Donna Donahue got to judge the second day of the trial and she did a fine job. She endured the rain, wind and cold all day and judged Open, PN, Ranch and Novice. Kathleen, Hope and I stayed in a hotel and cranked the heat up, turned on the laptop to watch the Nationals Finals and had Ice Cream We had the company of our dogs and had a good night sleep. Since the trial didn't start until 9, we had a relaxing morning. Roo was second up and it began to rain on my run. The fetch was a dog leg, that was quite severe, pass through a tree and rock, through a set of panel then whip way over to the right for the last set of panels. I must not have had my coffee yet as I didn't hear about the third panels on the fetch. Roo went our smartly, stopped short as told, walked in sweetly, did the two top panels dead and as did as I told him and brought the sheep to my feet, therefore bypassing the third panel. I can't fault him as he did as told and controlled the sheep well but we lost most of our fetch points. He had a nice, steady drive, getting all of his panel and we almost had the shed but timed out. We did not get the chute or pen as they were after the shed. I was very happy on how well he worked and tried hard. I wasn't happy with my brain cramp as that cost us dearly.
Nan was my last Open run. She ran out nice, lifted off the line as told, got the severe dog lead dead on and on the drive the sheep scooted past the panels at the last moment and we had little bobbles. She was too close to the sheep for the shed and I had it set up, called her through but she had not turned to take control as time ran out, However, I was pleased with her run and willingness. My scores did not reflect the work but I was pleased how well they tried and how we teamed up. I have a few minor adjustments to make but making my whistles, whisper soft has helped as it makes the dogs really stop and bend their ear to me to hear what I am telling them. Wendy LaGare pointed this out to me and it paid off....so much thanks to her on that.
Penny O from Canada has a sweet run with Moss and it was top quality. She is a very nice person and even brought her mother, Valerie along to the trial. They are the nicest people...and we hope to see them again. She has just a charming, bubbling personality and is very humble.
Sue and Jan ran a great run to snag second place. She had a tremendous run the day before but took a bit to to the shed. Both runs were very nice and a joy to watch. She had one of the best drives on both days!
Rainey was my last run and it was raining as we went it. It finally eased up and I told her to look. She scanned the field and her body shook so I knew she saw the sheep. I sent her on the away side like I did my Open dogs and she ran out deep and wide. She was slow to walk up so I whistled her and one sheep refused to leave the grain bin. She walked in slow and got the ewe to move but was cautious. Her fetch was dean on and she took every flank like a dream. The turn at the post was tight as it butted up the pen and a lot of the sheep ran around and hung out at the pen for the first leg. I walked the sheep slow for the turn, lined them up for the drive, then quickly flanked her so she scraped along the pen to start the drive. All that close stall work paid off as she snugged along the sheep and pen for a clean turn and began to march them up the field. The first leg was a long hard drive up a hill and just before the panel, I had to fast flank her as she was slowing down so that was a few point loss but she got moving again. She had a tight turn, went high for a few steps, then had a nice cross drive. A little bobble here and there but not much and a nice tight turn and straight line to the chute. I have never done any chute work with her so I was figuring out my game plan as I was walking to the chute. She tucked them in and got them through and popped them in the pen smartly. I was very happy with her run and she got 88 out of 100 points. She was a game little dog that did everything that I asked of her. She is not pushy like Roo or Nan but is very biddable. She is getting more push in her with farm work and has been a real joy to run. She is opposite of Roo and Nan so I have to switch my gears when I run her.
Right after my run, we left to get home as Hope had to drive back to Spokane. It was a great, fun filled weekend and I had tons of fun. Sue and George go all out for their trials and we appreciate it.
1 comment:
Jealous of the trials you get to run in. But, GLAD someone else gets a 'brain cramp.' hahaha Except, I had an excuse for mine at Lacamas. Yo says, Go Rainey.
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