Falcon Flight Path: He Stopped at the Top!

In my previous post I reported on our trip to Junction for the Junction of the Pecos Sheep Dog Trial. Last weekend we got a chance to compete again and hopefully better our performances. It was a great weekend hosted by Brent Swindall on his family’s ranch outside of Gatesville. It was only a forty-minute drive from our place, so we drove back and forth instead of taking the RV. Our runs didn’t start until Saturday, but I had a great time on Friday scribing (keeping score) for the open class judge, Ron Enzeroth. Judging herding trials is a trial in itself. The judge usually watches and scores 40 or more runs in a day, each lasting (on Friday) 12.5 minutes. That takes a lot of focus and concentration, not to mention a good sense of humor. On Friday, after a short break for lunch, Ron and I returned to the judge’s position only to find that a possum had made its way up from the woods and into the shed ring. Without a moment’s hesitation, Ron picked up a feed bucket and a stick and removed the varmint.

The dogs’ and my performances last weekend were a mixed bag. Cody didn’t do as well as he did in Junction. There he placed 12th and 21st out of 43 dogs, with scores of 53 and 53 out of a possible 90 points. This weekend he placed 16th and 28th out of 38 dogs entered with scores of 40 and 37. We weren’t able to finish Saturday’s run by penning our sheep; they just weren’t going to go in, and we ran out of time. However, we did pen three very uncooperative sheep Sunday on his second run. I was proud of his patience and his responsiveness. He deserved most of the credit for the pen.

Cody rounding the post

I was pleased with Bo’s progress from the Junction trial to this weekend’s. A lot of his first run wasn’t very pretty. He and I are still trying to get on the same page with our whistle commands. (Bo had two previous owners, and sometimes the whistles I use resemble some he has responded to in the past. When that happens, he’s not sure what he is supposed to do. It will take some time for him to become completely familiar with the whistle commands I use so he knows what I’m telling him to do.)

Bo fetching sheep to me

On the other hand, I was delighted with one aspect of Bo’s performance. At the Junction trial, he refused to stop on command “at the top” behind the sheep, causing us to lose many points on our runs. This weekend his response to my stop whistle on his outrun was perfect. He stopped quickly, “lifted” his sheep quietly and brought them to me. We also penned our sheep on his first run and he scored 45 out of a possible 90 points. For only our second trial weekend, I’m pleased with that.

Bo driving his sheep

On his second run, Bo’s outrun and lift were good, and he got his sheep to me and around the post in fairly good order. Up to that point we had only lost 5 of our possible 90 points. His drive away from the post was going pretty well considering how uncooperative the sheep were. However, when he got to the second set of panels I asked him for a small flank to the right and a stop. The took the flank command, but either didn’t hear or understand the stop whistle and took the sheep completely off course. With the three sheep heading for the creek hell-for-leather, I called our run and retired. We’ll work on those commands and hopefully be better prepared for our next outing in three weeks.

It was an enjoyable weekend, though. Fellow handlers and mentors, John Lewis and Allen Mills (from the left above) watched from the sidelines, along with trial host Brent Swindall on the right. John saw most of our runs, and Gail and Steve also came on Saturday. Sunday I had wonderful reunion with my good friend Jeanna Inks Black. She and her husband, Bruce, came to watch Bo’s run and visit for a bit. Jeanna and I met a number of years ago when we were both participating in the sport of canine agility. Jeanna and her Labrador retriever, Sassi Jeaux, won a number of titles at the national level as well as in local (Austin area) trials. She even wore her t-shirt from the 2012 N.A.D.A.C. Agility Championships.

Sassi Jeaux and my Nickie have been gone for several years now, but Jeanna and I have many wonderful shared memories of our agility days. She and Bruce live between our house and Hamilton on their Second Chance Ranch. John and I look forward to good visits with them when the weather warms a bit.

Here are some pics from the trial. The first two, of Bo's and my run, was shot by good friend and fellow handler Kathy Mazzola.