Fido's Sheepdog Trial On Dec 27 and 28

I went to a sheepdog trial on Saturday to cheer on my students. Audrey ran Dan, Kael and Cate. Diane Mitchell ran Ben, Rob and Teine. Tim ran Reba, Nell and Billie.  Audrey picked me up so I cold go and watch, since I wasn't running that day.  That was very sweet of her.

 

The trial was held at Fido's and in a nice square pasture with fat, healthy but wily sheep.  Much thanks to all the people who made this trial a success. On Saturday, Jenni Coleman was the judge and Sunday, Sue MacDonald was the judge.   Saturday was the Novice, Ranch, PN (non Open handlers) Non Compete Open and Sunday was Open and PN (Open handlers)

 

So Saturday, I went to cheer on my friends and on Sunday, I went to run Maid and Nan. Janet Thorpe picked me up on Sunday so I was able to run at the trial. It is hard for me to drive for that long, then run, then drive back as it wears me out. (For those who don't know I have Stage Three T Cell lymphoma and very ill, Chemo to start soon)

 

Tim Browne just started herding in June with his dog, Kodi. Kodi became ill so I started to work with him with my dogs. He feel in love with Nell (aka TSN Peep) and she feel in love with him. She was going to be my PN dog next year but sometimes life changes course, so Nell became is dog. He also has been working Billie and Reba since I have been sick. He has been very diligent about lessons and doing his homework. So he signed up for his first trial and place third with Reba.  Not bad!!

 

 

Sunday was cold but not raining.  Janet drove which helped me a lot. Nan was first and totally ignored my commands so we missed the dog leg fetch. Very nice drive and missed attempt on the shed but we got it and the pen. We placed midpack but she had fun and I run her for fun. She has a blast and since she is retired, we run for fun.

Maid was next and last time at this trial, she did awesome on the dogleg fetch but this trial, she didn't listen at all and did a nice mostly straight fetch. (Sigh). Nice drive with going a little high but good otherwise. Stella shed and pen but the horrible fetch took us out of contention. She placed next to Nan in the final standings. Guess I have some homework to do!

 I don't have all the scores, sorry.

 

Janet and I headed out right after out runs as I was getting tired then. We stopped and had some Vietnamese soup which warmed up our cold bodies. hen I got home and took a three hour nap. I am good for about 4 hours, then have to take a nap. I was ok with my dogs but have to work on them, listening to me better at the top. They chose to ignore me so I will be doing dogleg work at home.

 

I had a nice weekend and happy to have friends to pick me up so it was possible to go to the trials.

Holiday Sheep

Maid herding geese

Today, I let the sheep out to graze and Maid and I did a little tending. The sun was out, and I sat in a chair soaking up the warmth and having a cold pop. Maid did quite well and then I realized the geese had wandered out of the pasture since I let the gate open.

 

The geese never have been worked by dogs unless you count over two years ago and that was three of them with Tess. They had no intention of wanting to go back into the pasture. The main male took a run at Maid with full intentions of attacking her with his beak and wings.  Not a good idea, as Maid gave him a swift nip and he decided to behave.

 

So in the end, the geese got to be put away and it was fun. Maid has worked the chickens and ducks before and it was good to see that she could work the geese as well. 

Merry Christmas

Updated Scores from Dec 13 Kirchgessner Sheepdog Trial

Off The Leash Past Two

Maid and Rainey....

for those with Springer Spaniels.....

my dogs wake me up five minutes before the alarm clock goes off....

Rain.....

for those people who have Jack Russells......

Our Shiro (RIP) was very vain on her collars. She loved to have a collar put on and be fussed over and then would walk off with her tail wagging.  Had she been a human, we could see her shopping at Nordstorm.

Off the Leash Cartoons Part One

Maid.....

Maid.....

All the dogs....

All the dogs....

All the dogs....

Rainey...

Nan...

Nikki....

Kirchgessner Sheepdog Trial Dec 13

It's been crazy here but I managed to get away to run my Open dogs at a trial this weekend.  I took Nan, Maid and Nikki. The trial was in Smokey Point, hosted by Lynne Green.  Jack Knox was the judge.

 

Outrun was over a ditch, then you had to bring the lambs over the ditch. Right hand drive, then single of the three lambs and then a pen in 8 minutes.  Maid was first, and she had nice outrun, pushy on lift and wee bit of bobble and sheep skimmed the panels. Then a decent turn and nice first leg, but I turned too early but missed one sheep (?), ok crossdrive and low at the last part, and nice turn to the ring. She took a single quite handily and marched them into the pen but at the last minute, one slipped around the pen, much to our surprise but she put the lamb in. She got 78 and I think 6th place.

 

Nikki was next and tried to cross about 4 feet in front of me so I stopped her and redirected her and she went out ten more feet then tried to cross but stopped and took the flank. She went out nice but at the lift, stopped at 3:00 o'clock and then drive them to the setout pen. Ignoring my commands. The sheep stopped as the setou dog was in the way and finally she brought them back to the fetch line. Wide turn and decent first leg, and then she tried to drive them to the woods. I got her back and ok crossdrive but low and missed the panel and wide turn but last leg was nice. I called her through for the shed but she headed the sheep that spilt off and we timed out.

 

 

Nan was the last dog to run and I run her for fun. She still is in great shape for 12 and loves to run. She was the first to the door to go in the morning. And she is in great physical shape as well.  She went out and I just let her feel the sheep and she had a nice lift, got pushy but I got her to slow down. Nice fetch and tidy turn. At the first leg of the drive, when the lambs jumped over the ditch, one spilt one way (heard his buddies from the exhaust) and the other two wanted to go up the field. She gathered them well and went on her way. We missed two at the first panel due to handler error and had a nice crossdrive until I decided to futz some on it and lost more points. Made the second panel and nice turn to the ring. The lambs didn't want to split but she worked it and got it and as we were marching the lambs to the pen, they slipped to one side but she tucked them in. She got 87 points and placed third. Not bad for a fun run! 

 

Janet, Vet Doctor Bob and I went out for an Asian lunch and then we went to Costso. Doctor Bob suggested I need vitamins and protein so I loaded up. Thanks to Janet for the use of her card and Bob being concerned about my health to get me on the right path.

 

Then I went home and slept for 8 hrs. I was that tired.

Sheep Rustling

With the price of meat going up, the thieves are rustling cattle and sheep. In the UK, they have devised an invisible liquid to mark the sheep that only show up under ultraviolet lights.

 

to read the original article click on SHEEP RUSTLING

 

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By EvansTheCrime.....   

 

POLICE are using invisible forensically-marked liquid and hi-tech number plate recognition equipment in a bid to beat sheep rustlers.

 

Officers say there has been a spate of sheep thefts in Powys in the last two months, and in response they are increasing patrols and using the latest crime-fighting technology to catch those response.

 

Nine separate incidents have been reported in the county since September, with animals worth thousands of pounds taken. Among the techniques being used by police are Smartwater - invisible liquid which carries unique markers that show-up under ultraviolet light - and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras to identify and track suspected vehicles.

 

Police say they are also working with trading standards across Powys to target the movement of animals.

 

Dyfed-Powys Police sergeant Craig Morgan from the Breconshire neighborhood policing team said: “Since September 2014 there have been nine separate cases of sheep theft, leading to the loss of thousands of pounds worth of stock.

 

"We are working closely with trading standards across Powys to tackle these thefts. We are undertaking joint operations and are actively stopping vehicles transporting livestock to ensure they are not stolen and have the appropriate documentation. We need everyone in the county to be vigilant and to report to us anything which they think is suspicious.”

Christmas Sheep

This is a cute sheep story. Here is the link to the article.

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A sheep wearing a festive red-and-green sweater who was found wandering around Omaha has been reunited with his owner.

 

Nebraska Humane Society spokeswoman Pam Wiese says someone reclaimed the sheep, named Gage, Tuesday evening.  The Humane Society was caring for Gage after he was found Sunday evening in an Omaha neighborhood.

 

Gage shares a shed with two chickens, when he isn't in his owner's house.

 

Weise says the owner doesn't know how Gage got loose. The owner learned about his whereabouts from Facebook because of publicity surrounding the animal.  Weise says the owner had several photos of Gage to prove he's her pet.  Gage is used to walking on a leash and doesn't seem to mind that the holiday apparel he donned appears to have been designed for a dog.

 

Ibex Fingerless gloves

Audrey brought me over some homemade Butternut Squash Curry soup since I was having a hard time eating. and she brought me some fingerless gloves late yesterday. I never seen these type of gloves and was wondering how well they would do, since I like to have all of my hands (including the fingers) to be warm. So, I wore them today and the weather was cold but sunny. (I will be eating the soup tonight as I had tons of food from my mom since she came over yesterday)

 

These kept my hands warm and as a result I didn't feel the cold so much on the fingers. That surprised me as I thought my fingers would freeze. In fact, my hands were quite warm all day and I was able to work dogs and do chores. The regular wool gloves are too bulky and you have to remove them when you need to do something like opening a gate.

 

 

When I got in the house, I pulled one off and with the other one, I did a few Michael Jackson moves for the dogs. Sad to say, they were not impressed. I will be using these gloves when it is cold. What a thoughtful gift! And a wonderful friend to think of such a thoughtful gift! Thanks again, Audrey.

 

Fido's Sheepdog Trial Nov 30th

We went to a sheepdog trial this weekend.  Janet Thorpe was kind enough to drive as that would have wiped me out as I have been recovering from surgery. She ran Sava and Jude and I ran Nan and Maid. I didn't run Nikki as that would have been too much for me since I am still recovering.  

 

The fetch was a dogleg fetch to a cone then through the fetch panels. If the dog brought then straight to you, they would have to go over an icy pond. Some dogs didn't get that memo. Then a left hand drive, single one of the three sheep and pen in nine minutes.

 

It was cold but I was wearing my super duty parka that has about 75 lbs of down....actually it was light but bulky but kept me warm as well as the space heaters that were provided. We had a nice ten, two heaters and lots of good company.  Ron Fischer was the judge and he did a fine job.

 

Maid was first and she had a super outrun, once she reached where she thought the sheep were be and saw that they were not, she scanned the filed then had to veer hard to the right, kick out and get behind them. She tried to bring them to the pond but I shouted her to stop and she did and we did the dog leg fetch. I am sure she though I was an idiot to veer so far off the line but she did it and according to Chris (trial host) she did the best job of any dog all day and only lost three on her fetch. The lambs were light and afraid of her (and so  would I as she doesn't take any prisoners). Nice turn and sweet first leg but she held on the pressure and kept going up the field. I had to call her name for her to do the flank so we lost major points on the extended drive. She was sure the first leg "had" to be much longer. We made a nice crossdrive and she wouldn't release the flank so I had to shout her out and then she did for a nice turn. Sweet drive into the shed and promptly did the single One of the two lambs, on her regather tried to bust to the exhaust and she went after it like a heat seeking missile and I told her to be nice so she growled at the lamb instead of biting it. You could hear her growl all the way back at the handler's tent. She put them back nicely and marched them into the pen. She got fifth despite her extra long drive and I was happy with her run, considering I haven't worked her for two weeks since I had surgery.

 

Nan went out nice then stopped where she thought the sheep would be as there was a person there. I flanked her out and she spied the sheep in the setout. She has been sent through gates at trials on her outrun so she was looking for a way to get through the gate. I told her to leave it and flanked her out and she took it and got her sheep. She didn't read the memo and tried to put the sheep over the icy pond but since they didn't bring their ice skates, she finally relented and brought them through the fetch panels so we got hit for that. Nice turn and she had to work to get them through the first panels as they wanted to lean to the exhaust. we wandered here and there as she had her own line and I had a different line for the crossdrive. Bur we made it to the ring and the sheep didn't want to settle so it took a bit to get the single. She crammed them into the pen and when she took them out and realized her run was over, her tail went wild with delight, she bounced up and down and barked with joy. It was so cute to see she was so happy with her run.....what a nut. But I run her in short local trials as she loves it and we just have fun.  Right after her run, she plopped herself near the heater to enjoy the rest of the runs.  What a goofball!

 

 

 

We left right after our runs and stopped and got some hot lunch. Then I got home and took a nap on the couch with the girls. What a way to end a fun day. Much thanks to Janet for driving!

Dog Cartoons