National Finals '10 - Nursery Finals

The final day of the nursery was a bit of a cliff hanger. The leader of the first day was Alasdair MacRae and his second run was at the very end of the final round. Earlier in the day Anne Mock from California had laid down her second consistently good run. She led the day even when the first day's second place winner, Vergil Holland also ran another good round. Vergil and Scott had a great run especially since the sheep were getting more and more tricky but he couldn't beat Anne. It looked like Anne and Vergil would probably take the day until Alasdair and Coll. Coll had a fetch that was off line and a few splits but by the time they reached the post, it had all lined out and the lines were impeccable after that with a clean pen. We all waited on the edge of our seats to see how it ended up and when it was posted, Alasdair, once again, was the nursery champion with Anne the reserve and Vergil in third. Congratulations to them all!
Kuro ran in the late afternoon. Scott sent him to the right which is his better side but he ran a little tight and got the sheep running off line.

Scott sends Kuro on his outrun

The fetch was fast and furious and didn't get back on the line until almost to the post.

Kuro racing to stop the sheep on the fetch

After that, Kuro and Scott settled the sheep very well and they worked together to make the difficult drive panels to the left.

Kuro works hard to make the drive away panels

The turn to the crossdrive (and away from the draw) was where most of the sheep and dogs came to battle. Kuro's fight ended with him running through the middle of them and circling the last sheep. After that they got back on the line and just missed the crossdrive panels. They had a good line to the pen and with very little maneuvering, got them in.

Kuro and Scott close the pen door

When it was all over, Kuro had placed 24th in the nursery nationals.
Tomorrow starts the running of the Open class. Scott and Don run mid day. Don't forget to keep an eye on things here.

National Finals '10 - Day Two Nursery

Sweep/Jr. saw the sheep in the exhaust this morning and went there. Nuff said.
There were alot more good runs in the afternoon - Vergil Holland's Nap son, Scott was a standout. I didn't see it but I heard Marianna Schreeder had a good one too.
Scott and Kuro ended up 19th for the first round and have drawn up for run 28 tomorrow.

National Finals '10 - First Day

The first day of the 2010 USBCHA National Finals was a good show. The handlers are being well taken care of by the hospitality folks and the weather, although a tad warm at times, never got too hot. The swag bag had lots of nice stuff in it including a utility/pocket knife with the finals logo on it and I got a new ABCA hat! We are finished with the first half of the first round and Alasdair is, not surprisingly, in the lead. The sheep are tough but his Nap son, Coll, did the nicest job of getting them around. They want to run like slightly nicer Meeker sheep. They don't run as fast on the fetch as Meeker sheep but they just keep going in the direction they want and the dog has to get almost to their heads to have any affect on them. This is resulting in most sheep missing the fetch gates and a fetch somewhere down on the right hand side of the field.
Herbert Holmes is in second place with his Keema. It was a very nice run that would have been even higher if the dog hadn't gotten a little excited and circled them in front of the crossdrive panels when it felt the draw there. It isn't the only one. Many of the youngsters found that pressure in front of the last panels and did something stupid. The sheep are not bad to pen and there are alot of pens but it is not a given and you have to be on your toes.
Jeanine Van Der Merwe had a smoking run going until she turned the crossdrive panel and seemed to relax and let down. Her bad line on the third leg, and no pen, hurt her.
Scott ran Diane Pagel's Kuro mid day.

Scott and Kuro sizing up the outrun

He sent him to the right since that is his better side and I don't think there is damage done by sending either way. Kuro needed one redirect as he came up the slight incline and then had a decent lift. The fetch started out as a short footrace, but Kuro caught them and got them back on line.

Kuro catching his sheep after the lift

It didn't look like it was possible to miss the panels because they were dead on line but the sheep are tricky and they slipped around it at the last second.

Kuro looking like he would make the fetch panels

After a nice turn around the post, Scott got Kuro onto the line for a right hand drive and they made a good drive panel.

Kuro on his fetch

As they do with every run, they started to race across the crossdrive of their own accord. Most of the time the sheep missed the panels low and Scott was ready for this and gave Kuro a comebye flank but he panicked and took the wrong flank, missing the panels like so many others.

Kuro missing his crossdrive panels after taking a wrong flank

The third leg of the drive was good and after one ewe dashed around the pen, they got them in with less than a minute to spare.

Scott and Kuro at the pen

His final score was a 122 which put him in 10th place for the day but we still have another day to go. Top 40 will rerun on Monday and the combined score will determine the nursery champion.
Scott is first up with Jr./Sweep tomorrow morning.

EID Classic '10 Day Two

We have had perfect dog trial weather. It never gets real hot except for during short periods. Yesterday had most people looking in the campers to see if they brought their long johns and today we have rain. Even with the cool weather the cheviots got grumpier and it certainly gave both Scott and I trouble. I had a very bitter pill to swallow when I watched my sheep being set. Four of my sheep set but the fifth one couldn't be brought out with the dog and had to be literally pushed out with the horse. They never got it with the other sheep and it stayed next to the horse's front legs. I told the judge I didn't want those sheep but it wasn't accepted and Hemp couldn't get under the horse on the lift so he left that sheep behind when the other four lifted and started down the field. There was nothing I could do but retire. I had several people ask why I didn't have a rerun but ultimately we have to abide by the judges decision and he didn't want to give a rerun.
I'm afraid after that I didn't really care about Lad's run. He didn't have a chance of getting in the double lift like Hemp did so I just did the run half heartedly and he got a 56.
Scott had to battle in both of his runs. Don drew a terrible sheep that kept running off on the drive away leg.

Don corralling a wayward ewe

The challenge was getting the dog to give ground enough to flank around her and bring her back and not cut her off. She was a little easier on the crossdrive but once she got to the shedding ring and pen she became trouble again.

Don and Scott at the pen

Don worked very hard and only once broke his cool and charged the ewe. The rest of the time he just kept bringing her back. To make things harder, the only time of the day it got warm was during that run. Their final score was an 80.
Maid drew an equally challenging ewe and it was almost the same run as Don. The bad ewe would not stay with the group but continuously kept charging off towards the exhaust or anywhere else that looked like an escape. If you know Maid, this is a perfect situation for her to lose her temper and grip but she didn't. She stayed in there although Scott said she would slow down but not stop. She worked hard enough that her score kept her in the double lift for today and Scott and her are due shortly to the post this morning.
In the pro novice, Sava had a repeat of the day before and didn't find her sheep. Kuro had some difficulties so Scott just trained on him and retired at the pen.

Kuro on the Pro Novice lift

Jr. did much better and had a very nice drive and ended up with a 67.
In the youth class, Bailey Musgrove and Sam prevailed again.

Bailey Musgrove and Sam wait for their run in the youth class

Bailey also took the overall prize. What a way to start your trialing career, Bailey! Way to go!

Bailey and Sam work to pen sheep

Open Two
1. George Stambulic and Kate 89
2. Nancy Stephens and Ike 87
3. Ian Zoerb and Freckles 87
4. Joanne Zoerb and Soot 86
5. Chris Jobe and Jill 86
6. Chris Jobe and Fly 83
7. Joanne Zoerb and Mick 82
8. Bev Lambert and Mirk 81
9. Milton Scott and Ben 81
10. Scott Glen and Don 80
Double Lift Running order
1. Chris Jobe and Jill
2. Scott Glen and Maid
3. Lee Lumb and Nan
4. Joanne Zoerb and Mik
5. Bev Lambert and Hemp
6. Norm Sommer and Lexi
7. Lee Lumb and Chica
8. Wendy Schmaltz and Fly
9. Bev Lambert and Mirk
10. Scott Glen and Don
11. George Stambulic and Kate
12. Joanne Zoerb and Soot

Pro Novice Two
1. Bev Lambert and Meg 79
2. Nancy Stephens and Tweed 76
3. Lee Lumb and Jeb 75
4. Chris Jobe and Fly 70
5. Penny Ohanjanian and Moss 68
6. Scott Glen and Sweep 67
7.George Stambulic and Bill 65
8. Bev Sommer and Jock 60
9. Holly Brunner and ? 59
10. Dave Smart and Pace 54

EID Classic '10 Day One

August 20, 21, 22, 2010 Brooks, Alberta: Joanne and Ian Zoerb put on a great trial and this one is shaping up to be no exception. It seems to draw more people every year and I believe that says something about it. This year we are judged by Herbert Holmes and your combined score will get you in the double lift on Sunday. Yesterday we started with open. I didn't take any pictures because the air is very smokey due to fires in BC. The fires are nowhere near us but are on a jet stream path that carries the smoke a long way - I will try to get some today. There were very few perfect outruns. The field is tricky with dips and hills and confuses even the best outrunners. The sheep are a mixed bag of cheviots and suffolks and mixes of each. The cheviots are not playing well with the others and if you draw a single cheviot in your group, she tends to run way ahead of the group and makes it hard to contain her when the others are lagging behind. One person drew 4 cheviots and one mix breed and each cheviot chose it's own direction with the one mix breed trying to hang out with whoever it could.
Scott ran really well with Maid. She needed a redirect on her outrun but after that was the calmest I have ever seen. The panels are not all that hard to make if you don't have a running cheviot. Maid really marched her sheep around quietly and kept her cool at the pen. She got an 82.
I ran Hemp a little later and was very happy with him. He ran too wide on his outrun thinking that he had more sheep out there than he did but I'm hoping for an improvement on that today. He had a running cheviot leader but still made all his panels AND had a great shed and pen. I have worked on nothing but his pen and shed flanks for 2 weeks now. You could still feel the newness of the concept with him but he tried his best and it paid off. Now if it could only last one more day! He also ran an 82
Lad was fine but not great. He only needed one redirect on his outrun but was a little lazy about getting over on his fetch flanks and I was late at dealing with it so that was a little off line. I was afraid of his shed because even tho he'd been shedding like he liked it all week, he had a little breakdown the other day and decided he couldn't shed. No way. No how. He did have one missed attempt in the ring and I looked at my watch and saw I had 6 minutes and thought that it was a very long time for us to run out our clock if he wasn't going to shed but fortunately, although the next one wasn't pretty, we got it done. (PLEASE let him do it again today). He had a very smart pen. He's getting super good at that and if we could just fix the shed we'd be back to doing well. He got a 77.
Scott ran Don late in the day and he blew us all away. A perfect outrun and the smoothest run I have seen in a long time. A lot of people commented on how nice a team they are. Unfortunately, the rope was wrapped funny around the pen and when Scott went to grab it, it hung up so the sheep passed the pen, otherwise the score would have been alot higher. As it was, they won the class with a 93.
In the pronovice, we were really proud of Kuro who did his outrun without help. He did fine around the course and showed his great heart and bidability. He got a 5th place with a score of 73.
Sava never found her sheep and Jr. had trouble on his outrun but got out there. Scott schooled him around the course a little bit and then retired him.
We didn't have anything in the nursery class which was filled with some very young dogs this early in the year but it was won by Bev Lambert and her young dog Meg. Bev said this pup is a handful but had a great turn around at this trial and she is pleased with her.
I missed watching the youth class but I must hurry up and finish this post so I won't miss it today. It was between Joey Swenson and his Joy dog and Bailey Musgrove and her Sam.
Joey has been doing this for a year now but Bailey has only been going at it for a few months. She has jumped into it with gusto and has taken over her father's 11 year old Sam who still has plenty of get up and go. They have teamed up and Bailey has complete responsibility for all of his care including exercising him on her bike to make sure he is limber enough to still run. I have to say that although I really like Joey, Bailey's family are special friends of Scott and I so I am very excited to say that at her first trial, Bailey won! If she continues to enjoy it like this I think there is a future for her in the dogs (her dad isn't such a bad hand himself!).

Open One (45 dogs) - ties not broken
1. Scott Glen and Don 93
2. 3. Tie - Lee Lumb and Chica
Bev Lambert and Hemp 89
4.Wendy Schmaltz and Fly 84 (continuing her hot streak!)
5. Lee Lumb and Nan 84
6. Bev Lambert and Mirk 83
7. 8. 9. 10. Tie - Scott Glen and Maid
George Stambulic and Kate
Corey Perry and Jill
Jennifer Glen and Hemp 92

Youth One (2 dogs)
1.Bailey Musgrove and Sam 45
2. Joey Swenson and Joy 44

Nursery One (9 dogs)
1. Bev Lambert and Meg 73
2. Joanne Zoerb and Boone 54
3. Lee Lumb and Cass 47

Pro Novice One
1. Penny Ohanjanian and Moss 79
2. Chris Hanson and Ben 78
3. Lee Lumb and Jeb 74
4. Don Grant and Brutus 74
5. Scott Glen and Kuro 73
6. Bev Lambert and Meg 71
7. Bob Stephens and Tim 70
8. Don Grant and Jess 69
9. Chris Jobe and Fly 67
10. George Stambulic and Bill 67

Fetch Gate Nursery '10 - Day One and Two

While we are in New York state doing a clinic at Roger and Heather Millen's Fetch Gate Farm, they hold a nursery trial every year. The field is a great one for schooling the young dogs in a trial. It is lush green with a gentle slope (unless you are walking up it, then it feels like a big slope) and dog broke Katahdin sheep that are easy for the dogs to see. This year there were 8 dogs in the trial.

On the first day, Rainey did very well. Her outrun was the best it's ever been and her lines were pretty nice.

Diane Pagel's Rainey

She had a little trouble with the drive away but other than that she did well until the pen when she had some difficulty getting them in. She placed 3rd on the first day! On the second day her fetch and drive lines were not as nice so she didn't place.
Scout (the kelpie) also had a good trial. She had some trouble covering on the fetch on the first and second day due to pulling up short on the outrun but her drive was pretty good and she had a good pen both days.

Sherri Purcell's Scout

On the second day, Scout came in third - a personal best!
Kuro didn't have a good run either day. Some dogs do well when they sit for a few days and some don't. Kuro needs to be worked and had been sitting while we were clinicing. Fortunately, since he was already qualified, Scott was able to use the time to train on him and fix some problems that he would probably let go if he was still needing a leg for the finals.

Diane Pagel's Kuro

On the other side of the coin, Jr./Sweep showed that he could do really well if he has some time to sit and relax between trials. His biggest problem had been his outrun and on this field he really figured it out. He had a great outrun and a nice fetch.

Scott's Sweep/Jr.

His drive was nice too except for Scott's mistake. On both runs he turned short of the drive panel. On the first day it cost him the win but he was still able to hold onto second place and get his first leg for the nationals. On the second day, he still won and got his third leg for the nationals. Very good Jr!

Bluegrass '10 Day Three/Four

Even though the day is not over, I thought I'd better update you on how things are going. Tonight is the handler's dinner so I may not have time to do another update when the runs are over. First I'll just say briefly that Maid's run yesterday was a little Western. Running sheep and finally she'd had enough and gripped on the crossdrive.
In the underclasses they switched to different sheep. They were now the rerun open sheep. Every year this gives the babies a surprise and this year was no different. Kuro's first experience in the nursery class didn't work out and he ended up with sheep back at the setout and one in a corner. When he ran again in the Open Ranch he got it figured out and ended up in 3rd place.
Scott ran Megan in Open Ranch and even though he didn't finish the course with her, (she sliced a flank on the drive and the sheep ran back to set out) he is really liking her.
I haven't seen any of the younger dogs today and they are still running the Open Ranch right now. The open field is hot as usual. It was a cool enough this morning that I was able to run Hemp without having to wet him down. He's been keeping a cooler head which is his main problem. He overheats himself with excitement before he gets to the post. He had a good outrun and lift and had a decent fetch. At the time of day he ran (and quite a bit all day) the sheep have been taking off to the handler's right and the fetches have been so far off line that many people are getting DQ'ed by the judges for being off course. Hemp never had any problem with that. I was proud of him holding his line. His drive was pretty nice too. We missed the crossdrive panel high and that was about the only thing that wasn't good and considering the wind was blowing in the wrong direction, he was really trying hard to please me. When we got to the shedding ring, the problems started happening. My sheep really wanted to start running. I've been told I didn't make it any better but Scott was running on the other field and didn't see my run so I had to rely on other people's opinion. I had a missed attempt and then after much running and flanking I got the shed. At some point in this run, Hemp got the idea I was mad at him. I thought it was because of all the hard stops I had to blow so he'd hear me on the crossdrive in the wind. A person who's opinion I respect said it was in the shedding ring. Regardless, the run continued to fall apart. Hemp was physically good but mentally spent and wanted to take a break. He kept thinking I was calling him off and tried to recall to me. I finally got him to regather the sheep in the ring and we got to the pen. We almost had it. Those sheep really wanted to pen but Hemp was spent and when I asked for a very important stop, he couldn't give it and we ended up timing out at the pen. I am not upset with the dog. I need to re-evaluate how I'm handling him if he's becoming sensitive to me. He handled the sheep well around the course and got a 74 with no pen. I know that I'm glad that I finally get to participate in one of Scott's shedding clinics this June because I really need it with both Hemp and Lad.
On to the Superstar: Donnie made the double lift! He got an 87 today and had to struggle for every point. It was hot and the sheep weren't happy. He made all his panels and had a nice fetch but it looked like any minute he was going to grip off. Scott said his drive was off line alot but from my angle it just looked a little bit. His shed kinda took Scott and Don by surprise when Scott saw an opportunity and decided to call Don in on it at the last minute. I didn't see his breakdowns but I know they accepted it and they made the pen look easy. I'm so proud of both of them. Don is very green at this (it's his first double lift) so Scott is going to take it easy on him tomorrow, especially if it is in the heat.
Scott's run dropped Hemp and I off the double lift leader board but we couldn't be more happy about the result. There were only 13 dogs left to run so Hemp stayed in there almost until the end.
Don't forget to check the bluegrass website for the younger dog's scores for today.

Bluegrass '10 Day Two

Sorry I didn't update last night. We went out to dinner and there was alot going on here at the trial so it got late.
Yesterday was a weird weather day. It was cool in the morning for quite a while but then got hot, very hot. Then a HUGE storm came in and poured crazy hard rain but cleared out about 20 minutes later and then it got humid and hot. If you look at the scores on the bluegrass website you will see the trend because the sheep reflected the weather.
Maid ran when it was still cool but the sheep are crazy in the morning (don't know which is worse, the crazy sheep in the morning or the heavy ones in the afternoon). Her lines weren't very good and the judges called a missed attempt as a shed. If you are not familiar with scoring, a missed attempt is usually 5 off your 10 point shed. If you then shed a good one on your next try, you will get away with a 5 point shed -as opposed to getting your missed attempt called as an actual shed and pointed as a bad one. Then you get only 1 point because it was so bad, even though it was actually a missed attempt. So that was what happened to Maid. Her shed got one point and they timed out on the pen. Their score was a 49 so they won't make it to the double lift on Sunday but their next run today could still give them a chance for day money.
Hemp ran after the storm in the heat. The sheep did not want to move. The 4 runs before us (with the exception of one older dog who got them off the top but didn't finish the drive) couldn't move them and the 3 runs behind me couldn't move them either. It was not a good time to run. Hemp had a good outrun and lift and then started to fly about behind his sheep so I gave him a steady and he laid down. (note to self and note to anyone else - DO NOT try to fix problems by training the day before a big trial - Hemp was running through his "there" at the last trial so I tried to fix it and ended up making him stop instead of "steady") This was a big mistake because once you have them moving you want to keep them moving. I was afraid he'd tire himself out before he got down the fetch so I thought I'd just settle him behind them but when he laid down the sheep started to graze and they didn't want to move again. I started out by whistling him up. After a few minutes, when that didn't work, I tried voice, asking him up. That didn't work so I finally started getting grumpy with him. I stressed that if he didn't get up he was going to get in alot of trouble. I thought about walking off but I've never made the walk of shame and I didn't plan on doing it on my strongest dog. We were losing ALOT of time trying to get the sheep re-lifted. One scribe told me that the Welsh judge, Hefin Jones, thought about calling me off, but when Hemp finally got them moving, he was impressed. As soon as I saw him shift them a little bit I started telling him what a good boy he was and kept him coming. I could NEVER do this with Hemp usually - he would lose his mind and race the sheep or attack them if I talked to him that much. It was dangerous but I couldn't let him lay down again. Just before the fetch panels I went back into regular mode with him and slowed him up and made the panels. The sheep like to jump over the fence to the handler's right and join the crowd for some reason so the first drive leg is dangerous. I chose to start the drive leg a little high so we could drift down onto the line and not get too close to the fence. It worked and Hemp had a great drive. He lost only 4 points from one judge and 3 points from the other. It was a very different Hemp though. He was a little fried mentally by that difficult fetch and he was actually very smooth and quiet through the drive. It allowed me to make tight turns and have good lines. When I got to the shedding ring, I knew I was about out of dog and didn't want to risk him in the heat. I decided to lay him down and see if I could maneuver a shed without having to move him much but I wasn't going to try to hard and if it didn't happen then so be it. We timed out in the shed. I was very happy with his try. It took alot of heart to move those sheep after he had stopped. (I wish he hadn't stopped in the first place but most dogs weren't moving them at that time of day anyway) He got a 64.
Kuro was the star of the day - he won the nursery class with an 84! He is now qualified for the national finals. He made all of his panels and his only problem was being a little low on the crossdrive but he did very well. We are proud of him! He definitely gets the "Most Improved" title from our kennel. I can't say enough about how good he was.
Jr. needed some help on his outrun and didn't do that well. He got a 50.
Rock, in the Pro-Novice class, retired on the drive but did fine leading up to it. We found out that the day before he had gotten a 7th place! Not bad for a dog who wasn't planning on going to the post at the start of this trip.
Lad ran early today. The sheep are very jumpy this morning and have been very difficult. I didn't think it would be too bad for us but we had a bad fetch line and although our drive lines were very good, the sheep were running and just when we thought we had the panel, they would jump around it. We missed both our drive panels and then in the shedding ring, they wouldn't let me or Lad near them. I had a big hole and called Lad in but he didn't come in fast enough and we had a missed attempt. I decided to call the run and retire. The score wasn't competitive anymore and the judges have 134 runs plus a double lift (plus they have been judging on the nursery field for 2 days) - I didn't want to waste any one's time. He had given his best shed in his last run and the judges didn't like it well enough to call it so I figured this wasn't getting any better. We are very sad as he likely doesn't have enough points to make it to the nationals this year either.
Maid runs later today, and Hemp has about a 10:30 draw tomorrow which is a good time to run. The sheep will be a little more settled than first thing in the morning and it should still be coolish. I will try to refocus and shake off the doldrums so that Hemp will have his best shot.

Bluegrass '10 Day One

Oh, boy! There have been alot of runs here today. I'll try to remember the highlights of our dogs. I'm sorry that I don't have much about other people's runs today but between trying to catch Scott's runs on both fields and my own run, I haven't seen much of anyone else's. I can tell you that on the open field, Lyle Lad and Shep had a beautiful straight fetch and on the nursey field, Ron Enzeroth was awesome running in the middle of a horrible storm and ended up 2nd I believe.
The definite hero of the day for our kennel has been Donnie.

Don on the fetch

These sheep are very hard to get off the top of the open field. They try to keep running around the dog until about 50 yrds high of the fetch panel - and this is a 450yrd or so outrun! Certain times of the day they have been very heavy. The weather started out cool and rainey. We had the BIGGEST claps of thunder I have ever heard in my life (yes, Bob lived through them although he didn't believe he would). Then, when the rain left, it got warm and SUPER humid. Now at about 6:30 it is cooling down. They are still running on the open field and are about 2 hour's behind schedule.
When Don ran it was still cool and rainey. He lifted them off the top like they were no problem and kept his characteristic cool head. We wondered how he'd react to these sheep because he is just 3 years old and has never encountered a fetch or sheep like this. He was off line to the right for a little while before the fetch panels but got them back just as he passed through them. He had a nice turn around the post and made all his drive panels, even with a clap of thunder on his crossdrive. His shed was quiet and calm and he and Scott made it look easy.

Scott and Don in the shed...

They were patient at the pen and made it in with no points lost. They have an 86.5 and there is still a whole day to go tomorrow but they are near the top right now.

Lad was our other open dog today and I'm afraid our run was a bitter pill to swallow. Lad was very good and people keep telling us what a spectacular run we had but unfortunately things didn't work out for us. It was blazin' hot when he ran but it didn't affect him that much. It was the first time he had done an outrun here at the bluegrass without needing help to get to the top and only pulled up a little short by my calculations (and Scott's) but the judges seemed to feel he was dramatically short and took 6 points off of him. The sheep were heavier at 3PM and so he was slow to lift but wasn't too far off line and made his fetch panels. He had a wonderful drive and got a 27 out of 30 points but our downfall was the shed. The sheep spread out quite easily and got to eating so I called Lad in and he made one pass through and back again on the sheep. I thought it was good enough (and so did Lad who turned to regather) but the judges are consistently having the dogs hold longer. So we reshed. And reshed. And reshed again when they finally called it. I had 50 seconds to make the pen and Lad was extraordinary there. He never let the sheep settle or run behind the pen. Back and forth as fast as he could he wore the sheep down (who were harder to pen than Stampede sheep) until they went in. THEN, I made the mistake of trying to close the pen a fraction of a second too soon and one popped out. It ran behind the pen and Lad got it and put it in without loosing the other two out of the pen but before I could shut the gate they called time. 63 disappointing points.

The lower classes have been rough but the dogs have now been up the field and should be better tomorrow. Kuro in the nursery, had one redirect on the outrun and just missed the fetch panels. His turn was going to be good but the sheep slipped around the post the wrong way. From then on, Scott did some training, knowing he couldn't place today but hoping tomorrow he could do better. He got a 65.
Jr./Sweep had a crossover but then had a great drive. Hopefully, he understands the outrun now and will show his talents tomorrow. He had a 51.
Due to a mix up in entering dogs, Scott decided to throw a dog in the Pro-Novice that he trained over the winter for Roger Millen. Rock hasn't been tuned up to trial but was game to give it a try. He finished with a very respectable 67.
Rainey is also running this evening but as of yet I haven't heard how she did.
For all of the scores check out the Bluegrass website http://www.bluegrassclassicsdt.com/index.html

Chinquapinwood Trial '10 - Day Three

The great weather has held out for the last day of this trial. Today we had the "ranch" class which was a combo of nursery and Open Ranch.
All our dogs did nicely with maybe the exception of Meg who didn't find her sheep until Scott walked out and helped her. (but once she found the sheep she looked really good) There is a hill then a dip and then the sheep are spotted on the next hill so it's not an easy outrun which makes us proud of the dogs who did get out there.
Jr./Sweep was first and had a good outrun but then was a little crazy on the fetch and not very clean on the drive.

Scott and Jr. turn the post

He did have a nice pen though and earned a 60 which placed him in 8th place in the Open Ranch but didn't get him a leg in the nursery.
Kuro was next and was very good. He had a nice outrun and fetch and drive BUT just in front of the crossdrive panels he took a wrong flank (there was alot of pull on the high side of the drive panels and many dogs messed up at the panels when they tried to cover) and missed the panels just short but then had a good pen.

Kuro on the last leg of the drive

He ended up with a 71 which put him 4th in the Ranch but SECOND in the nursery and got him his first leg towards the finals!
Roxy ran in only the Ranch class and with one redirect on the fly she made it out on the outrun.

Roxy turning the crossdrive and starting the third leg of the drive

After a little time to settle on the fetch she finished well and ended up with a 67 and a 6th place.
Last to run was Sava who had heavy sheep. Despite that she pushed on and did her best. Her final score was a 53.

Scott and Sava spot sheep

Tomorrow we move over to Masterson Park and the Bluegrass starts on Wednesday!

Ranch Class - 43 dogs
1. Vergil Holland and Scott 79
2. Bob Washer and Spain 75
3. Mary Thompson and Rio 72
4. Scott Glen and Kuro 71
5. Nancy Schreeder and Fox 67
6. Scott Glen and Roxy 67
7. Vickey Russel and Devi 65
8. Scott Glen and Sweep 60
9. Jan Thompson and Hannah 56
10. Allan Hickenbottom and Jill 56

Nursery Class - 23 dogs
1. Robin French and Bill 79
2. Scott Glen and Kuro 71
3. Mary Thompson and Frost 71
4. Maureen Robinson Hellbender 68
5. Chris Chambers and Molly 67

Shaker Village '10 - Day Three

I'm sorry. I have no scores. It's so wet that there was no way for me to write them down! There has been more rain here than I have ever seen. Don't get me wrong. We are still having a good time! It's really fun to try the difficult sheep on the hilly course. It's just so wet and boggy that we are uncomfortable. Quite a few people didn't get to run their dogs today due to the fact that the one lane bridge that leads across the creek flooded and no one could get in or out of the trial area. (Except Bob Washer who walked and waded through the water to get up here and run his two dogs at the end of the day - then, he walked and waded back!) Still, there was roughly 50 dogs run. Our poor judge, Lyle Lad was stuck judging from a golf cart with a tarp around it but she gamely stepped out of her only protection to make sure she was able to see over the hills to judge the dogs.
To make a long story short, Scott and Don tied with Paul Tucker and Rick with a 94. They had a run off for first place and Donnie won!
As for the rest of the dogs - Kuro was awesome in the nursery and he just gets better all the time and seems to have tons of confidence. I'm sure he will qualify any day now.
Sweep/Jr. - crossed over on his outrun but then had a great run around the course.
Maid didn't have a bad run but gripped a little in the shed as the sheep ran back to the exhaust. I don't know if she was called on it.
Hemp worked wonderfully. I was so happy for him as he marched those sheep around with good flow and went every where I asked him to.
Lad was also good and ran at the very end of the day with extremely difficult sheep (and had a good outrun!) who didn't want to move and wanted to go in all directions when they did move. Lad kept them together and still kept his lines and finished well.
In a couple of days I will try to bug Leigh Ann for the scores to post but it's going to take a little time for them to get out of here and cleaned up so I won't rush them.
Shaker Village has been wonderful too. They have been monitoring the water over the bridge and comped rooms at their hotel for stranded handlers. They have also been trying to find a way to get food over here. (we have plenty for ourselves)
Keep your fingers crossed that the water goes down tomorrow!

Shaker Village '10 - Day One

Today's weather was beautiful but we have been told to batten down the hatches for tomorrow! We always enjoy Shaker, however the outrun and sheep are difficult for our young dogs. The outrun is a up a quite dramatic bowl/hill and the sheep like to take off as soon as the dog makes contact. Our dogs had it rough today but they had alot of company. I had a hard time getting a top 10 in each class. Most of the time it was the outrun that caused the difficulty. Any of Scott's dogs that got a score had alot of points off on the outrun but had really nice fetches and drives. Peg and Scout didn't run. Scott thought they were not ready for this trial.
Roxy did very nice in the Ranch trial where most of her points were lost on the outrun.

Roxy on the fetch

She made all of her panels and controlled the sheep well. She and Scott also got their pen.

Scott and Roxy at the pen

Their final score was only a 50 put it put them in 4th place.
Kuro almost had his leg again in the second Nursery but just missed it (outrun problems again), getting a 4th again.
Sweep/Jr. did the same thing. His outrun was difficult but the rest of the course was pretty nice and he got his pen.

Jr. catching up to his sheep on the fetch

He finished with a 46 in 8th place.
Both Rainey and Sava didn't find their sheep today.

Nursery 1 - 18 dogs
1. Vergil Holland and Trim - 70
2. Bruce Fogt and Cam - 65
3. George Rodgerson and Sam - 59
4. Vergil Holland and Scott -53
5. Paul Tucker and Tyne -46

Nursery 2 - 15 dogs
1. Paul Tucker and Tyne - 69
2. Bruce Fogt and Cam -64
3. John Gross and Cruz 63
4. Scott Glen and Kuro - 61
5. Robin French and Bill - 58
6. Pam Gardner and Meg - 58
7. George Rodgerson and Sam - 52
8. Scott Glen and Sweep - 46
9. Linda Fogt and Vic - 35
10. Colleen Croxall and Grady -32

Pro-Novice - 19 dogs
1. Paul Tucker and Tyne -78
2. Maureen Robinson and Bender -73
3. Vergil Holland and Trim - 72
4. Denise Teal and Jesse - 64
5. Dal Krazter and Whiskey - 62
6. Robin French and Dot - 53
7. John Gross and Calli - 48
8. Colleen Croxall and Grady - 41
9. Priscilla Walker and Gael - 33

Ranch - 20 dogs
1. Bob Washer and Spain -64
2. Vergil Holland and Scott - 64
3. Ann Lamar and Ty - 55
4. Scott Glen and Roxy -50
5. Pam Gardner and Meg -42
6. Kathy Kawalec and Sue - 35
7. Kathy Kawalec and Luc - 33
8. Dal Karatzer and Shane - 33
9. Linda Fogt and Val - 28
10. Jeni Hilscher and Britta -20

Another Trial

We have arrived at Pleasant Hill, Shakertown in Harrodsburg, Kentucky. Tomorrow, the Shaker Village trial starts. I love this trial. Not only is it put on by good people (Leigh Ann and Paul Tucker) and the area is beautiful, but it is full of historical buildings that I can tour. We have a perfect parking spot (it's the little things you have to appreciate when you are on the road as long as us!) that is private behind some barns and on gravel so that the expected rains on Saturday and Sunday won't bog our truck down. The puppies are in their x-pen next to us, under the shelter of a dairy shedrow so they will be able to play the weekend away while it rains, and there is plenty of room to run the dogs.
Scott's clinic at Kate Ash and Dal Kratzer's seemed to be well received this past week and we got some training in on the trial dogs. I also got some beginning round pen work on my two nursery dogs for next year, Dave and Syn.
Yesterday we met up with Heather Russell and Kelly Murningham who treated us to a perfect sunny, but not too warm, day of training on a local farmer's field. Heather brought her horse and she and Kelly traded setting out for us so we could get our young dogs exposed to a pony up at the top.

Kelly and her dog Molly head out to hold sheep for us

We attracted a few locals who came out to enjoy the scenery and watch the trial dogs go through their paces.

Scott and Diane Pagel's Sava get ready to outrun

Tomorrow we have the under classes and due to some cancellations we were able to add a few more dogs to the running order. Peg, Rainey and Scout (who will make her debut) will get to run in one of the nursery classes. Sava and Roxy will run in the Adv. Pro Novice and Sweep/Jr. and Kuro will run in the other nursery classes.

Plumb Lucky '10 - Day Four

Yesterday, the last day of Plumb Lucky, was another beautiful day. Such a nice farm and wonderful people put this trial on that it was good to see them have mild weather to go along with the great trial. The wind came up again in the afternoon but it's not that there was no hearing, the dogs just had to be more careful and listen. Hemp tried very hard to listen and was working well but sometimes he'd have great short flanks and then I'd ask for a big flank and he'd over run it a little. I don't think he was being disobedient because he was trying really hard to be good. I'm happy with him. We again missed the crossdrive gate but had a great pen and I was so proud of his shed. We had a good cut and there is no hesitation in him about coming in and holding and it boosts my confidence to know he'll always come in. We ended up with an 87 AND got his first 6 USBCHA points of the year! I'm really happy with him.
Maid definitely had some difficulty with the hearing but stuck with it and Scott used it as a training opportunity to square out her flanks on the shed.
Scott had a great run with Donnie.

Don on the fetch

Really nice around the course but when he missed the crossdrive gates he knew he wouldn't win so he trained on him at the pen and shed instead.

Scott and Don at the pen

He finished with an 83 and was in 14th place.
Nursery was rough again. Scott said he was again happy with Kuro and Sweep but the sheep running for the barn was just too difficult at this point in their training. They worked hard and learned alot and should be ready for the next trial.

Sweep catching running sheep

Sava and Scott did well in the Open Ranch. She had a big improvement over the day before. She had a reasonable outrun but the sheep ran for the barn again and the fetch gates were missed. Other than that she had a 73 and was fifth. Scott really liked my Megan in this class. He still retired her early but he said the she didn't get pushed around on the fetch which he liked. She had some trouble on the drive away so he retired before she learned any bad habits.
Scott was very pleased with the Ranch dogs, Badger and Kyzer. Badger really shined and took first place!!! Kyzer wasn't far behind and was third!
Many thanks again to the Fleming family, Thad, Kelly Whitney and Wyatt. Additional thanks to Deb and John Cleveland who do all the paperwork and help keep the trial running smoothly.
We are off to Michigan for a week of training on our own dogs and Scott has a clinic. We will get to Shaker Village at the end of next week.

Open 3
1. Alasdair MacRae and Star 95
2. Alasdair MacRae and Nap 94
3. Stephanie Goaracke and Liz 94
4. Kathy Knox and Sal 94
5. Vergil Holland and Dally 93
6. Mariana and Penny 93 (a daughter of Scott's Pleat!)
7. Tricia MacRae and Cap 91
8. Chuck Dimit and Luke 88
9. Jennifer Glen and Hemp 87
10. Nancy Duley and Ben 86

Nursery 4
1. Alasdair MacRae and Nick 86
2. Stephanie Goaracke and Gwynn 85
3. Vicki Kidd and Macy 85
4. Vergil Holland and Scott 81
5. Don Russell and Molly 81
6. Tricia MacRae and Tess 80
7. Paul Tucker and Tyne 77
8. Alasdair MacRae and Hoss 77
9. Chuck Dimit and Cole 76
10. Ron Enzeroth and Jake 74

Open Ranch 2
1. Alasdair MacRae and Hoss 82
2. Linda Meyer and Faith 82
3. Don Russell and Molly 82
4. Catherine Laria and Rae 79
5. Scott Glen and Sava 73
6. Mike Schragel and Jake 73
7. Orville Maxwell and Elva 70
8. Steve Kunkle and Dollar 70
9. Robin Reasoner and Hawke 69
10. Lise Anderson and Mack 58

Ranch 2
1. Scott Glen and Badger 71
2. Vergil Holland and Trim 70
3. Scott Glen and Kyzer 68
4. Lyle Lad and Billy 68
5. Alasdair MacRae and Nick 67
6. Chuck Dimit and Cole 65
7. Nancy Duley and Jock 59
8. Susan Abrams and Kacee 58
9. Caryn Miller and Tess 57
10. Marianna Schreeder and Soot 54

Novice 2
1. Sam Smith and Pip 57
2. Terry Wright and Witt 43
3. Whitney Fleming and TJ 37

Plumb Lucky '10 - Day Three

Sorry I didn't have an update for you sooner. It's been bad service for me here and I'm doing what I can. The weather has been nice and maybe a a little warm for our Canadian dogs but they are adapting well. The sheep are getting tired of this and just want to go back to the barn so it is getting difficult. The best time to run is in the morning when there is no wind.
Scott did well with his open dogs. He is making that very hard crossdrive on a regular basis which I can't seem to do. Both Maid and Don got an 89.

Maid

Lad had a decent run for his third go but it was a pen then shed this time and we didn't get either. Lad is difficult to shed with because you can't have him too far away or he won't come in fast enough to keep the sheep apart and you need to have a big hole.
I was pleased with Hemp and we were doing well but the hearing was difficult. He got a nice shed but the single ran all the way up the field when we tried to bring the two back to the one. The two were running fast away too so we didn't know which to go for. Everyone seemed to think there was no right answer for that one. Anyway, we had to retire since our single was all the way at set out (about 400 yrds away) before we could do anything about it.
Both Kuro and Jr. had really improved in the Nursery and Scott was pleased with them but they just didn't get the draws to be competitive.

Kuro

Jr. missed getting his first nursery leg by only 1 point. In Open-Ranch Scott ran my Meg who didn't open her flanks up but couldn't really do that or she'd be pushed off the field. He retired her but wasn't displeased with her for her first trial (and he's only worked her about 8 times before I turned her over to him). Roxy did ok but not good enough to place and Sava had to retire even though she had a nice outrun because her sheep raced down the field and beat her to the exhaust.

Sava trying to catch her sheep

In Ranch, both Badger and Kyzer did well but didn't have good enough sheep.

Open 2
1. Ron Burky and Hank 92
2. Alasdair MacRae and Star 91
3. Vergil Holland and Dally 90
4. Scott Glen and Don 89
5. Scott Glen and Maid 89
6. Stephanie Goracke and Nina 89
7. Kathy Knox and Sal 85
8. Mariana Schreeder and Penny 85
9. Tricia MacRae and Max 84
10. Allen hicken bottom and Meg 84

Nursery 3
1. Alasdair MacRae and Nick 85
2. Alan Hickenbottom and Molly 84
3. Stephanie Goracke and Gwynn 82 (I really like this dog)
4. Paul Tucker and Tyne 79
5. Vergil Holland and Trim 76
6. Marianna Schreeder and Soot 74
7. Viki Kidd and Macy 73
8. Scott Glen and Sweep 73
9. Lyle Lad and Billy 65
10. Catherine Laria and Rae 64

Open Ranch 1
1. Catherine Laria and Rae 81
2. Linda Myer and Gnat 79
3. Vergil Holland and Scott 77
4. Don Russell and Molly 74 (this is a littermate to Jr.)
5. Stephanie Goracke and Gwenn 73
6. Linda Meyer and Faith 73
7. John Wentz and Faye 68
8. Robin Reasoner and Hawke 66
9. Steve Kunkle and Dollar 63
10. Alasdair MacRae and Coll

Ranch 1
1. Alasdair MacRae and Nick 87
2. Tricia MacRae and Tess 85
3. Paul Tucker and Tyne 85
4. Vergil Holland and Trim 84
5. Susan Abrams and Kacee 78
6. Chuck Dimit and Cole 75
7. Lyle Lad and Billy 75
8. Robin Reasoner and Jan 74
9. Lyle Lad and Nick 73
10. Alasdair MacRae and Hoss 68

Novice 1
1. Sam Smith and Pip 44
2. Judy Parker and Blythe 35
3. Whitney Flemming and TJ 26

Plumb Lucky '10 - Nursery 2

Nursery 2
1. Catherine Laria and Rae 83
2. Alan Hickenbottom and Molly 83
3. Stephanie Gorake and Gwynn 81
4. Tricia MacRae and Tess 79
5. Alasdair MacRae and Nick 79
6. Lyle Lad and Billy 77
7. Scott Glen and Kuro 76
8. Ron Enzeroth and Jake 75
9. Paul Tucker and Tyne 74
10. Lyle Lad and Nick 71

Plumb Lucky '10 - Day Two

Today has been a much better day. There were improvements on the nursery dogs and the open dogs performed well.
Maid ran very well today. She missed one panel but it didn't hurt her too much and she got her pen and shed. She finished up with a 91! It gives her about 30 USBCHA points total.
Laddie ran well in his first run today (they started the second open class late in the day so he ran again in the afternoon). He needed some help on his outrun - what else is new? but after that he performed very well. We almost missed the drive panels because I turned short but we had time to fix it without much damage. We did miss the crossdrive panels which are hard to hit but had a perfect pen and actually got the shed - barely. I took a risk and called him in on a tight one and he flanked behind me and they called shed only a half second before he gripped (well, Lad never really grips but he makes it look like one so we get called anyway) Fortunately, the judge (Bob Washer) only pulled one point for that. We got an 85 which got us about 10 USBCHA points to add to the 6 we all ready had.
His second run was better for him, worse for me. I turned short on the drive panel again but this time I missed it and had to re attempt. Everyone said my lines were good but it just got messy after that with me missing the crossdrive panel and this time the shed-pen held me up and I ran out of time on the shed. Fortunately w have one more time to try it again before the weekend is done.
On the nursery field, Kuro was much improved and almost got a leg but missed a panel and just missed the cut. Jr. was a thousand times better, and although only a 55 we were happy with the improvement. Scott also ran Doug Brewer's Peg. It was her first time to the post and she got lost on the outrun. When she found them she crossed over and then split them and Scott retired. She will get another chance tomorrow to try again.
Rainey also ran today.

Scott and Rainey wait for sheep to be set

She had difficulty on her outrun and needed several redirects (the outrun is up a hill so it takes some practice for the dogs to get it) she then had sheep run fast down the hill and she didn't catch them until after they passed the post.

Rainey starting her drive

There was alot of trouble getting them to the drive panels so Scott retired her. She'll get a little more training when we practice some more in Michigan next week.
I haven't gotten the final results for the second nursery yet - I will post them later.

Open 1
1. Alasdair MacRae and Nap 95
2. Tricia MacRae and Max 92
3. Scott Glen and Maid 91
4. Tricia MacRae and Cap 91
5. Vergil Holland and Brook 87
6. Jennifer Glen and Lad 85
7. Alasdair MacRae and Star 84
8. Mike Gorake and Pard 83
9. Allen Hickenbottom and Vick 83
10. Paul Tucker and Rick 82

Plumb Lucky '10 - Day One

It is so beautiful here at the home of Thad and Kelly Flemming in Leeton Misourri. The grass is green and the sun is shining. It's hard to believe that only a few weeks ago they were thinking of cancelling because the field was too wet. It is quite dry today but we are expecting a rain storm tonight and tomorrow AM so I expect that to change.
They ran one nursery class today and about 21 open dogs. We had a so so day. Kuro ran second in the nursery class and wasn't bad for his first time to the post. He ran out to the left nicely but then started to cut in at about 11 'o clock. Scott shouted him out and he corrected himself but these sheep really wanted to run and didn't need much of an excuse to run hell bent for leather to the barn.

Kuro starting the fetch

They missed the fetch panels but shortly after, got it under control. Around the post and almost made the drive away panels but Kuro misunderstood Scott's commands and tried to return to him causing the miss. The sheep started running again to the barn on our left on the cross drive and Kuro did a nice job of keeping them around the line and made the cross drive panels.

Kuro stopping a ewe breaking for the barn

His line to the pen was difficult while the sheep kept pulling on the draw but they made the pen. All in all he didn't do a bad job and considering he had never felt a draw like that before, he adjusted quite well.

Kuro on the way to the pen

Jr. ran later in the class and I missed it since I was running soon on the open field but Scott said it didn't go well at all so he retired him. If Sweep doesn't do well tomorrow, he'll scratch him from the other classes and run another dog in his spot. He can work on him next week while we are in Michigan between trials.
The open field is a nice one. They are setting on horseback and most people are sending left. They are running two ewes and a lamb and there is usually one mildly difficult sheep in each group. I sent Hemp to the left and he had a good outrun. He slowed up a little at the top and I thought he'd pull up short but he corrected it but the sheep had run off to my right. I flanked him over and he caught them and brought them on line, albeit a little fast and made the fetch panels. Nice turn and held his line well on to the right hand drive panels. The sheep pulled hard to the right but he had them and made the panels. Our turn was a little wide so our crossdrive wasn't great and we missed the crossdrive panels high. I gave him an away flank and he took the wrong one and crossed his course. We fixed it and headed for the pen. Unfortunately, I let my guard down a little with him and he sliced and the sheep headed around the pen. We tried a few more times but I realized that the run wasn't going well and retired. I liked some things about his run - he wasn't that hard to handle and I could have let up on my whistles but I was being over protective of the stops. He also handled the heat just fine (we have snow still at home and this is the hottest our dogs have been since September) but I also was disappointed that things I thought were fixed are still there. Not as bad as last year but I have to guard against them and I thought they were gone (taking the wrong flank after a panel, slicing at the pen). We will see how our next run goes and regroup next week in Michigan.
Scott ran Don today. He had to have a rerun since his sheep were let go early and I missed most of his second run because I was cooling down Hemp. It wasn't bad. Scott said the sheep were a little jumpy and he thought he had the drive away panels done but he made a little adjustment and the sheep surprised him by their reaction and got around the panels. He made the crossdrive panels, got his pen and then got the shed which is not easy. They are asking for a single on the head but most people aren't getting it (the lamb is making it difficult). Scott ended up taking the lamb on the butt so it won't be full points but it was getting hot for Don so he got what he could. His score was a 75.
I don't have all the open scores for today yet but after the first 11 dogs Tricia MacRae was in second with Cap and a 91. It was a very nice run. Vergil Holland was right behind with his Brooke (a half sister to Scott's Don) but Alasdair and Nap had a great run and they had a 95. I will try to get the rest of today's scores tonight or tomorrow AM.

Nursery 1 - 22 dogs
1. Alasdair MacRae and Coll 85
2. Lyle East and Bee 72
3. Lyle Lad and Nick 69
4. Tricia MacRae and Tess 69
5. Chuck Dimit and Cole 66 (don't know why but this dog has only 3 legs!)
6. Vergil Holland and Scott 63
7. Stephanie Gorake and Gwynn 62
8. Ron Enzeroth and Jake 59
9. Scott Glen and Kuro 59
10. Catherine Laria and Rae 56 (tie not broken)
10. Alasdair MacRae and Nick 56

Imp. Kuro

Scott's first nursery dog is Kuro owned by Diane Pagel of Delta Bluez kennels in Washington.

Diane Pagel's Imp. Kuro

Kuro is a son of Cheviot Jamie who won his first open trial at 11 months of age and since then has won over 25 open trials. Jamie was formerly owned by Bobby Dalziel of Scotland and is now owned by Angie Driscoll at Kinloch Sheepdogs in Wales.

Cheviot Jamie -photo by Angie Driscoll

Jamie goes back to Highgate Ben and Bwlch Hemp.
Kuro's mother, is a little black bitch named Bess from Ireland who goes back to Bobby's Wisp and Dryden Joe.
Kuro is a stylish young male who was born in December of 2007 and started his training in November of 2009.

Kuro working in the barnyard at Alta-Pete Farm

His first trial will be at the Plumb Lucky Mules trial in Missouri in mid April of this year.

Kuro controlling two troublesome sheep