XE Hemp

XE Hemp

Right now Hemp is my second open dog. This will be his first year in open but he's starting to show skills that may make him my main open dog. So far he has been proving to have enough scope to make a big course dog.

Hemp spotting sheep

His mother is the same Alta-Pete Megan owned by Grant Musgrove that you have many times heard me brag on. She is also the mother of Scott's Maid and is a full sister to Scott's Pleat. Hemp often shows signs that remind us of Pleat (good and bad) and definitely favors that side of his family in most of his work. However, his nice flanks come from his father, a local dog named Dale that was owned by Randy Dye. Dale is a son of Norm Close's 2005 Canadian National Champion CV Joe.
Scott put the first two months on Hemp and then I took over from there. He was not an easy dog to train. His first year in nursery was limited to only a few small trials because we were not getting along. At one point I was ready to sell him but that seemed to be the moment he turned around and his second nursery year was much improved. By the time he got to the Bluegrass he was consistently placing in nursery and open ranch. The judges noticed and voted him the Most Promising Nursery Dog. Years before, this honor had been bestowed upon Pleat who later, went on to win the whole trial. I can only hope it bodes well for Hemp.

Hemp training in Tehachapi, California last summer

After the Bluegrass he competed in the Thistledew trial in Michigan where he scored a perfect 30 point drive in the open ranch class. Normally the award for best drive is given to an open dog but in this case the drive in the open ranch was the same as the open so it was given to Hemp.

This winter we have been working on his shed and starting his look back and trying to improve upon the basics. The Plumb Lucky Trial in Missouri on April 18th will be his first open trial.

Hemp