BevLive: Slash J, Day 2

Got the open results wrong, sorry, Robin French was second not Jean Gellings.

We ran a combined Nursery/Ranch twice today. Very tough going for both the competitors and the set out crew. The sheep were hard to spot and often difficult for the young dogs to fetch.

There was some very nice work made all the more striking by all of the demonstrations of how difficult it actually was. Ron Burkey and his red, Star x Don nursery dog, Shadow, did really well every run. Amanda and Dory looked really good as did Dennis Gellings with his very young Sly x Roy.

My Joe was completely flumoxed by the sheep his first run. He fetched them and then had a bad hanging on grip at the turn. His second run he had a plan and inspite of his sheep being on their way back to the set out when he finished his outrun he brought them down with great aplomb. Nice run all the way around but no pen. He finished 3rd in the nursery and 4th in the ranch tied with Ron and Shadow who beat us on the out work. Joni and Sage won the second nursery and ranch with Dennis Edwards second in ranch and Ron Burkey second in nursery. I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten how the first ranch/nursery ended up.

It got quite hot today mid-80s and very little breeze. Tomorrow is the second open on a redesigned course. I believe the outrun has been shortened a little to aid in getting done and to make spotting the sheep easier.

It’s supposed to be hotter tomorrow then today. The sun here can get really hot with the clear, dry air. The sheep require a lot of herding which can really wear a dog out.

Tomorrow is everyone’s last chance to qualify for the double lift final. The 15 dogs with the highest combined three scores from the two trials (you get to drop one score) will compete. Hemp with two DQs is out of contention but with a good run Nel could still get in. She’s going to need to do better then her last run though.

Sunset over the Slash J