And More Dogs...And Sheep

If you think Cody and I didn’t have enough fun at the AKC trial, two weeks later we participated in an AHBA (American Herding Breed Association) trial.  AHBA emphasizes practical ranch work, and encourages participation by all dogs bred for herding.  Events have dogs of all shapes, sizes and colors, as you can see in the following photos.  They have one thing in common...the live to work sheep.

Destiny Farm is a great venue, with lots of opportunities to get up close and personal with the sheep.

Cody and I again had a great time, and were able to work a flock of 25 as well as groups of 5 or 6 sheep.

We had a great weekend.

Its All About the Dogs

I hope you’ll forgive me, but I have to brag on my Cody.  He worked his heart out weekend before last, competing in 7 herding trials in three days.  He earned three first-place awards, one second and three thirds.  What really makes me proud, though, is our scores.  Out of a possible 100 points, on his first-place runs he scored 86.5, 90 and 91, earning three High In Trial awards.  Only four dogs were entered in the advanced division, but all four were evenly matched and it was always a question of who had done the best on each run.  Our scores were always close, sometimes only half a point apart.  What fun for all of us!  Carolyn Cobb took this photo of Cody and me celebrating after our High in Trial run on Sunday.

Thanks to John and to several friends who took video of our runs.  Below is a video clip showing one of our runs on the AKC “B” Course.  (Unfortunately, the quality isn't the best, because the length of the video forced me to use the lowest resolution.)  The outrun, or distance the dog goes to pick up the sheep is 300 feet, with approximately 100 feet for each of the three other “legs” of the course.  For those of you who have never seen a herding trial, I’ll explain a bit about how it works and what we are trying to accomplish.

As the video begins, Cody has just left my side on an “away to me” outrun, meaning that he is going in a counter-clockwise direction.  You can first see him as a small black dot at the base of the power pole.  In this trial, the dog goes behind the sheep and “lifts” them calmly and quietly toward the handler.  The “fetch” up the field should be as straight as possible, with the sheep under the dog’s control.  After rounding the handler’s post, the dog drives the sheep through one set of panels, then turns them 90 degrees and drives them through another set of panels.  After again turning the stock 90 degrees, the dog brings the sheep to the pen.  In this level of competition, after the sheep are penned there is also an exercise called a “shed” in which the sheep are separated.  Cody and I had to work together so he could split off two of the five sheep and drive them away from their friends.  As you will see, the shed isn’t always easy, and we really had to work for this one.    

There was a professional photographer on site on Sunday, and she took this photo of Cody and me with the judge on one of our High in Trial runs. 

as well as this one of him cooling off after his run.

Cody had a wonderful time, but perhaps the most fun of all for him came at the end of the three days.  After the trials were finished, all the sheep we had used were grazing in the large field.  Our trial host, Sheryl McDonald, asked if Cody would like to gather them and bring then into the lot for feeding.  I don’t think Cody had ever seen that many sheep in one place before, and certainly not spread out grazing.  He was up to the task, though.  When I gave him the away to me command, he was off like a rocket.  He circled the sheep, peeled them off the fence and out of the corner and brought them straight up the field to me.  He was very proud, and so was I.  What a good boy!

Cody and I have only been working together for a year, much of which has been under COVID restrictions.   We could train, but no herding trials were held from mid spring through the summer.  Like all the other handler-dog teams, we are trying to make up for lost time.  We are scheduled to compete in at least two other herding weekends before the end of the year, so we hope to have more news and pictures to share.

In the meantime, here are some pics of other participants at last week's trials.

Mary Carter and Will

Pat Taylor and Trips

Pat Taylor, Carolyn Cobb & Susan Frensley

A Beauceron, a French herding breed

Brandy the Briard, another French herding breed

Erin Knouse Gorney and Cammie

Jamie Jackson-Swanson and Kimber

Pat and Trips

Sherry Clark and Ripple

Sheryl McDonald and her smooth collie

I hope you’ll forgive me, but I have to brag on my Cody.  He worked his heart out last weekend, competing in 7 herding trials in three days.  He earned three first-place awards, one second and three thirds.  What really makes me proud, though, is our scores.  Out of a possible 100 points, on his first-place runs he scored 86.5, 90 and 91, earning three High In Trial awards.  Only four dogs were entered in the advanced division, but all four were evenly matched and it was always a question of who had done the best on that run.  Their scores were always close, sometimes only half a point apart.  What fun for all of us! 

Thanks to John and to several friends who took video of our runs.  Here is a video clip showing one of our runs on the AKC “B” Course.  The outrun, or distance the dog goes to pick up the sheep is 300 feet, with approximately 100 feet for each of the three other “legs” of the course.  For those of you who have never seen a herding trial, I’ll explain a bit about how it works and what we are trying to accomplish.

As the video begins, Cody has just left my side on an “away to me” outrun, meaning that he is going in a counter-clockwise direction.  You can see him as a small black dot at the base of the power pole.  In this trial, the dog goes behind the sheep and “lifts” them calmly and quietly toward the handler.  The “fetch” up the field should be as straight as possible, with the sheep under the dog’s control.  After rounding the handler’s post, the dog drives the sheep through one set of panels, then turns them 90 degrees and drives them through another set of panels.  After again turning the stock 90 degrees, the dog brings the sheep to the pen.  In this level of competition, after the sheep are penned there is also an exercise called a “shed” in which the sheep are separated.  Cody and I had to work together so he could split off two of the five sheep and drive them away from their friends.  As you will see, the shed isn’t always easy, and we really had to work for this one.    

There was a professional photographer on site on Sunday, and she took this shot of Cody and me with Judge Kirsten Cole-MacMurray, who came in from California to judge.

She also captured several other images of Cody.

The last one shows Cody having perhaps the most fun of all.  At the end of the three days, all the sheep we had used were grazing in the large field.  Our trial host, Sheryl McDonald, asked if Cody would like to gather then and bring then into the lot for feeding.  I don’t think he had ever seen that many sheep in one place before, and certainly not spread out grazing.  He was up to the task, though.  When I gave him the Away to Me command, he was off like a rocket.  He circled the sheep, peeled them off the fence and out of the corner and brought them straight up the field to me.  He was very proud, and so was I.  What a good boy!

Cody and I have only been working together for a year, much of which was under COVID restrictions.   We could train, but no herding trials were held from early spring through the summer.  Like all the other handler-dog teams, we are trying to make up for lost time.  We are scheduled to compete in at least two other herding weekends before the end of the year, so we hope to have more news and pictures to share.

I hope you’ll forgive me, but I have to brag on my Cody.  He worked his heart out last weekend, competing in 7 herding trials in three days.  He earned three first-place awards, one second and three thirds.  What really makes me proud, though, is our scores.  Out of a possible 100 points, on his first-place runs he scored 86.5, 90 and 91, earning three High In Trial awards.  Only four dogs were entered in the advanced division, but all four were evenly matched and it was always a question of who had done the best on that run.  Their scores were always close, sometimes only half a point apart.  What fun for all of us! 

Thanks to John and to several friends who took video of our runs.  Here is a video clip showing one of our runs on the AKC “B” Course.  The outrun, or distance the dog goes to pick up the sheep is 300 feet, with approximately 100 feet for each of the three other “legs” of the course.  For those of you who have never seen a herding trial, I’ll explain a bit about how it works and what we are trying to accomplish.

As the video begins, Cody has just left my side on an “away to me” outrun, meaning that he is going in a counter-clockwise direction.  You can see him as a small black dot at the base of the power pole.  In this trial, the dog goes behind the sheep and “lifts” them calmly and quietly toward the handler.  The “fetch” up the field should be as straight as possible, with the sheep under the dog’s control.  After rounding the handler’s post, the dog drives the sheep through one set of panels, then turns them 90 degrees and drives them through another set of panels.  After again turning the stock 90 degrees, the dog brings the sheep to the pen.  In this level of competition, after the sheep are penned there is also an exercise called a “shed” in which the sheep are separated.  Cody and I had to work together so he could split off two of the five sheep and drive them away from their friends.  As you will see, the shed isn’t always easy, and we really had to work for this one.    

There was a professional photographer on site on Sunday, and she took this shot of Cody and me with Judge Kirsten Cole-MacMurray, who came in from California to judge.

She also captured several other images of Cody.

The last one shows Cody having perhaps the most fun of all.  At the end of the three days, all the sheep we had used were grazing in the large field.  Our trial host, Sheryl McDonald, asked if Cody would like to gather then and bring then into the lot for feeding.  I don’t think he had ever seen that many sheep in one place before, and certainly not spread out grazing.  He was up to the task, though.  When I gave him the Away to Me command, he was off like a rocket.  He circled the sheep, peeled them off the fence and out of the corner and brought them straight up the field to me.  He was very proud, and so was I.  What a good boy!

Cody and I have only been working together for a year, much of which was under COVID restrictions.   We could train, but no herding trials were held from early spring through the summer.  Like all the other handler-dog teams, we are trying to make up for lost time.  We are scheduled to compete in at least two other herding weekends before the end of the year, so we hope to have more news and pictures to share.

I hope you’ll forgive me, but I have to brag on my Cody.  He worked his heart out last weekend, competing in 7 herding trials in three days.  He earned three first-place awards, one second and three thirds.  What really makes me proud, though, is our scores.  Out of a possible 100 points, on his first-place runs he scored 86.5, 90 and 91, earning three High In Trial awards.  Only four dogs were entered in the advanced division, but all four were evenly matched and it was always a question of who had done the best on that run.  Their scores were always close, sometimes only half a point apart.  What fun for all of us! 

Thanks to John and to several friends who took video of our runs.  Here is a video clip showing one of our runs on the AKC “B” Course.  The outrun, or distance the dog goes to pick up the sheep is 300 feet, with approximately 100 feet for each of the three other “legs” of the course.  For those of you who have never seen a herding trial, I’ll explain a bit about how it works and what we are trying to accomplish.

As the video begins, Cody has just left my side on an “away to me” outrun, meaning that he is going in a counter-clockwise direction.  You can see him as a small black dot at the base of the power pole.  In this trial, the dog goes behind the sheep and “lifts” them calmly and quietly toward the handler.  The “fetch” up the field should be as straight as possible, with the sheep under the dog’s control.  After rounding the handler’s post, the dog drives the sheep through one set of panels, then turns them 90 degrees and drives them through another set of panels.  After again turning the stock 90 degrees, the dog brings the sheep to the pen.  In this level of competition, after the sheep are penned there is also an exercise called a “shed” in which the sheep are separated.  Cody and I had to work together so he could split off two of the five sheep and drive them away from their friends.  As you will see, the shed isn’t always easy, and we really had to work for this one.    

There was a professional photographer on site on Sunday, and she took this shot of Cody and me with Judge Kirsten Cole-MacMurray, who came in from California to judge.

She also captured several other images of Cody.

The last one shows Cody having perhaps the most fun of all.  At the end of the three days, all the sheep we had used were grazing in the large field.  Our trial host, Sheryl McDonald, asked if Cody would like to gather then and bring then into the lot for feeding.  I don’t think he had ever seen that many sheep in one place before, and certainly not spread out grazing.  He was up to the task, though.  When I gave him the Away to Me command, he was off like a rocket.  He circled the sheep, peeled them off the fence and out of the corner and brought them straight up the field to me.  He was very proud, and so was I.  What a good boy!

Cody and I have only been working together for a year, much of which was under COVID restrictions.   We could train, but no herding trials were held from early spring through the summer.  Like all the other handler-dog teams, we are trying to make up for lost time.  We are scheduled to compete in at least two other herding weekends before the end of the year, so we hope to have more news and pictures to share.

  I hope you’ll forgive me, but I have to brag on my Cody.  He worked his heart out last weekend, competing in 7 herding trials in three days.  He earned three first-place awards, one second and three thirds.  What really makes me proud, though, is our scores.  Out of a possible 100 points, on his first-place runs he scored 86.5, 90 and 91, earning three High In Trial awards.  Only four dogs were entered in the advanced division, but all four were evenly matched and it was always a question of who had done the best on that run.  Their scores were always close, sometimes only half a point apart.  What fun for all of us! 

Thanks to John and to several friends who took video of our runs.  Here is a video clip showing one of our runs on the AKC “B” Course.  The outrun, or distance the dog goes to pick up the sheep is 300 feet, with approximately 100 feet for each of the three other “legs” of the course.  For those of you who have never seen a herding trial, I’ll explain a bit about how it works and what we are trying to accomplish.

As the video begins, Cody has just left my side on an “away to me” outrun, meaning that he is going in a counter-clockwise direction.  You can see him as a small black dot at the base of the power pole.  In this trial, the dog goes behind the sheep and “lifts” them calmly and quietly toward the handler.  The “fetch” up the field should be as straight as possible, with the sheep under the dog’s control.  After rounding the handler’s post, the dog drives the sheep through one set of panels, then turns them 90 degrees and drives them through another set of panels.  After again turning the stock 90 degrees, the dog brings the sheep to the pen.  In this level of competition, after the sheep are penned there is also an exercise called a “shed” in which the sheep are separated.  Cody and I had to work together so he could split off two of the five sheep and drive them away from their friends.  As you will see, the shed isn’t always easy, and we really had to work for this one.    

There was a professional photographer on site on Sunday, and she took this shot of Cody and me with Judge Kirsten Cole-MacMurray, who came in from California to judge.

She also captured several other images of Cody.

The last one shows Cody having perhaps the most fun of all.  At the end of the three days, all the sheep we had used were grazing in the large field.  Our trial host, Sheryl McDonald, asked if Cody would like to gather then and bring then into the lot for feeding.  I don’t think he had ever seen that many sheep in one place before, and certainly not spread out grazing.  He was up to the task, though.  When I gave him the Away to Me command, he was off like a rocket.  He circled the sheep, peeled them off the fence and out of the corner and brought them straight up the field to me.  He was very proud, and so was I.  What a good boy!

Cody and I have only been working together for a year, much of which was under COVID restrictions.   We could train, but no herding trials were held from early spring through the summer.  Like all the other handler-dog teams, we are trying to make up for lost time.  We are scheduled to compete in at least two other herding weekends before the end of the year, so we hope to have more news and pictures to share.

I hope you’ll forgive me, but I have to brag on my Cody.  He worked his heart out last weekend, competing in 7 herding trials in three days.  He earned three first-place awards, one second and three thirds.  What really makes me proud, though, is our scores.  Out of a possible 100 points, on his first-place runs he scored 86.5, 90 and 91, earning three High In Trial awards.  Only four dogs were entered in the advanced division, but all four were evenly matched and it was always a question of who had done the best on that run.  Their scores were always close, sometimes only half a point apart.  What fun for all of us! 

Thanks to John and to several friends who took video of our runs.  Here is a video clip showing one of our runs on the AKC “B” Course.  The outrun, or distance the dog goes to pick up the sheep is 300 feet, with approximately 100 feet for each of the three other “legs” of the course.  For those of you who have never seen a herding trial, I’ll explain a bit about how it works and what we are trying to accomplish.

As the video begins, Cody has just left my side on an “away to me” outrun, meaning that he is going in a counter-clockwise direction.  You can see him as a small black dot at the base of the power pole.  In this trial, the dog goes behind the sheep and “lifts” them calmly and quietly toward the handler.  The “fetch” up the field should be as straight as possible, with the sheep under the dog’s control.  After rounding the handler’s post, the dog drives the sheep through one set of panels, then turns them 90 degrees and drives them through another set of panels.  After again turning the stock 90 degrees, the dog brings the sheep to the pen.  In this level of competition, after the sheep are penned there is also an exercise called a “shed” in which the sheep are separated.  Cody and I had to work together so he could split off two of the five sheep and drive them away from their friends.  As you will see, the shed isn’t always easy, and we really had to work for this one.    

There was a professional photographer on site on Sunday, and she took this shot of Cody and me with Judge Kirsten Cole-MacMurray, who came in from California to judge.

She also captured several other images of Cody.

The last one shows Cody having perhaps the most fun of all.  At the end of the three days, all the sheep we had used were grazing in the large field.  Our trial host, Sheryl McDonald, asked if Cody would like to gather then and bring then into the lot for feeding.  I don’t think he had ever seen that many sheep in one place before, and certainly not spread out grazing.  He was up to the task, though.  When I gave him the Away to Me command, he was off like a rocket.  He circled the sheep, peeled them off the fence and out of the corner and brought them straight up the field to me.  He was very proud, and so was I.  What a good boy!

Cody and I have only been working together for a year, much of which was under COVID restrictions.   We could train, but no herding trials were held from early spring through the summer.  Like all the other handler-dog teams, we are trying to make up for lost time.  We are scheduled to compete in at least two other herding weekends before the end of the year, so we hope to have more news and pictures to share.

  I hope you’ll forgive me, but I have to brag on my Cody.  He worked his heart out last weekend, competing in 7 herding trials in three days.  He earned three first-place awards, one second and three thirds.  What really makes me proud, though, is our scores.  Out of a possible 100 points, on his first-place runs he scored 86.5, 90 and 91, earning three High In Trial awards.  Only four dogs were entered in the advanced division, but all four were evenly matched and it was always a question of who had done the best on that run.  Their scores were always close, sometimes only half a point apart.  What fun for all of us! 

Thanks to John and to several friends who took video of our runs.  Here is a video clip showing one of our runs on the AKC “B” Course.  The outrun, or distance the dog goes to pick up the sheep is 300 feet, with approximately 100 feet for each of the three other “legs” of the course.  For those of you who have never seen a herding trial, I’ll explain a bit about how it works and what we are trying to accomplish.

As the video begins, Cody has just left my side on an “away to me” outrun, meaning that he is going in a counter-clockwise direction.  You can see him as a small black dot at the base of the power pole.  In this trial, the dog goes behind the sheep and “lifts” them calmly and quietly toward the handler.  The “fetch” up the field should be as straight as possible, with the sheep under the dog’s control.  After rounding the handler’s post, the dog drives the sheep through one set of panels, then turns them 90 degrees and drives them through another set of panels.  After again turning the stock 90 degrees, the dog brings the sheep to the pen.  In this level of competition, after the sheep are penned there is also an exercise called a “shed” in which the sheep are separated.  Cody and I had to work together so he could split off two of the five sheep and drive them away from their friends.  As you will see, the shed isn’t always easy, and we really had to work for this one.    

There was a professional photographer on site on Sunday, and she took this shot of Cody and me with Judge Kirsten Cole-MacMurray, who came in from California to judge.

She also captured several other images of Cody.

The last one shows Cody having perhaps the most fun of all.  At the end of the three days, all the sheep we had used were grazing in the large field.  Our trial host, Sheryl McDonald, asked if Cody would like to gather then and bring then into the lot for feeding.  I don’t think he had ever seen that many sheep in one place before, and certainly not spread out grazing.  He was up to the task, though.  When I gave him the Away to Me command, he was off like a rocket.  He circled the sheep, peeled them off the fence and out of the corner and brought them straight up the field to me.  He was very proud, and so was I.  What a good boy!

Cody and I have only been working together for a year, much of which was under COVID restrictions.   We could train, but no herding trials were held from early spring through the summer.  Like all the other handler-dog teams, we are trying to make up for lost time.  We are scheduled to compete in at least two other herding weekends before the end of the year, so we hope to have more news and pictures to share.