Dog Trial Marathon Week #5 -- Table Top Sheep Dog Trial

Table Top Sheep Dog Trial has turned into a multi-day event, with all classes running on a beautiful grassy field, bordered on one side by a small stream and on the other by steep Hill.  It’s a great venue, with a fenced parking area and a separate field where dogs can stretch their legs and keep in shape.

Dutch at the pen

We spent Tuesday and Wednesday, May 26 and 27, on the road from Friona, and were glad to be back in the rolling hills east of Colorado Springs.

Our judge for Tabletop was Peter Morgan from Ireland. We had met Peter and his wife, Braunah, last year at one of Charly Kronberger‘s San Saba trials. Peter is a great judge, and we so enjoyed reconnecting with him and Braunah.  Here, they watch as Dutch gets his pen in Open 3.

The sheep were tough, crafty, range ewes, and the dogs struggled with them, especially on the first day. Dutch finished with the score of 55, and Meg retired. Open 2 was a much better day for Dutch. He scored an 81 and placed 11th out of some 57 or so dogs. Meg again had trouble with the sheep and I retired her.  Both dogs got numbers in Open 3, with Dutch scoring a 69 and Meg a 62.  Here are a few images from their runs.

Meg penning her sheep

Meg shedding

Dutch getting his shed

Jennifer videoing Dutch's BIG outrun

The last open run was the double lift. Unfortunately, I had begun feeling terrible the day before, with what we think was a case of altitude sickness. John had a touch of it and didn’t feel feel well either. In dog trialing there are no excuses, but I don’t think I did a very good job of handling Dutch. His look-back is usually very good, and he reliably releases his first set of sheep and goes for the second packet.

However, he did not run true to form.  Because of the layout of the course, the sheep were not between him and me; he was at 90 degrees to me instead of 180.  He was confused as to which way he should look back and which way he should run. He did manage to find his second packet and bring them to join with the first, though. We made our way around the course with the 20 sheep, but ran out of time in the shed ring. I was proud of his work, though.

There were several very nice runs, though.  I didn't get many photos, but I did capture a couple of Robin French and her beautiful Becca.

We had a very good time at the trial, and especially enjoyed our time with Jennifer Boznos and her pack.  Below is a shot from one of the "puppy runs" with the pups having a wonderful time.  Tess is in the center front, and her littermate, Del, is on the far left.  I think that is third sister, Bit, between them.  Jennifer was kind enough to video several of my runs, and I so appreciate having those to study.  I can't wait to see how Del looks the next time we are together.  She is a beautiful pup.

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at Table Top and look forward to our next Colorado visit.  

We were soon packed up and off to Union Center, South Dakota, for Jamie Spring's Spring Ranch Trial.  John no longer wonders how the pups got his glasses off the dashboard of the truck!  Tess doesn't look at all guilty.