FULWOOD BOOTH OPEN SHEEPDOG TRIALS

This weekend saw the the testing hill course at Fullwood Booth near Sheffield. Held over two days the top ten winners from both days were to compete in the Championship over the grueling course of some 700 yards plus over rough hill terrain, on a hot sunny day.

Having woken at 5:00am with some 4 hours sleep I hesitantly got out of bed and drove to the trial to arrive at 7:30. Running on Dorset and mules hoggs Skye was first of my dogs to run. Gorden Watt who took the lead with the first run of the day eventually won the qualifier. Skye finished in 4th place just a point ahead of Val Powell to make it through to the Championship. Mac again was outstanding and better on his outfield work than Skye but I slipped the sheep at the third gate and ran of time at the pen. Poor Jake had a rude awakening making it two thirds up the field before turning onto the two white horses in the adjacent field. I retired him.

In the double gather championship the dogs had to run right first and bring the sheep through the gorse before turning back and being sent on the left hand outrun to pick the sheep from the same spot. The sheep were unsighted to both dogs and handlers on occasions as they were on the sky line. The first outrun proved difficult for most handlers with only David Wood with Sal getting on the scoreboard and possibly Stuart Wilkinson. Skye running 6th needed three whistles on the first outrun but thereafter the sheep accepted her to come down the hill and gorse in workman like fashion with good lines. Turning back on her first command her second packet were equally obliging and Skye negotiated the gates to pen and she successfully. David Wood, with a second run, came to the car to congratulate me on good run before telling me he was going to "go for it" I wished him well and sat back to watch a most exciting run with Craig, with already two wins under his belt in the past week, one being in the qualifier. David's handling of Craig and the difficult sheep was enviable and workmanlike , as you would expect, as he made a valiant effort to keep in touch by completing the course, but luck was not on his side. He lost points on the two outruns and his lines were not quite as precise.

Skye took the championship with David taking 2nd and 3rd place. This was her third attempt at the title having previously been in the championship the previous two years.

Earlier  the day I made an effort to watch a particular dog who I am considering using at Stud. He did not disappoint and although he was not in the prizes he showed enough of his class to ensure I watch him eagerly over the season. More information about this dog later.

Two more trials before we go down to a three day clinic in Devon.

Nij Vyas Sheepdogs
http://www.sheepdog-training.co.uk/

Letting out sheep at trials

This is one of the most important tasks anyone can undertake as trials are often won or lost at the top end of the field. As a handler I prefer sheep to be let out and allowed to find their way to the letting out post or gently guided, where often there are nuts or mineral blocks to entice them there. Sheep, like dogs are capable of smelling the blocks, however if they are put under pressure for people letting them out they are likely to be distracted and simply run down the field. or even sideways. On several occasions last year I saw handlers letting sheep out and trying to hold, sometimes fighting , waving their arms, clapping  and waving jumpers or crooks to stop sheep from running down the field. Their actions were not appreciated by the handlers running their dogs, not to mention some dogs who were put off or frightened. By trying to force sheep all one succeeds in doing is to cause them to run away. The worst act of all in my mind is the person who stands in front of the post/or mineral bucket and thereby forcing the sheep to run sideways. Many judges of course will take account of this however given the disparity and inexperience of some judges often the handler or dog is penalised.

Points to remember

No one expects every packet to be on the post, this is just a guide

Judges should mark the outrun and lift and fetch from a straight line from where the sheep are picked up

Sheep that are allowed to find their own way will often run down the field, they know where their friends are by scent and sound

If sheep to break down the field then by bleating yourself you might manage to slow them down.

If the handler and dog are disadvantaged then a re-run will be awarded.

Sheep should be guided and not forced to the post


Calm handling of sheep in the pens will lead to better runs all round and the sheep being put under less stress which makes for better public viewing.

Nij Vyas Sheepdog Training Courses
http://www.sheepdog-training.co.uk/

Cornwall Trials Update

Went to Cornwall trials held at Delabole by John Carter. With morning and afternoon sessions each day over the weekend I took three dogs with me; Mac , Skye and Jake, who I had decided to hold back from nursery competition this winter. There were two fields, adjacent to one another separated by a track and both were good size courses, one slightly more visually challenging than the other. The same field also proved difficult for many dogs struggling to hear on some parts. To add to the challenge dogs in the top field were often hindered by whistles and voice commands from the bottom field. As if there weren't enough challenges the trial was held next to a wind farm and on Saturday particularly the wind was strong.

On Saturday Mac brought me the only success and had he been able to hear me on the fist drive obstacle I think he would have been placed higher as he missed it. Skye and Jake both had good runs on the bottom field and were two of about 8/10 dogs to obtain a score, however both were out of the prizes.

On Sunday Mac was having an outstanding run on the top field once more negotiating all gates successfully  and hardly faltering on his lines, however the cautious approach caused us to lose time as the sheep failed to part during the shed. Nevertheless he was outstanding. Jake also ran on the top field and having been redirected on his outrun to find the sheep successfully he brought them down steadily on a good lift and straight fetch before taking three commands from the bottom field and circling his sheep, to be retired. Disappointed ten minutes later I ran him on the bottom field where the running as on day one was poor bar a good run by Richard Briggs. Jake hardly faltered on this run and the sheep as on day one seemed to take to him. Having negotiated his gates Jake had a good shed however theses sheep had only penned once today and without a pen his efforts would have been in vain. I had one difficult hogg out of three and at first Jake eyed up only two allowing the third to drift away. However on my insistence he finally cover her and the gave in and walked into the pen.

Jake had previously achieved a second in his first ever open and now in his 4th trial he went onto to win.

Derwent Valley Trials

On Wednesday I took the same three to Derwent Valley near Ladybower Resevoir. See below

The course rose sharply in the third half to about 1500ft and narrowed at the top send where the Welsh cross cheviots hoggs were let out. Many dogs over the morning found it difficult to find the sheep going behind the rock face to the right of the picture and losing site of the sheep. The only handler to impress early on was Thomas Longton who had two completed runs. There is none one better than Thomas at the pen and he is a joy to watch. One of his dogs on its outrun ran into the gorse bush and into some rocks hidden and was bleeding when it arrived to lift the sheep. Thomas joked "it must have helped"

Skye was first to run in the afternoon and despite going round the rockface found her sheep quickly to complete a good course. Jake was next to run and unfortunately his sheep ended up just to the right of the rock face and despite Jake finding his sheep he was nevertheless awarded a re-run due to him being put under considerable disadvantage. On his second attempt Jake worked a dream and although his lines were generally good he/we did allow the sheep to slip the final gate but the rerun was good followed by another successful pen. Mac was last to run and although he did take a while to land on his sheep he worked like a dream, walking the three sheep across the course, negotiating the gates with some marks lost on the return and finishing with the best pen. All three dogs were outstanding and after a difficult and busy week I feel more than satisfied with their effort.

Unfortunately it was not to be Mac's day. However Jake was placed 4th so a good week all round.

Nij Vyas Sheepdog Training

www.sheepdog-training.co.uk

Sheep worrying a growing problem!

Returned from North Wales on Tuesday with some Welsh Mountain ewe lambs just to give the dogs something different to work and they were not met with the warm welcome as you will  see. They are fresh from the mountain and will take a while to settle.

On a brighter note I  managed to work the dogs up on the mountain and apart from Mac, Skye and Jake were slightly out of their depth until they managed to locate their sheep. At one stage I lost my quad bike ride and went on foot to bring some 50 ewe lambs down to the holding pens with instructions to shout if I got lost, very reassuring. Finished in the afternoon by driving 30 or so barren ewes down the mountain to fresh pasture for about three miles. Not the best way to prepare for a weekend of trialling as the dogs are all on a high, but nevertheless great fun. Will report from my trip to Cornwall soon.

The new photo on this blog is from the area I was working.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRNBzu0jrxw&feature=youtu.be

Nij Vyas Sheepdogs training courses
http://www.sheepdog-training.co.uk/

Mac's pups

Here are some stunning photos of Mac's latest litter in Belgium. Bred by Henk De Clercq. Definitely Mac pups with one that looks like our Skerry :)

Time for a laugh

Pressure on/Off Technique - Dorobo tribe

Many of you who have my book or who are familiar with Monty Roberts will be familiar with the concept of using fair pressure to work with dogs/horses. Last weekend I just happened to be watching tv and came across the following film about the Dorobo tribe in Kenya. The simple ingredients to working with all animals are calmness, self belief and confidence.

Let me know what you think