Stock dogs shouldn't chase tennis balls

Which is why we have Bruce.

Yippee ki yay!

Hope and I got back from what is now definitely an annual tradition - the World Stockdog Competition at Calgary Stampede. As usual it was Louanne, Jenny and I travelling together and staying in  Louanne's hacienda. As usual we went to the Schmaltz's Hilltop Trial first. As usual the biggest winner bought supper on the way to Calgary. This year we had to pick low hanging fruit when choosing the winner. Louanne was the only handler in the truck to get a score all weekend, so the Big Mac's were on her.  To put in perspective though, basically anyone that got a score wound up in the top half of a field of over 50.  Hope and I considered the trial yet another "learning experience".  Oh well, I was in good company.  
Wendy managed to catch some shots of me at the post on the second day in what seems to be a classic pose for me - hand in the pocket.

Note to self - must sew pockets shut before next trial. 

 

This year I convinced my friend Lara Forchuk to come out for Stampede AND to run a dog instead of just watching. She'd be thanking me for that later...

Day one Hope and I were third in the handler's circle.  We laid down a GREAT run and I got to slam the gate for the first time at the Calgary Stampede!

 

 

Given that we were third up this put us in 1st.  Slamming the gate and being in 1st at the stampede (no matter how early in the day) is one HUGE RUSH.  Hope and I hung on to first for 26  (of 60) more runs and finished out the day in 5th position and in the money.  Too much fun!!

Day two we got a particularly bad draw of sheep with one ewe who REALLY didn't want to play the game. Hope did a terrific job of finessing her around the course but it just wasn't nearly fast enough and we timed out at the chute. No finals for us this year. 

However, Louanne and Lara DID make it to the finals! 

 Lara and Louanne hanging with their good friend Angus McAngus before the finals. 

Congratulations to Dave Claypool and his dog Glen for their winning run, and to Wendy Schmaltz and her dog Gin for their reserve win. 

Can't wait til next year!

 

Another fantastic weekend.

This weekend the dogs and I headed down south for the Olds Dogs, Ewe Tricks Stock Dog Classic in Olds. While the trial was loads of fun, it was just a small part of another perfect weekend. 


Louanne and I stayed in her gorgeous new trailer (which she better blog about soon before I scoop her) at Randy and Val Dye's. Randy's responsible for getting me into all this in the first place and I love getting down to see him and Val. Staying at Randy's meant lots of opportunities for working dogs. Thursday night Corey Perry and Abe Marshall showed up to work dogs with us and a great evening was spent working dogs in a nearby field, watching rainbows, and talking dogs. 

A couple of dogs waiting their turn. There were a few showers in the area, but never did rain on our parade. 

The next morning Randy had us up for more of the same. Kate worked on picking up sheep off of a set out crew, I stretched her outrun and she got to push sheep off a heavy draw - all great experience and she handled it really well. This past week (between the trip to Randy's and the trip to Scott and Jenny's) has been very good for her.   She's really starting to catch on to it all. 

Randy's the king of " let's see what happens" and "it's good once in a while", so the next thing we knew the older dogs were stretching out their outruns...to 700 yards or so. The dogs were so far away we had to stand up on the truck tailgate to see what the heck was going on. I'm happy to report that all of the dogs found their sheep.  

As for young dogs, Louanne had her Craig with her. Craig is no longer the cute little fuzzy puppy I remember. 

 Craig, looking very nice behind his sheep.

As for the trial, things couldn't have gone much better. There was an entry of 27 open dogs at this arena trial. Hope and I were entered as practice for the "big show" next week - Calgary Stampede. As it turned out we had two great runs and made it to the finals. Unfortunately during our finals run we had a ewe that really didn't want to play the game. Hope handled her very well but push came to shove at the chute and he gripped off. Frankly, she got what she deserved.  The sheep were challenging (5 pens the first day and only 2 the second) but consistently so. Congratulations to Corey Perry and Jill for winning the trial.  I believe Carl Snedden came in second, Jimmy Walker took 3 and 4th, Wendy Schmaltz came in 5th and Hope and I brought up the rear in 6th. 

The thing I was most pleased about at this weekend's trial is how far Hope has come. A year of maturity and experience has really done him well. I couldn't have asked for a better partner. 

We've got a few days at home and then it's back down south for Wendy and Chris Schmaltz's Hill Top Trial and then straight to Stampede.

 

Scott Glen shedding clinic

Hope, Kate and I just got back from Scott and Jenny Glen's. Kate came along for the ride so that she could get some experience working on different fields as well as picking up sheep off of a set out crew. However, the real reason for the trip was a shedding clinic at Scott and Jenny's. 

I can't say enough good things about the clinic. Scott did a fantastic job of breaking down the skills needed for a good shed, and the improvement in dogs and handlers was remarkable.

 Some of the volunteers who helped make the weekend a smashing success. 

With Scott's instruction and pointers, as well as the opportunity to watch shed after shed, Hope and I went from flying in, not knowing which way to turn, and creating havoc  to calm, turning on to sheep with authority. I really started to ENJOY shedding with him and given that the reason why he was flying is was because I was setting things up so poorly to begin with, I'm pretty sure that Hope has now started to enjoy shedding with ME as well. 

Shannon Fritze and Scott discuss strategy while Ben waits for instruction. 

The weather was perfect, the hospitality was fantastic, the company was great all round and the instruction was outstanding - what more could you ask for. 

Please Sir - can I have some more?

 

Here today, gone tomorrow.

Or close to it! We got back from our Jasper trip last night. We had such a great time we stayed an extra day. I've got a couple of days to catch up on things around here and then I'm off again on Wednesday. 

Jasper. A town where the high school kids still ride BICYCLES to school.

As usual we got off the pavement as much as possible.

Took time to smell the flowers. 

And found great places for lunch.

 Summit of Wilcox pass.

 

Wilcox pass looking down on the Athabasca Glacier. 

The boys played in the snow.

 on the foot of the Athabasca Glacier.

We took in a bit of culture.

Mighty warrior!

Native headdress - past and present.

We can't wait to do it again this September!

Next stop, down to Scott and Jenny's for a shedding clinic as well as a chance to catch up with friends I haven't seen since last fall.  Right after that my trial season starts. YEAH - it's SUMMER! 

 

Getting off the property

Our field, being shaped an awful lot like a runway strip, isn't a very good place to work on outruns. Lucky me, my neighbour Don owns a fair bit of land in the valley and he lets me trailer sheep over to his fields to train. I can use whatever field the cows aren't in.

In the past I've happily trained on this field. 

and not so happily trained in this field. 

Here's a reminder in case you've forgotten.
 
http://tailsfromthedarkside.blogspot.com/2009/06/kates-first-field-trip.html

When I mentioned my misadventures to Don, he replied with something along the lines of "Lord, why would you want to work in that field when there's a 100 acre field just past it?" 

So...this week I went "just past it". 

 

It was a "pushing past the coats in the wardrobe" kind of drive. 

 

and coming out of the other side of the wardrobe...this.

 

Yep. That should do. 

 

The "We don't need no stinking dogs!" gang.

The sheep were "WE'RE FREEE!!!"  light so the dogs got a good work out, and the field is pretty typical for around here, with lots of hills and dips that don't really show up well in photos. These hills and dips led to lots of good "learning experiences" such as coming in way too tight and below where the sheep really were, or getting lost in the dips and and coming out about 150 yards too far past the sheep. Yep. LOTS of opportunity for "learning". 

Bruce pretending to be interested in the sheep. 

When really he was only interested in this.

Tired + Dirty = Happy Dogs

We'll definitely be heading back there on a regular basis. 

Speaking of "Getting off the property" - we're heading to Jasper for a week and half of camping with a bit of hiking and a whole lot of laziness. See you on the other side.

You two look good together

Gramma has beaten the odds. She's 87, fell and broke her hip, and less than three months later she's back to living on her own. 

While Suzie has enjoyed her "country vacation" here, she was thrilled to be returned to Gramma today.  Gramma was pretty tickled herself.