Trials...: Stirling Acres Pro-Novice

Friday, November 11, 2011

Stirling Acres Pro-Novice

Last weekend, we piled into my friend Jack's RV and drove over the Cascades to Stirling Acres ranch in Coldstream, BC, where Lee Lumb and her husband Dan hosted an intimate one-day trial.

It was a beautiful location, dry and cold, and Rodeo and I ran in Pro-Novice and a couple of times in novice.D

Jack videotaped our Pro-Novice run, which wasn't ideal, but he did some nice things. He didn't hesitate on his outrun, but sliced in on the top. As you can see from the video below, we missed our fetch panels but as per the rules of the course, we had to try again to make the fetch panels before moving on to the next obstacle. Rodeo did a nice job pushing them back in the direction of the setout, and turned them back through the fetch panels. It wasn't graceful, but it worked.

Then we brought them around the post and out to the drive panels. In P-N we were allowed to leave the post during the drive and walk part way out into the field, which I did. He made the first panel and then the cross-drive panels, and we eventually timed out on the Maltese Cross. The next obstacle would have been loading the sheep into a trailer, had we made it that far.

Overall, I was pleased. His flanks were very good and he had good control over the sheep after the initial chaos at the end of the outrun.

1 comment:

TomNovember 11, 2011 at 11:09 AM
You should be happy with that run. Rodeo is calm/gentle and, for the most part, maintains good separation and pace. I really like the the way he stays off the sheep, so that they remain settled. IMO that is key to a good trial dog.
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Definitions

Gather: The dog goes out to the field and brings the sheep to the handler.

Outrun: The first part of the gather. The dog runs in a wide arc to the far side of the sheep.

Fetch: After the outrun, the dog brings the sheep to the handler, ideally in a straight line.

Drive: The dog pushes the sheep forward in a straight line, but not towards the handler.

Flank: Circling clockwise (come by) or counter-clockwise (away to me) around the sheep.

Balance Point: The point of maximum control over the sheep. Usually, the dog is on the opposite side of the sheep from the handler.

In-Balance Flank: A flank command that sends the dog towards the balance point, putting it in a better position to control the sheep.

Off-Balance Flank: A flank command that sends the dog away from the balance point. This is harder for the dog to accept because it must give up control.