Borders On Paradise - The Under Classes

Thank goodness for our young dogs.  They redeemed the kennel's status.We started the morning with the nursery class. Scott ran Bliss first.  Scott said he wasn't disappointed with Bliss but she missed her fetch gate and ended up in 5th place with a 66.   Then Lori Cunningham ran Ford's sister, Anna and the showdown was on!

Lori Cunningham and Ford's sister, Anna, tremble in fear at the prospect of going up against Ford

 This is Anna's first time to the post and Ford's 3rd time.  Both pups are just getting experience and we were having our own competition between us to see which pup could get the farthest in the course. The pressure on the right hand side of the field was strong and it helped the dogs to be more open to the left but the sheep were often leaving early if you sent to that side.  So Lori sent Anna to the right but Anna quickly disagreed and crossed in front of her. As predicted, the sheep left early and ran back to set out.  Lori retired her run and started to walk up the field to help Anna but before she could get very far, Anna picked up her sheep and brought them down the field.  It was a positive end to Anna's first trialing experience.
Then Ford ran.  I was able to keep him on the right side of his outrun, but he was a little tight and didn't bend very far when I asked him to.  He pushed his sheep off a little bit to my left at the top but when I blew his stop whistle, he stopped on a dime and stayed down.  This was the biggest new step for him!  We worked all week on stopping at the top and not popping back up.  He took every stop all the way down the fetch but he doesn't have open flanks so he was not able to get them on line until shortly in front of me.  He turned them around the post and we started on the drive.  The line wasn't good but he took the flanks and the stops and the "there" commands like a good boy.  We made one flank too fast and ended up turning short in front of the panels.  Even though I knew we were not in competition with anyone (well, except Anna and we'd already won that contest) it was tempting to try again to hit the panel.  However, good sense won out and I remembered that most importantly, this needed to be a good experience with Ford.  The sheep had helped us with the turn, unlike in our last trial, and they trotted down the cross drive line.  Ford didn't have to push, he just had to follow and take a few flanks.  We missed the crossdrive panel, but he made a nice turn to catch the sheep before they ran back to the exhaust and then we were on our way to the pen.  At this point, we were farther than we had ever been and Ford had never seen a pen.  I opened the gate and gave Ford a running flank to guard the far side as the sheep ran in the pen.  All Ford knew was that they looked like they were getting away and instead of stopping in the mouth, he continued around to the back of the pen. Fortunately, the sheep liked being in the pen and I was able to shut it before they left and then send Ford around the front to show him where to stop, before I took them out again.  He got his first score and although it was horrible (36) I was very pleased.  He listened and was biddable and gave me what could with the training he had and I was over the moon that he took all his stops!
Back to the real competition.  Scott ran Wynn next.  Wynn was also feeling the pressure on the right hand outrun and needed a redirect but didn't really give enough.  The rest of his run was pretty good and was enough to give him a 3rd place.
The last dog Scott ran was Marianna Schreeder's Jane.  Jane was really good today.

Jane and Scott turn the post

 She had lost her temper at the last trial, her first trial, but this time there was no hint of that.  Jane was confident and cool and the sheep liked her.  She ended up in 4th place and Scott was very happy with her.
In the ranch class, Scott ran Nan first and she did a great job.

Nan

 She had only one major fault and that was missing the crossdrive panel but other than that she was bang on and nicely won it by 4 points over sixteen year old Kyra Costanzo and her Sue dog who was dangerously close to winning it.  This teenager is going to be one to watch when she moves to open because she never gets flustered.
Scott also ran John today but it wasn't really fair to the dog.  The trial had originally been full and John had lost his spot in the class.  Since he was going home to his owner Annette Haithcox this week, he didn't get work while all the other dogs prepared for the trial.  When some people canceled, Scott threw John back in.  John wasn't bad but because he is green broke and a little out of practice, he had some troubles.

John leaves on his outrun

 He did have a great outrun and lift but the sheep broke back to the set out.  John got them back and started around the course but took a wrong flank and got himself in a tight spot so they retired.  I'm sure Annette will have him back to his polished ways very soon as they get to know how each other works.
In the Pro Novice class, Ford passed this run up but his sister tried it again. This time she had a better outrun to the left, made her fetch panels and had a nice turn before she decided she just didn't know how to drive well enough to move on so Lori retired her.  Progress.  Ford and Anna will have a rematch in a month in New York at the Fetch Gate Nursery Trial and Anna will have alot more training by then so Ford better watch his back!
Scott ran Missy Parker's Tex and he didn't disappoint.

Tex

 He kept his cool, made all his panels and pen and ended up in second place at his first trial with a 69.
First place went to Scott and Jane.  Jane is really getting the hang of this and smoothly put the sheep through their paces, winning with a 74.
We will move on tomorrow and head down to Kentucky to the big show, the Kentucky Bluegrass Classic!

OPEN 2 Sat (53 dogs)
1. Bev Lambert and Joe 90
2. Tom Wilson and Sly 90
3. Sue Schoen and Ester 86
4. Lori Cunningham and Mat 85
5. Scott Glen and Don 83
6. Carla King and Sage 80
7. Carla King and Emma 79
8. Scott Glen and June 79
9. Gene Sheniger and Jet 79
10. Joyce Geier and Jim 78

Nursery (8 dogs)
1. Bev Lambert and Joe 82
2. Tommy Wilson and Roy 79

Open Ranch (20 dogs)
1. Scott Glen and Nan 80
2. Kyra Costanzo and Sue 76
3. Liz Sharpe and Joss 68
4. Mary Brigoff and Lance 67
5. Warren Mick and Shep 62
6. Jim Murphy and Hemp 60
7. Bev Lambert and Meg 60
8. Linda Fosseta and Murk 55
9. Sherry Farster and Sue 54
10. Maggie Chambers and Strike 49

Pro Novice (17 dogs)
1. Scott Glen and Jane 74
2. Scott Glen and Tex 69
3. Werner Reitboeck and Sigi 65
4. Kim Lippolis and Becky 56
5. Joanne Murphy and Speed 54
6. Gene Sheniger and Teg 52
7. Pam Davies and Teilo 43
8. Barbara Klein and Crista 43
9. Sally Malloy and Sid and 42
10. Kyra Costanzo and Tess 38