Sheepdog News

Amanda: Meeker, Day Three

The qualifying wound up today.

Dorey made it in with a whopping 54. She stayed with her sheep to her credit, who [ut on their racing shoes for her run. I made it to the ring in the fastest time but nothing was good except the the salvation of the ten point pen. It does not matter, as tomorrow is a new day and anything goes.

Bev made it in with two. She was her cheeriest self as a result. Most of the running was not very good. Grips were called freely and these are the sort of sheep that invite grips. so not that many runs got off the ground, which is a grave disappointment for those here to watch some dog running.

I went with a gang to Avery Lake, twenty miles south of Meeker, and swam the dogs. The incline to the water was steep and long. While we were fishing and hanging out, a thunderstorm approached from the west, I was nervous for Dorey who can be spooked by them and climbed up the hill, back to the truck, in a hurry, reminiscent of the Von Trapp family climbing into the alps. I know it was good for me, but I was out of breath all the same. We call that SOB, at the office.

Tonight was the handlers dinner, where a coin toss game was won by Mich Ferraro. She won three hundred and some dollars as the last person standing, which caused great excitement for our table.

I run twelfth tomorrow, so before lunch which is nice. Dorey’s qualifying score is low, but she is running well.

BevLive: Meeker, Day Three

Heather just reminded me I am supposed to be blogging. I got caught up in the trial and forgot.

The running has been extremely difficult. It isn’t so much that the sheep fight as that they stand and face the dog. Individuals are happy to leave the group and go solo or to take off for the hills with the bunch. About the only thing they don’t want to do is walk around in front of the dog.

The outrun is in excess of 500 yards with the gathers often taking 6 or 7 minutes. The turn around the post can easily take two minutes and in some unfortunate cases even longer. As each day has progressed this has all occurred in the hot sun with a strong wind. It’s a great dog trial but very hard. It’s not uncommon for the sheep to be 100 yards off the fetch line.

Dave Imas had a great run this morning. His dog made the sheep happy to mosey around the course. They made the near impossible look easy. Joe and I ran in the late morning. The sheep were very disrespectful and Joe was not amused. He was a very good boy, though. He likes to take charge on the top end. An issue we often fight over. On this occasion I let him have his head and he did nice work, getting the sheep to the fetch gates on a reasonable path. The rest of our run was pretty good and we ended up 4th with no pen. I chickened in the face of a fight between him and one of the ewes who’d been trying him for twelve minutes, a fight I knew he’d win and I would lose. I opted for the coward’s path and didn’t really try for the pen.

So Amanda and Dorey are in with a very fast and dramatic run from yesterday. I’m in with Joe and Nan. Nan ran very well, first up yesterday. Tonight is the handler’s dinner where we will draw our spots for the semi final. Thirty of us run tomorrow for twelve slots in Sunday’s double lift. Wish us luck.

Amanda: Meeker, Day 1

The drive from Vernal was dotted with carcasses on the road–mostly skunks, big and small. They attracted small bands of crows and magpies, snacking between passing vehicles, the sun was bright and the Kenny Reservoir was cool and blue. All of the drive was unusually green. Must have been that downpour that soaked Wyoming on the way out. Even the trial field at Meeker was green.

I had a dull day tidying and doing housework. In the evening, Joni Swanke and Howards cooked us a fabulous steak and lamb supper. Everyone was catching up up on the latest. Mostly dog reports, but sometimes the talk strayed.

The much anticipated trial was something of a let down with fifty percent of the dogs disqualified. Monty among them. We went for a swim at the icy White River, this year, full of water.

I run Howell and Dorey tomorrow, but really we have hardly got to see any dog running so it hasn’t been that interesting.

Amanda: Solider Hollow, Double Lift

I went down to the trial field early, with Beverly to look at the fetches. Trees, those olympic relics of which I have spoken, dot the hill side and are a frustration to the dog runners. If your dog gets behind them, the sheep lose the feel of the dog and take liberties. If the sheep get into them, they can try to stay for shade from the hot afternoon sun, for instance, or just plain old fashioned cover. I wish they would cut some of them down and offer them to Salt Lake City for Christmas trees. I am handy with a chain saw and could help. Some of them have already been marauded for Christmas–tops cut off. Why not take down most of them?

Ron Enzeroth set the pace for the day with a near flawless run, save a missed first fetch panel for a 149, with his admirable Mick. I didn’t see Scot Glen’s winner with Bliss as I was off to get my dog. Monty went around the course not quite so smoothly as I would like with trouble on the first fetch, some of it from the trees. His finish was very good, which is the last taste anyone will have of his run, so always a good idea to finish well

Bev and Joe went a little after me. Joe was somewhat hot headed–not as hot headed as Bev claimed he was later. He went around the course reasonably well. Things got a little hairy in the shedding ring but Bev got through. The pen was terminal. Joe didn’t like the sheep bouncing about and eventually let one have it in a dramatic collision

Dorey was little star. She ran out well. The first fetch was once again, the source of the trouble with sheep rolling into the trees and if Dorey went in to get them, they exploded out. I can hardly remember what happened there, it was so fast, and their track obscured from view, by the spruces. But they came through the first fetch hard and passed the drop point. While she went back well, it was too far down the field. Cost, cost cost. After that, her run was quite good, putting her in third place behind the Texan, Ron Enzeroth.

After her run, her fans asked for pictures with her. Dorey likes to pose, so no problem.

I have started for Meeker, stopping at Vernal, Utah for the night. Dogs are ready to run well in the big trial. And I cant wait to see my Meeker friends (old home week), and Haley and Michele Howard are joining me for a couple of days. Colorado!

BevLive: Solider Hollow, Double Lift

The day didn’t go quite as I’d hoped. The morning started with a scorching run by Ron Enzeroth and Mick. Marred by a poor first fetch, it proved to be the second place run beaten by Scott Glen and Bliss running third. The performances deteriorated over the course of the day.

I did nothing to change the trend with Joe, DQing at the pen with an understandable but unallowable grip. Nan ran great. I’ve never been prouder of her. But in spite of her best efforts we couldn’t seem to get anything to go our way. Amanda and Dory had a good run but she too came to grief at the fetch gates. She managed third place, which with how recalcitrant the sheep had become in the afternoon spoke well of both her and Dory’s skill.

The only benefit I could find in my poor performance was that it allowed me to leave early. I’m now camped halfway to my next dog trial at Meeker.

I was very heartened that both my dogs nailed the first outrun and the turn back, an enormous improvement over last year. I’m a professional handler–I can find the silver lining in any cloud.

Amanda: the rest of Sunday

I have hardly ever been readier to run a couple of dogs. Monty was up earlyish in the five spot. He followed a blinding run by Shauna Gorley, Ute, a very popular good run, scoring a 90. Monty’s work was good but the sheep slipped around the fetch panel on the unexpected side, lambasting his score. His pen was the the most noteworthy part of his run once again, where held his side with me pushing excessively hard–I had to take a chance with the missed panel. It paid off. The gate closed with six seconds left.

Dorey wore her Canadian collar sent to me by a Ute, Eric Larson. Red, with maple leaves. She was in the hunt for her turn all morning, talking about it, complaining about distractions, of the terrible burden of being a championat. I had no reason to think it would not go well. It did go well. All her work was good, but her invaluable presence at the pen will be what I carry for a long time. Artful about her side. Patient but authoritative. That was thrilling. She scored a 97.

Old Beverly, who properly said she crawled over my corpse to qualify the first day, turned in a great run with Joe, a 92. She kept talking about the chasing, but today there was none. He came through when he needed to do.

Amanda: Solider Hollow, Day Two (and early Day Three)

I was up very early for the first run to the day. Delicious coffee. stopped at the port-a-potties on the the north side of the the trial field and noted the aggravating noise of the the flyball dogs, all fifty, barking their heads off. Terrible I listened to the Star Spangled Banner, by John Denver this time (what a relief) He was straightforward songster. I waited at the judge’s tent, listening to Charlie Torre, setout star, report that he couldn’t hear the the national anthem because of the loud dog barking. He couldn’t understand how any dog could hear over the flyable dogs. Great. I was about to run. The sheep were difficult to spot, suspicious of the sea of a barkers at the bottom of the hill and it went about like that.

But tonight we changed. Dressed up. And went to the Tree Room at the Sundance Resort. We were celebrating a couple of weddings. Georgette Leventis and Paula Gibbs among them. We were seated right next to the tree, that grows through the dining room. The food was pleasantly surprising, with textures and flavours raising all the eyebrows. The wine was delicious. That Kosta Browne Pinot was long and unforgettable on the palate. It was a festive change from the camp out cooking.

Monty was up fifth this morning. We missed a fetch panel. Don’t ask me how. But Monty was stellar at the pen, where I took a chance on stepping up, with a very reliable dog covering the other side. He held strong with four seconds left and in they went.

BevLive: Soldier Hollow, Day Three

Bev Lambert has graciously agreed to join the sheepdogtrials blogging party! 🙂

Heather asked for my blog on the day’s events. It was an anxious day for me and I imagine for Amanda as well. We both had dogs that had not managed to make it into the final on their first runs. Always more fun if you can watch the trial from the comfort of a first day qualification.

Amanda ran Monty early and scored an 85 which at first appeared to be a dangerous score as Shauna Gourley laid down a stunning run with a score of 90. It turned out to be a long while before anyone beat Shauna.

Amanda had a scorching run with Dory. Not only did they smoothly run the course but managed it in record time and earned the highest score ever at Soldier Hollow, a 97.

At the end of the day Joe and I achieved a much better partnership than in our Saturday run, with a score of 92. Happy day, as that ended up third behind Amanda and a later run by Ron Enzeroth and Mick.

Lovely to have both my dogs in the double lift. It’s an extremely formidable field this year. I think any of the competitors could win. A rare thing in a final such as this.

So a great dinner at the homestead and then the draw. Amanda is up 6 and 12. I’m 9 and 14.

Amanda: Soldier Hollow, Day One

The trial started off with no fanfare. Scot Glen laid one down early and it held for the day. Norm Close nearly caught him with a good run and Don Helsley pushed the envelope. The sheep were difficult all day. Monty started well, being gentlemanly with his sheep, perhaps so much, they took advantage of him at the fetch panel and slipped around the side blinded for me by those infernal spruce trees, relics of cross country ski Olympic fantasy land, not native to here at all. They ought to go. The rest was ok. He was stellar at the pen where he kept some difficult ones in his grasp, and patiently persuaded them to go in after all. The pressure was high and he met it with marvellous sureness. I like that.

His score did not keep him on the board. He was nudged out by my friend Beverly Lambert and Nan, who had a belting run. Her pen was the most remarkable feature of her run. Bev likes to take over at the pen and put them in herself. The astute student of her technique can enjoy her dogs doing a canine version of WTF, when she demands of them to be more active participants. Nan cowgirled up and made a few good saves at the pen for Beverly without asking too many questions of her handler. It was fun to watch.

Running with Bev turned one of Nan’s brown eyes blue.

We had a cookout here, with rib eyes form Whole Foods, roasted fingerling spuds, and contraband tomato salad (from an eastern Ontario gardener) , with basil and bocconcini and light garlic olive oil. Everyone said it was good. The wine was good too. Closson Chase Chardonnay, and and Marlborough Pinot, The Pass.

Dorey is up first in the morning. She watched a few runs late this afternoon in preparation and seems excited about the day. I have no photos except this one of Roz, which my home vet Heather Sims, requested. Roz had a radical mastectomy and a spay about a week before we left, (a bad biopsy) so she can’t run on this western tour this but she is a keen spectator. Mary Minor is supervising her care.

Amanda: The Great Escape

August 26

I got out. I got out of Nebraska without it sucking all the life out of me. It took hours, but I made it to my favourite part of Nebraska, the Wyoming line. To complicate the drabness of the Nebraska terrain, the sky was overcast, so everything was shadowless and weary. The dogs were fed up with truck routine. I took them for a good walk at a military vehicle museum, but it was no cure.

When Wyoming hit, the sky opened up. Thunderstorm surrounded the edge of the vista in all directions and we travelled trough scattered showers that loaded the air with the scent of damp sage brush. The rock formations leapt out, announcing the end of Nebraska. Black cows dot the golden landscape. Milton Scott says they spray for Herefords in Alberta–not in Nebraska, they are the cattle of choice.

I have crossed the great divide. Everything on this side goes to the Pacific. All that ground I covered today, All those miles, drains to the gulf of Mexico through the determined Mississippi. Only four more hours left to go.

August 27

I cleared the great divide late at night and stopped for the night somewhere past Rawlins, Wyoming. It must have been an OK sleep, because it was not noteworthy. I should have hitched up my generator and made a coffee before taking on Route 80 west. Coffee holes are few and far between, as is any sort of sizable settlement. It was sixty miles or so before one popped up. A coffee emergency. Rain in this part of Wyoming is rare. All kinds of signs show it to be a desert but the rain came down as cats and dogs today–the sort of rain that could alarm a sensible person about flash floods. It rained hard, until the Utah line, when it let up. About three hours in the driving rain.

I went straight to Park City for supplies and turned south for Heber and Soldier Hollow

My fatigue was palpable. I went with Shauna to run Howell at the practise field–five minutes of left and right. I organized my camper, walked the dogs and booked a spa night at the Zermatt Resort. Meanwhile Ray and Amy Coapman joined me for drinks and Canadian music.

I had a clever masseuse, Tatum. A total restorative. If I had known when I ran the dogs over the next couple of days, I would have booked a second one, she was so good. I took the waters and fought the poisons of that drive, that merciless drive.