Lacamas Valley SDT 2010

Last weekend Scott, Jude and I drove to Camas, WA to run Scotty in the 2010 Lacamas Valley Sheepdog Trial. We stayed in Diane's very comfortable RV at the trial site. I drove down on Wednesday afternoon to help Diane set up the camper and just to get settled - I hate rushing around. I didn't have a run on Thursday but I wanted to watch the other ProNovice runs and see how the sheep behaved. My runs with Scott were scheduled for #44 on Friday and #4 on Saturday. Unfortunately, no one was able to take pictures of my runs so there are no pics to post here - I'll try to write as descriptively as possible though ;)

Last year, Scotty and I were pretty new to trialing but I still entered in him 2 ProNovice runs at Lacamas. Our first day, we retired on the fetch as we lost the sheep to the setout behind a hill and were excused. The second day we faired a bit better and completed our run, scoring mid-pack. Losing our sheep on that first day was handler error - inexperience and freaking-out came into play.

This year, I had familiarity with the field/sheep type and a year of trialing/stock work with Scott under my belt. Albeit, Scotty is no spring chicken; he's 11 years old now so he's slower than your average border collie. To our advantage though, this year's Lacamas sheep were heavy lambs that were not dog-broke at all. Their heaviness slowed things down a bit and I think that worked for Scott very well. Scott has never had a problem pushing any type of stock around - probably has something to do with his strong breeding and working on a large cattle ranch for 5-6 years!

Our Friday run was being judged by Rob Miller. The sheep were growing heavier and heavier as the day wore on. There were 64 runs scheduled to run that day and my run at 44th took place around 3:30pm or so (they started at 7am). Dogs kept timing out on their drives as the sheep were just unwilling to move. They were getting hungry and many sets would just graze during the fetch and drive. Dogs that didn't have that special "power" came to a stop and had trouble pushing the sheep. There were many grips happening as well, most warranted though as many ProNovice dogs are youngsters who tend to grip to just get some type of movement.

For this first run, the set out crew was having trouble with my set. We waited about 3-4 minutes for them to get the 5 sheep out to the set-area. They'd push the sheep out about 25 yards and the sheep would run back to the set out pens. In the past, this would have tweaked me out a bit - it's always easy to blame "bad sheep" or an "unstable setout" on how one's dog lifts and fetches. Some people will blame the set out on the way their whole run goes if it doesn't go well. I made the concious decision to not let the flighty-set of sheep get to me. I sent Scott on the away to me side, which is the side the set out pens were on. Scott's outrun was nice and wide, he sighted his sheep and while he came in a bit flat, I felt this was warranted given the heavy draw those sheep had to the setout pens. His lift was beautiful. Scotty totally knows how to fetch sheep to me, so when I saw that he had a soft yet authoritative lift, he "had" those sheep and was correcting himself to get online. I kept my mouth shut the whole time and it wasn't until those sheep when through the middle of the fetch panels that I slowed him down with a soft "lie..." Our post turn was a bit wide but efficient. The first leg of the drive was S L O W. The sheep were extremely heavy and Scotty was pushing hard. We were a bit offline as the sheep were a bit squirrrely and would turn to face the dog (this happened on most runs that day). I recall that we missed the first drive panel - the sheep were also drawn to the exhaust on that side a bit. It was just slow going. I got my sheep back online and we began the crossdrive. Again, slow but straight (Scott is an excellent driving dog). We made it to our cross-drive panels and while I can't recall if we made them or not, our sheep popped offline up a small incline and didn't want to come back down. We had 7 minutes to complete the course and time was ticking. Scott did manage to get the sheep to move again toward me. Unfortunately, we timed out about 50 feet from the post, which means we didn't complete the drive. So, we automatically lost all 30 drive points and our 10 pen points. However, because of Scott's excellent outwork, we managed to get a score of 44. That put us in 17th place on Friday.

Saturday, we were 4th up. Becki Maloney was our judge. At the handler's meeting we learned the 1st run scratched so I was actually 3rd up. Again, my sheep were not set in the "ideal" way. Right after I sent Scott on the away to me side again, the set out dog lost the sheep at the top and they started to trot offline to the left. I hate it when that happens! But, again, I wasn't about to let that spoil my run or be an excuse - the set out sheep "is what it is." You just gotta deal with it. Scotty's outrun was a bit tighter because he saw the sheep taking off. He managed to get behind and lift them as they were on the move - again, not an ideal situation. His presence thus moved the sheep to the right and the unanticipated dog-leg fetch began. We were running just 4 sheep today which helped them be not so heavy (compared to Friday's runs). Of course, this meant the sheep were faster and having been exhausted a few times into their "safe zone" the sheep were making a beeline to the exhaust. Scotty had the sheep but he refused to release the pressure on the fetch and would not flank for me to the comeby side in order for us to make the fetch panel. We ended up about 20 feet to the right of the panel and the sheep were making a beeline to the exhaust now. As they got closer, Scott finally took my comeby command and steered the sheep into my direction at the post. We had a very wide and ugly post turn. We started the first leg of the drive (left hand drive today). The sheep were a bit easier to push around today - perhaps because there were only four and that it was first thing in the morning. We hit both drive panels and were offline a bit at the turns and that last leg of the drive to the pen. The drive again was complete when the sheep reached the post. When they got to the post, I was ecstatic. Now, today we had 6.5 minutes to complete the course but the drive was shorter than it was on Friday. Not wanting to time out again, I jogged to the pen. We had a little bit of a ruckus at the pen but not circling - when the 4th sheep meandered into the pen, I quickly closed that gate! We got our pen! There were only 7 pens total that day so I felt that was an accomoplishment in itself. Our score was a 55 with this run. At the end of the day, after the 60th run was complete, we ended up 12th.

I'm very happy with how both runs went. I'm happy with how my dog worked for me and how he put full effort into his work. He listened well and was really teaming up with me. I'm happy with my whistles too; all that practice in the car on my way home from work is paying off! And, I'm happy that I kept a cool head when given difficult-to-set-sheep and didn't let that affect either run.

It took a year to get a cohesive working partnership with Scott - just like my trusted herding advisors told me it would. I know I'm very fortunate to have a well-trained, biddable, thoughtful and powerful dog like Scott to learn on and trial with. He is not only Jude's Obi-Wan Kenobi, but mine too!

Lacamas & Dogwoods

On the weekend of the 10th and 11th I was down in Camas, Washington (near Portland) for the 2009 Lacamas Valley Sheepdog Trial. This is one of the largest, most "proper" trials on the West Coast. This is the kind of trial that if you don't get your entry fee postmarked on the morning that entries open up, then you don't get in kind of trial.

I ran Scott in the ProNovice classes on Friday and Saturday. The sheep were TOUGH! 5 lambs that had only been worked by a dog once before on a different field. On Friday, Jerill's aunt and uncle showed up to cheer me on as they live close by to Camas. The were able to take some pictures of the Friday carnage before my camera's batteries went dead. That was fine though because Friday's run did not last long. I sent Scott on the away side to cover the heavy draw the sheep were feeling to the setting pen. I won't make excuses for me or my dog but we were not alone in how our run went that day. Scott lifted the sheep tight and flat and as I tried to swing him to the comeby side to cover that horrible draw back to the pen, the sheep just kept running faster. Then, 3 sheep stopped and two kept running. Then one of the three started running in the opposite direction. Basically, I had pushed too hard on the sheep with my dog - Scott is a strong dog and sheep are scared of him so having him up close trying to "cover" the setting side was making the sheep more panicked. Learned my lesson! I was able to get four sheep back together by using a look-back command to bring the two to the other two and then when trying to bring those four back to the one that took off by itself, the dog and the 4 sheep went behind a hill and things stopped - no dog and no sheep appeared. I did some blind flanks to the away side to try to get Scott to move them into sight but I was "thanked" by the judge. Like I said, this trial was a big deal, no nonsense trial and the judge doesn't want to waste time on a run that could potentially hurt the sheep - the judge needs to know what's going on, even behind hills!

Scott too close to the lambs. They took off back to the set. Scott just couldn't swing around them in time to turn them...

Here's where the sheep split into sheep-buckets. What a mess!! Scott managed to slow them down but because he was close, some panicked more than others. Panic = Sheep Splitting

On Saturday, Scott and I had an improved game plan of how to tackle the course. Because so many handlers lost their sheep to the set out, like I did, the course directors moved the sheep 25 yards up from the set out area. This helped. While our lift and fetch on Saturday was a little bumpy (lost quite a few points due to reflanking and Scotty being tight and a bit fast) we did make our fetch panels! I turned the post quite wide though and had a little bumpy/wavy first leg of the drive. I think 4 of the 5 lambs made it through my first panel, but unfortunately, I pushed Scott too quick on the turn and pushed 2 or 3 lambs back out the panels, which is a big NO NO! Lost more points doing that. The lambs got back together though and I started a the crossdrive. This crossdrive, typically one of the most difficult tasks for a dog in a trial, went beautifully. Scotty is an excellent driver and I was sure to keep him off the tails the sheep. We made our panels! And then to the pen... it was a little wavy-gravy getting to the pen and the sheep missed the ideal point-of-entry into the pen, so I had to spend a little more time getting Scott to get them back to the ideal sweet-spot. The sheep, because they didn't know people weren't receptive to "sheep sheep" calls, so thanks to a tip from Diane the day before, I didn't crowd the sheep at all. After getting the dog and the sheep and myself in the right spot, the sheep pretty much went into the pen with no issue and I got the gate closed in time. We ended up scoring somehere mid-pack of the teams that received scores. Not too shabby!


Today Jerill and I ate at the Mt Si Bar and Grill for breakfast, then went to the Mt Si Nursery to get some plants for autumn and to fill in the spaces of the plants the elk have eaten as well as those plants that didn't survive the 113 degree temperatures we had earlier this month.


The nursery was having a big sale on trees, so I bought myself the cutest dogwood tree! I love those and I have the perfect spot in our triangle garden for it - protected from elk.


Along our driveway I try to keep it pretty; there is just something nice about driving into home with nice flowers and shrubs alongside the drive. I found some small perennial ground cover plants that are supposed to bloom in November - January and then some other plants that are supposed to bloom in early spring. And, they're elk-resistant. I also replaced the dying annuals on our front door step with some fresh autumn annuals - pansies and marigolds. My freesia from May is still going strong and my Begonia is as vibrant as ever! I also decided the dogs needed something to chew on today, so I put each dog in their own little safe area (Scott in his big crate, Mattie in the kitchen, and Lucky in the family room, and each received their favorite bone or chewy. Scott prefers bully sticks (of course), Lucky likes cow hooves and Mattie LOVES these beef shanks.

My new dogwood. I can't wait to get this into the ground!

New plants along our driveway

The front door. Begonia on the right, Freesia on the left. Winter pansies and a new orange marigold for Autumn.

Mattie and her big bone. The placemat she's eating on was won in a raffle at a flyball tournament, before we even had Mattie. There is a little sheep on the corner of the mat; it was destined to be Mattie's!