Speaking of Sheep

I barely had time to catch my breath before it was time to load Cody, leave the farm and head south for our first-ever-together sheep herding trial at Destiny Farm in Bertram, TX.  We spent Friday night at our home in Volente, then bright and early were in Bertram greeting friends and preparing for our run.  The weather cooperated…somewhat.  It wasn’t raining, but it was damp and the south wind was sharp.  Hot coffee and the big, enclosed barn were welcome.  

Cody and I were scheduled to run third out of 11 entries in the first of the two trials, so we didn’t have much time to be nervous.  Cody was excited, though.  His lower jaw was quivering as it always does when he is anticipating contact with sheep.  While we were at the post waiting for the sheep to be brought out and “set” for his run, he kept looking up at me, willing me to give him the signal to start.  He is a good boy, though.  He waited for my “come bye” command, and then was off like a shot, running wide and deep so he wouldn’t startle the sheep.  Just before he reached the balance point (where the sheep are directly between him and me), I whistled him to a stop.  Then, at my “walk up” whistle, he moved slowly toward the five sheep and “lifted” them toward me. Here are a couple of pics of Cody and me from the first trial.

After lifting the sheep, the course called for Cody to bring the sheep around the handler’s post (shown in the first photo above), through a set of panels, and back to the pen.  He listened well and we completed the course in fairly good order.  I have a lot to learn though.  Cody and I are still working on our communications, but we had a great time and took second place in the first trial and seventh in the second.  I won't say much about the second trial.  It didn't exactly qualify as a "cluster" but it came close a couple of times.  Much to work on for us.  

Sheryl McDonald's Destiny Farm is a great venue and the volunteers from the Texas Herding Association did a good job keeping everything running smoothly.  It was a small trial in terms of numbers, but a wonderful opportunity for some of the less-experienced handlers and dogs to get some "sheep time" under excellent judges Dal Lamphere and Felicia Whalen.  

Here are pictures of some of our friends and their dogs.

Below are Lindsey Posner Williams and her good little dog, Tom.  They had an outstanding run, and took a well-deserved first place.  I don't know if you can see or not, but Lindsey is wearing a serious-looking brace on her left leg.  She had knee surgery a couple of weeks ago, but wasn't going to be kept off the trial field!

Below are Reed Lamphere and his dog, Preacher.  They weren't competing, but did a great job "exhausting" the sheep after each run.  I enjoyed visiting with Reed and meeting Preacher, a very nice young dog and a half-brother to Cody. 

Check back in a couple of days for more photos.  At least one other person was taking pictures, but they haven’t been posted yet.  And stay tuned…Cody and I are scheduled to compete in another trial in mid-March.