Living it!: March 2010

ETA: Charlie's away to his new home!

This is Charlie. He's 15 months old and probably won't cut it as a sheepdog. So he's sterilised and available to a good home.

His current owner says:
"He is a beautiful boy, great nature and temperament and a wonderful companion. He is a reluctant sale but as he only barks at the sheep and not much else, is not a lot of good as a sheep dog so has to move on."

I think he'd probably be a good agility prospect, if anyone's interested (he can be Sporting Reg if you like), and I'm sure he'd fit in well as a pet for an active home. You'd certainly have the spunkiest dog at the local park!

If you're interested or know someone who might be, contact me and I'll pass on his owner's contact info.

Wow, I'm glad that's over.

Ken Atherton and Kiwi Knight:

I love our club trial- it has ideal facilities, a nice ground, and it's close to home, but if I thought it was a challenge running the office with one small child for the last couple of years, I had no idea. BabyK was pretty well-behaved, apart from straining my nappy supplies, but J is just too old to be happy hanging out in the office and sleeping the day away. Thank God for the handy fenced playground, for our portable DVD player, and most of all for the crew of kid-wranglers (Glenice and Joanne, Glen Scott, Jenny A, Deb B et al) as well as the others who stepped in and took over the office whenever I was otherwise engaged- Jenny W (above and beyond the call of duty for a brand new member), Nick W, Glen and Marianne (as usual!)

Kids in the caravan:

J in the office, amusing himself by reading:

and by decorating Bill:

Glen Scott with BabyK:

It's a hard life:

I only left a couple of people out of the catalogue, kept my office scribing/timing stuff-ups to two, and overall I think it was a great success, at least in that it wasn't a great failure. We restricted people to 6 runs per handler, which fitted in fairly tidily to the three days available and the limited sheep, although it did get a little bit scary in the middle there. Wayne and others were kept very busy trucking all weekend to maintain a steady supply of lively yet argumentative sheep. And the weather was great- mostly coolish, even a little bit of rain, but enough sun to keep us all warm.

Ray Sutherland with Swagman Cyndy, contemplating:

Ray Sutherland with Christies Tammy, reminiscing:

Ray Sutherland, telling Jenny Atherton what he'd like Sam W to do with her b$%^& camera:

Results-wise, not such a success for us personally- again, I was Queani-less (more on her and the five little Accidents later), so I ran Bill in everything, pulled Pinky out again against my better judgement, and gave Ziggy her first go. And then I ran R's Bella in the Open, just for the hell of it. Not much to write home about from any of that- poor little Ziggles didn't see the sheep and crossed, Pinky got them to the race but was disconcerted by the scary horned beasts so I retired (a common theme developing there). Bella was nice and steady but just would not listen to me at the D, wouldn't come off the head, so I retired.

Bill did passably in the Novice, made it to the pen with lots of time to wind off lots of points. In the Improver he had some very difficult sheep, and when, after asking them nicely and not-so-nicely a number of times, they kept giving him stick, he ended up losing his temper and getting disqualified. The Open sucked- I had just started feeding BabyK when a number of quick runs caught me by surprise, I went on the ground in a tizzy and shouted at Bill when I shouldn't have, and then he sooked a bit at the race and we ran out of time. My fault mostly.

R did better- Fly had skinned all her pads and was totally lame, so she stayed home and he ran some new dogs. Trim made her debut (didn't see the sheep, crossed), as did Bonnie (was in season, away with the fairies) and Jim (first time ever on 3 sheep, cast okay but got confused and crossed). Jim pulled off for a while later and now he's got the hang of it, I think he might actually be a 3sheep dog! I think he retired with Bella at the race. In the Open Fred had some tricky sheep, managed to pen but just missed out on the final. Tess did well- she was fired up initially but started to settle and listen and they penned, made the final and ended up 4th.

Open judge Ivan Solomon with R's Pendalup Tess (Braiston DonxEl Shamah Ellie):

Andrew Gorton's Just Martha (Grassvalley TippyxBoylee Ella), Esme's litter sister (Esme NEARLY got a run- next time):

The sheep were "challenging", horny little devils that were quite stand-up-ish but fast at the same time. There weren't many pens over the whole trial, and a large number of teams made the pen with time to spare and then ran their points off doing laps. The pen was angled slightly away from the line of the carry, so the sheep couldn't see in on their approach, and it seemed that if you missed your first attempt, you were doomed.

The let-out, featuring Andrew Gorton, Jenny Whitelock and Wayne Hall:

It was good to see a few new members- some just spectating, others helping out around the trial, and some giving it a shot for the first time. It's a long time until the next 3sheep trial (June, I think), but we'll have a few yard and utility trials in the meantime.

Swagman Frankie:

Boylee Ceilydh:

Linthorpe Wokka (a Fred son):

Hayden Harries with Mac's Magic, a Fred daughter:

Mike Scott's Torbay Badger, another Fred daughter, at the bridge:

Torbay Tom- purely ornamental this time, but sure he could do better himself... I'll give him a go at the end of the year if I can get him casting:

Tom and Badger's mother, Tig:

Hitting the deck:

More family portraits:
Kiwi Knight:

Knight offspring-
Ramulam Patch (Kiwi KnightxPerangery DJ) with Phil Dorrell:

Olboa Ben (Kiwi KnightxBoylee Kelly):

Stirling Sheepdog Club Annual Arena Trial
Results

Encourage
Deb Baile Karragullen Maggie (kelpie) 46

Karragullen Maggie in her first trial:

assisted by Ivan Solomon, judged by Nan Lloyd:

Novice
judged by Grant Cooke
1) Malcolm Seymour Euroa Nell (collie) 77
2) Jenny Nolan Rocky Edge (collie) 73
3) Neil Kristiansen Badgingarra Toppie (collie) 72
4) Nick Webb Morillo Doff (collie) 70

Euroa Nell (Stoneridge HarryxGlenview Ruby), Novice and Aggregate winner:

Morillo Doff:

Kumbark Caleb:

Rocky Judy (Ramulam GusxRocky Bear), a sister to Nan Lloyd's Balto:

Boylee Clancy (Bellview DalexBoylee Salt):

Nolans Kade, I think:

Improver
judged by Marianne Rogers
1) Gordon Curtis Binnaburra Jess (kelpie) 80
2) Malcolm Seymour Euroa Nell (collie) 77
3) Ivan Solomon Perangery Floss (collie) 72
4) Nick Webb Morillo Doff (collie) 68

Binnaburra Jess (Bonnie's sister- Binnaburra Tuff x Binnaburra Tina):

Glenmar Midge:

James McGowan and Binnaburra Kiwi:

Christies Cocoacina:

Open
judged by Ivan Solomon
1) Grant Cooke Grassvalley Tod (collie) 92 + 69 = 161
2) Gordon Curtis Binnaburra Jess (kelpie) 83 + 73 = 156
3) Ray Sutherland Swagman Cyndy (collie) 79 + 73 = 152
4) Richard McGuire Pendalup Tess (collie) 79 + 70 = 149
5) Marianne Rogers Bellview Obie (Bernis- collie) 71 + 71 = 142
6) Ray Sutherland Christies Tammy (collie) 77 + 64 = 141
7) Neil Kristiansen Badgingarra Casey (collie) 82 + 58 = 140
8) Gordon Curtis Binnaburra Tuff (kelpie) 74 + 62 = 136
9) Jenny Nolan Nolans Jackie (collie) 81 + 51 = 132
10) Grant Cooke Pendalup Candy (collie) 77 + 53 = 130
11) Malcolm Seymour Euroa Nell (collie) 78 + 31 = 109
12) Peter Gorman Princes Casper (collie) 85 + X = 85

Bellview Obie (Bernie) at the bridge: