Dare's Previous Updates - 2008

©2008 Alicia Gwozdz

October 2008 News: Our first full trial season

Things have been progressing nicely with Dare and I. We attended three clinics this year: Jack Knox and Cheryl Williams, both in April, and Kathy Knox in July. All three clinics were wonderful and very helpful, and I loved seeing a variety of techniques applied to different dogs, depending on their needs and temperaments. It will be great when I’m a better handler and can think fast enough to use these new tools in my training. When things are going well and moving slow, it’s easy to remember the right things…when I need to make quick decisions, it’s a bit harder for me! Ha!

Our first trial of the season was in June at the PA State Sheepdog Championship, held at Sheepy Hollow in Hop Bottom, PA. It seemed fitting, as my first two dogs came from Walt Jagger of Sheepy Hollow, and Dare is sired by Cheryl Jagger-William’s Andy. This year’s trial was a highly emotional one for many of us at the trial, as Walt had passed away just three months previously.

©2008 Alicia Gwozdz

Jim Murphy was the judge for the Novice classes. 33 dogs went to the post on Monday. Dare and I got a 64 of 80 possible points., which placed us 8th—our very first placing! I was so excited! 31 dogs went to the post on Tuesday, and we didn’t do quite as well. I retired to remind Dare that I’d come fix things if she tried to take advantage of the distance from me. Once we got that sorted out, things went fairly well, but having left the post, there was no score for us. I found out later that our 64 point run had earned us three NEBCA Novice points—which qualified us for the Novice Finals in September!

I’d already missed a few closing dates for upcoming summer trials, so now the pressure was on to get more trialing experience before September. I entered a small local fun run and trial in July. The site is well-known for difficult sheep and incredibly heavy pressure to the set out pen, which for years had also been the exhaust pen. Entries were extremely low. On the day of the fun run, Dare was the only dog out of five on the field (including two more advanced dogs) to manage to get the sheep around the course! I was SO proud! On the first day of the trial, it was much the same; of the three entries in our class, Dare was the one dog to manage the course. We earned 65 of 100 possible points from judge Kent Herbel, and won the class. On day 2 under Lori Herbel, we unfortunately timed out at the pen.

©2008 Lori Cunningham

A wonderful opportunity came up by way of a Novice trial at Susan Rhoades’s Keepstone Farm in Virginia; TWO trials each day. Pamela Gardner was our judge for Novice/Novice. 27 dogs went to the post for Trial 1 on Saturday; Dare and I had a very pretty run which I was extremely happy with! We earned a 74 of 80 and placed fourth! Our successive runs weren’t quite as nice but I was still fairly happy with our work. In Saturday Trial 2, we got a 68 and were 9th of 26 dogs. On Sunday, a bit of a challenge was added to our course with a single-width chute placed between the drive panels and the pen, which cost many pairs a lot of points, myself and Dare included. 26 dogs ran in both Trial 1 and 2 on Sunday. We were 10th with a 69 of 90 in Trial 1, and 13th with a 67 of 90 points. It was a great trial, and for us, it was well worth the trip to Virginia to have gained a bit more experience.

There were no more trials for us until September, at the Green Lane Sheepdog Trial in Pennsylvania. The sheep here were very “touchy,” and as with many of the smaller fields here in the northeast, the pressure at the exhaust was extremely heavy. The scores in the all novice classes were very low, and even the Open dogs had to work very hard. The first day of the trial was quite warm and extremely muggy, with an annoying constant drizzle; Hurricane Hannah was on the way. Dave Sharp was our judge, and we managed to get through all 17 N/N dogs before the ugly weather hit.

©2008 Michelle Dobbs

Dare’s run on Saturday was very brief. She didn’t get around far enough when I flanked her on the fetch to cover the draw to the exhaust, and one sheep split off. I didn’t like Dare’s attitude in the way she “covered” that single, so I retired her immediately to drive home the point that she’d better think about what she’s doing if she wants to keep working. On the second day things went a lot better, and she tried to work with me more as a team. Only seven of 17 dogs in our class earned scores at all, and those seven scores were all low; Dare got a 39 of 80 possible points. That 39 earned us fourth place. It was a “family affair” on Sunday, with Perky winning the class, and Perky’s granddaughter, Heather Millen’s Kate, winning the Pro-Novice class.

©2008 Michelle Dobbs

The North East Border Collie Association Novice Finals trial was held September 20-21, 2008, in Cheshire, MA. The judge was Maria Mick. 16 dogs were entered in Novice/Novice. Scores from runs on Saturday and Sunday would be combined to determine Overall placements. Once again, the pressure from the exhaust was heavy enough to wreak havoc with many runs, and successful pens seemed to be at about a 50/50 ratio. Dare and I did okay; we got around the course without too much trouble, and got the pen. I felt as though we did pretty good work; we earned a 60 of 80 possible, and were fourth. On Sunday, we got a more difficult draw of sheep than our packet from Saturday, with one ewe that had to be turned back several times until she accepted Dare’s control of the situation. We timed out at the pen, and our score was a measly 48, which put us 7th (out of only 8 dogs to earn a score). Our work simply wasn’t as nice as the day before, and I won’t lay blame on the “less-perfect” packet of sheep—that’s trialing! To my surprise and delight, our combined score was good enough to place us Fourth Overall! We were FOURTH at the Novice Finals in our very first season of trialing! What a way to finish the season!

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