Caption Contest- DeltaBluez Anson aka Goose

Time for another Caption Contest. Post your captions in the comments section. As usual, Tess will do the selection. I will write the captions down on paper, toss them on the ground and Tess will fetch one for me. Very scientific and unbiased. I will not put a beef flavored treats in my favorite caption paper bundle, really!  This contest runs for two weeks.

Click on the photo for a larger view

This is Deborah and Goose (DeltaBluez Anson). Deb is learning to handle Goose and is very close to Novice level. Goose is a full brother to Rainey. He was my pick of the litter and he went to them. They are a great home for Goose and love him dearly. He is also the 2011 fastest flyball Border Collie. This photos is from one of our snow days when Deb came out for  a lesson. As you can see, it was snowing.

Wayne Seward took this photo with my camera. I handed him my camera and he took some very nice shots that day. I like this photo as it shows Deborah and Goose working as a team. I really love his tongue hanging out.

Some contest rules.

1. No naughty captions

2. You can enter as many captions as you like, but you only get one entry

3. Cherrie , the artist will ship you the nightlight. She did the design and donated it for this contest.

4. Winner will be drawn by Tess on Feb 22, 2012

5. Winner will be announced on that day and has one week to respond. If not, then the backup winner will be announced.

6. Open to USA and Canada for the nightlight. If you are out of the USA and Canada you can enter your caption but your entry will not be part of the pick, due to postage rates.

Click on the photo for a larger view

The winner will get a ultra cool gift. This is a HANDMADE Nightlight with sheep on it., Cherrie made this exclusively for this contest. The is the sheep part. It also comes with the plug in

From Cherrie:

I set up a coupon code FORNICK. Etsy forces you to attach a discount to the coupon so these nightlight shades will list at $20.20 each with a 1% discount. After the discount the price will be $20 each (plus shipping) of which I will send $10 to Tea's Wolftown to be earmarked as a contribution to Nick's care. The other $10 covers my cost to make and list the nightlights. The nightlight shades will ship with a plug-in light fixture like the one on the white chicken. They fit in the mailing box better when not fully assembled.

 http://www.etsy.com/shop/SugarfootGlass

I have also set up a second coupon code TESSBLOG. This coupon code is good for 10% off any item in my shop and will be available until March 31st. If someone buys more than one item my intent is for them to be able to use the code on every one. I don't have lots of experience with Etsy coupon codes. These are my first, so if anyone has a problem, they should give me a message through Etsy and I will fix it.
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Since Cherrie  was kind enough to donate this cool sheep nightlight, I am going to do a plug for her. She makes these from scratch and you can order one.  She has generously going to give $10 of each sale to help with Gloria Atwater's Nick Vet bill.

From Cherrie: (You will have to mention that you were referred from my blog for the discount)

Scott Glen second penning lesson

Many handlers think it is tough to pen sheep. Scott Glen is here to show you how, with good basic skills and a comprehensive strategy, can make penning successful and fun! Click the link below to continue on your journey to penning.

Sign up to receive this fabulous three-week penning course with Scott Glen by registering at www.sheepdogtrainingcourses.com

Be sure to sign up for the course when they offer it in March.  I look forward to that series. The bright side for Scott is that, he doesn't have to answer my endless questions. Wait, you can ask questions after each section.  I can't wait.

I watched this session. All I can say, it is awesome. Scott breaks it down into tiny steps so even the penning impaired can pen with ease. You will enjoy it and love it. I am really impressed.

As I watcehd this and wen Scott was giving commands, Tess, Rainey and Maid jumped up and began to look around. Tess went back to sleep but Rain and Maid ran into the kitchen looking for Scott and the sheep.

Sheep Dip Whiskey

Sheep Dip is a blended malt, introduced in 1974 by Gloucestershire gentleman farmer MJ Dowdeswell, who also owned a pub in Oldbury-on-Severn.  Sheep Dip takes its name from the English farming term for an insecticide once used on British sheep farms. There was a time when the farmers would distill their own whiskies and store them in barrels marked "SD" to avoid expensive distilling taxes, thus the term "Sheep Dip" became slang for whiskey in the region.

"Eccentrically named, yet of an unsurpassed quality, Sheep Dip was once (back in the 80's) the best selling whisky in Harrods. A whisky whose distinctively full-bodied flavour is only reached through weaving together sixteen different single malt whiskies, aged between eight and twenty years, in specially selected first-fill oak casks.

Jim Murray describes the award-winning Sheep Dip in his 2006 Whisky Bible as "Young and sprightly like a new-born lamb a fresh, mouthwatering grassy style with a touch of spice. Maligned by some, but to me a clever accomplished vatting of alluring complexity."

Blind Trust at Jan 14 trial

This trial was allowed only two dogs per handler so I made the decision to run Maid and Nan in Open and leave Rainey and Sava back home. Hope and Ron came over and they had dogs in ProNovice, Nursery and Open. The first class to run was Novice, then followed by the other class. So again, we woke up in darkness, stumbled down to the van, loaded dogs and hit the road. It was extremely cold and very humid and by the time we had reached the trial field, the scar on my sternum from the heart operations was acting up. It was as if a hot knife was buried in my chest and I could hardly function. This was not a good way to start the day. I took a pain pill but it had no effect so I stayed in the van or in Judy’s RV. The cold really set it off so by staying warm, it did ease the pain. I didn’t watch a lot of runs and didn’t even pull out my camera to take any photos. It got very windy that it blew over the canopy and sent items flying all over. It got colder, windier and the sky began to darken. Rain blasted us from the sky as we scurried for cover. I retreated to Judy’s RV and hunkered down to watch the run. I had the lovely company of Judy, Nora and Cindy. I was warm, had hot coffee and wait for my turn.

I ran Maid first and she went out wide on the away side. She came in hard and the sheep bolted but one ornery ewe stood her ground. It was the same ewe that stood off all the other runs that she was a part of the group. I whistled to Maid to ease up but she had the fire in her ear and the ear muffs on. She marched the ewe down the field. Backwards, one step at a time until she was off the course and were called off.

I retreated back to the RV as it got colder and the sky got darker. Nan was one of the last dogs to run. By this time it was late in the afternoon and the sun had began to set. The wind snuck it's icy fingers into our souls and began to slowly such what warmth we had left, leaving us a empty hollow shell of a snow crystal.  Then it was my turn.

As I walked to the post with the happy, bouncing Nan, I could see off in the distance the frosty clouds rolling in like a herd of angry horses. They billowed fast and furious. I shivered as I sent Nan. She ran deep and crisply to the sheep. Then the world went white for me.

The blizzard hit us, full force and almost knocked me off the stand. I braced and the cold froze my lips. My whistle was hard in my mouth and it was an effort to make a sound.  Words were useless and the wind picked them up and flung them back into my face. I could only stand and try to help Nan. She lifted the sheep and began to bring them down and I could see dark shadows flickering in snow. The storm hit the setout and began to chase the sheep down the field. She had a nice line and turn at the post.

As you can see in the video, it began to snow heavily on her drive as the snow storm rolled in. Ron zoomed up so you could see the run but where I was, I couldn't hardly see most of the drive. At this point, Nan and I were running on blind trust. The sheep wanted to get out of the storm,  Nan was running on blind trust and I was trusting her to do the right thing. At this point, I really felt a closeness to Nan, a real feeling of partnership, of trust and of being as one. I stayed focused and didn't let the snowstorm kick me out of the game. As i have said many times, "In the moment, you must focus" and I ignored all save but my dog, the sheep and the work.

A we got to the first of the three sets of drive panels, it was pretty much a white out at that are and I could see bits and pieces of the run. I blew walks up, steady and at the second panel, had to make a quick adjustment to make it. I didn't have a lot of time as it was white, white, a sheep, then white, white, then sheep, so during the white I replied on Nan to hold the line. The sheep wanted to hunker out of the storm and had no desire to part of the course.

Nan made the second panel and then we had to march them for the crossdrive up the field into the teeth of the storm. It was totally white and I could see Nan's black shadow in pieces and she was holding the line. At the third panel, I had the sheep line up and flanked up and hope she put them through. I think we made it but it was totally white so I don't know if we did or not but it was a gallant effort on Nan's part. At the turn, the sheep spotted the exhaust and made a break for it and I saw them dashing out of the whiteness and flanked Nan to cover them. We were a bit off for that and she swung them to the pen.

I had a hard time seeing the pen and we were requited to stay at the post. The pen was three sided and she tucked them in, so I thought but since I was having a hard time seeing the pen, two had slipped to one side. we made the attempt again but ran out of time. The missing of the pen cost us first place so it put us in sixth place. But Nan ran her heart for me and I was on cloud nine. Even though couldn't see most of the run, it was running on blind trust. She trusted me in the face of adversary and I trusted she could do right. In my mind, she won and she did, she won my respect as believing in me and I believed her.

It was a moment that we all desire and it happened on the snowy day.

Note: Ron had the camcorder on max zoom.

Good dog, Nan. I am so proud of you!! I love you!

Sheep Cyclone

A video of a farmer's car becoming surrounded by a 'cyclone of sheep' has become the latest viral sensation.

The 30-second clip, filmed on a camera phone in the Caucausus region of southern Russia, has notched up 650,000 hits on YouTube.

It shows a flock of sheep running frantically round and round the car as it tries to edge its way along a country lane.