eager for her latte and an early start to use the cool of the day for the dog work. The coffee was not disappointing. and neither was the dog work. Joni had sixty fresh yearling finewools. Her neighbour Wendy Auzqui brought her horse and spotted on horse back, boon to the the eastern Nursery dogs who had never encountered such a thing. Quark, who is becoming confident, had several WTF moments, the horse and the range finewools combining to dispense with all her ideas of proper manners and convention. Zola thought she saw the devil in the horse. An invaluable training session, courtesy Joni Tietjen. Epiphanies left and right. The young dogs running with their eyes and mouths wide open, to take it all in. What a morning. The heat arrived and called an end to all reasonable ambitions with the dogs, and we drove back to Clearmont from Arvada. The dogs had a river swim in the Clear Creak that feeds the Powder River and miles of irrigated ground before it gets to the Powder. We went to Sheridan for lunch, supplies, and a stroll through the Dan King Rope Museum, with more antique saddles than anywhere else. Among the saddle collection were many side saddles, in which I take an interest. The shop, attached to a museum, produces most of North America’s rodeo ropes. Dan King is a celebrated Sheridan resident with a festival named in his honour. Later, it was Mexican, in Basque Buffalo with Auzquis and Tietjens, and dreams of running more worldly dogs, early tomorrow morning.

BevLive: Sundance with sheepdogs instead of pretentious cinephiles

Editor’s Note: Welcome back, Bev!


Days of driving, best forgotten if I’m ever to make the trip again, have finally brought me to my friend’s home in Sundance, Wyoming. Dennis and Marlene Edwards have kindly put me up for the day to allow my dogs and me to adjust to both the increased altitude and the western sheep before we arrive at Soldier Hollow for the first competition of this adventure.

I’ve brought four dogs with me. I have Nan and Joe entered in all of the Open trials. My very young, 17 months, nursery dog Lee is along as well for some learning and a try at the nursery finals. The fourth dog on the trip is River, my third Open dog, an emergency back up in case something awful happens and I can’t run one of my principle dogs.

Dennis kindly rounded up some sheep for us in the morning, and we worked dogs for a couple of hours. Dennis has some great dogs, well accustomed to western sheep and able to handle any old ewe who comes their way. As an easterner, I much admire both his skill and his dog’s nonchalant approach to the western range ewes. I love working these big challenging sheep, but every time I come out here my dogs and I need a refresh on dog trailing western style. So lucky for us that Dennis offered one.

I was last here in May when Lee was running in her first trials. We stopped here and along with other friends all worked our young dogs. It was wonderful to see how much Lee has learned in the intervening three months. She’s still making mistakes but now looks like a real dog.

I love how I can drive 2,000 miles and my dogs still make the same mistakes! Oh well, I’ll work them again tomorrow before we go on to Utah and hope that in the night all their shortcomings miraculously disappeared.