Amanda: A Swiss Trial

Until yesterday. I have been a tourist. Maree and I took a trip to Berne with Sandra Huebli at the wheel. Maree likes hardware sorts of stores and I was hunting for a music box that played a Debussy tune. Frank was busy doing clinics all day every day. We met him in the evening wherever he was, with highly enjoyable peeks at Swiss living in the Emmanthaler (named for the great cheese). The first night we went to Carol Staehelin’s who had hosted the day’s clinic. There were some enthusiastic dog hands who ate a scrumptious Swiss meal, with potatoes done two ways for the Irish among us. Next day, Sandra drove us to Interlochen, for a real tourist day out, although too much cloud cover obscured the spectacular Alps from view. Sandra’s son is a full-blown chef in a hip village, not too far away and we all enjoyed a Swiss dining experience, Maree learning to make spaetzle.
Next day, Maree and I trained to Lausanne, my old school stomping ground, for Thursday. We bummed around. There wasn’t much to remind of my school days.

Yesterday I clerked for Frank at the trial, which was much more interesting . The hands were mostly from Italy and Switzerland, with a few Germans, Dutch, and Belgians. The scores were low. The course was big and snowy. The sheep were mixed breeds. Most ran out of time on the crossdrive, Only two or three finished. I missed Serge van deer Sweep’s winning run this morning as I was shopping for some new Wellingtons in nearby Lyss. He scored 96.

Everyone is so kind, and last night was no exception. We had another great repast at the home of Ruedi and Elizabeth Siegenthaler. They have inventive solar/wood heat systems that I covet.

A new trial started this afternoon. We have already seem a good run by the new continental champion, Urs imhof and his bitch Ela vom Bettmerhorn, with a 92. A Swiss. The trial continues tomorrow.

Here’s a video illustrating the colorful language of Italian dog handling.