Red Deer Trial

Went to the Red Deer trial last weekend. I thought I had both dogs working good. Red Deer trial is a timed arena trial. We were running on dog broke Dorper sheep.
Kipp's first run was pretty good and we ended up second after the first run. Isla had a good run going up until the chute. At the chute we ran into some problems and ended up gripping off. By the time Kipp was to run his second run he was so wound up he could hardly stand still. Not a good sign. He got sticky on me and then decided to grip in dramatic style. Kipp is still trying to get used to being on the road trialing. Hopefully after this year under his belt he will start to settle down. Isla second run looked beautiful. However when she came around the post I could see that by the look in her eye she was tired of pushing the sheep around the course. So we had a little discussion and got her to backed off. But when she rounded the she to turn for the chute she gripped off. At 3 years old she just doesn't have the patience yet but that will come with time. In the end not a very good trial for us. I will put it in the books as a learning experience.

Next on the trial trail is the Calgary Stampede Stock dog shoot out. I decided to take the plunge this year and enter Isla. After the Red Deer trial it could be interesting. But if I have learned anything from watching the Stampede trial it is that anything can happen.

Working Kelpie Weekend

Hello Bloggers, I want to apologize for being so tardy on my duties. It has been crazy busy around here. So I am going to do two posts to get up to date.

two weeks ago my place was invaded by Kelpies. Poor Isla and Kipp didn't know what hit them. We had a working Keplie clinic here. My friend Karin brought in an Kevin Howell Australian man who breeds and trials working Kelpies. A good time was had by all. I can honestly say I have never drank so much at a clinic. Boy the Kelpie people sure know how to have a good time.

After two weeks straight of rain. I was worried that we would not be able to get everyone in here. After some improvising we got everything handled.

Isla was in charge of setting, sorting and moving sheep. She could not have been happier and did a very good job.Risk took a turn on sheep but really didn't know what he was suppose to do.

This is why I own dogs

OK, I will admit that the dogs came before the sheep. But if I had sheep and no dogs things would be alot different. Today I found out how easy it can be.
I noticed that one of my ewes was standing in the shed all by herself and the rest of the flock was way at the other end on the field. For those of you that have sheep you know that sheep never stand off by them selves unless something is wrong. So I grabbed Isla out of the kennel and went to the field to see what the deal was. The ewe was a bit unsettled being by herself and all. So I used Isla to hold her in the shed while I took a look at her. I noticed her face seems swollen. Weird. While I was in the shed the rain started to bucketing down hard. I wanted to compare her head to the rest of the sheep so I could see how bad it was swollen. But I was not about to got out to the end of the field in the pouring rain. So I told Isla to look back and off she went. Not even knowing where the sheep were and she probably never saw them until she was right beside them. She had to cross the creek twice as she ran back to the end on the field. I just waited in the shed and pretty soon through the willows I saw Isla bringing the sheep to me. She pushed them across the creek and into the shed. What a dog!!!!

Surprise!!!!!!

Abe and Meg

I have known Abe Marshal for sometime now and I have never known him to like surprises or large crowds of people. When Abe's friend Dixie decided to put together a little surprise party to celebrate Abe being in Canada for 50 years we all decided to go along with it. So slowly one by one Abe's doggin friends started showing up. I think when Randy and his wife Val showed up with a punch bowl and various party snacks he started to think something was a foot. Abe then decided he better go in the house and put on some cleaner close. We had a day of working dogs and a great supper to end it all. I do think Abe enjoyed himself after all of the surprises were over.

I will never forget the first time I met Abe. I had shown up at Randy's with Jet to work her on sheep. As soon as Abe saw Jet he asked me " what are you going to do with that thing?" That's what I love about Abe always willing to tell me what he thinks of my dogs. When I told him I wanted to eventually trial her Abe told me "how about I sell you a real dog" A couple years later I finally bought a real dog. When I showed up with Tom my blue Merle border collie. Poor Abe almost fell over. He said to Randy "this girl is never going to learn"

Below are some pics from the day.

Penny and Abe

Grant and Wisp

Abe


Corey

Lisa and I

Also Isla in the background eagerly waiting her turn

That rainbow stuck around for most of the day. That must be good luck. I just wanted that Penny and Lisa for the pictures. As usual I was to busy talking to take any pictures.