The Highs And Lows Of A Trial Weekend: Part 1

   The long anticipated trial weekend has come and gone for Diva and I, and I have many thoughts. We had many success, some in areas I had concerns about, and we also had some failures that I didn't expect. I think the main thing I can take away from this trial just confirms what I already know in my training. Handler errors are usually the reason things don't work out ;-). Diva was a wonderful partner to me this weekend and she never ever let me down. I can't say the same for myself but alas I am still a work in progress. 


  Friday BVASC offered two farm trials on mixed stock (sheep and ducks). I entered both in the hopes that we might walk away with a new title. The AM trial went very well for us. Diva was calm from the start when we pulled the sheep out of the barnyard and drove them up to the arena and sorting pens. Sorting is not something I have to do a lot of so I had reservations about getting it done. I am also keenly aware of the fact that Diva does not have a very precise and steady walk up. In light of that when I was at the gate and had a marked sheep within arms reach of me while Diva was just holding them  to me I took the opportunity to grab it and shove it in :-). Luck be with me because then the other 2 marked sheep went right in and one unmarked. I decide that with that having gone very smoothly I would leave the one unmarked sheep and move on. We very likely could have sorted it out but Diva had done well and we were very early in what was a decent length course (total time allowed 25 minutes). My thought was to take the points lost in favor of not getting the stock or Diva stressed in the pen work. From the sort we took the sheep across the arena and into the back field to set up for the long outrun and gather. Diva did a very nice away side outrun and when I had the sheep with me we set of walking down the long side of the course to the duck arena and chute. There is section of woods open to the sheep and as we came close to the duck arena gate I made the mistake of moving into drive position and the sheep took that opportunity to dart into the woods. I sent Diva in to get them and she went but the sheep were good about using the trees to their advantage. At this point I remembered to go help Diva so I walked into the woods and the sheep went back into fetch mode. We walked down to the gate and I put them into the chute. From there we had to take the ducks out of one expen and move them to a hold. Once the hold was cleared then you had to repen in another expen on the opposite side of the arena. These were very young ducks that hadn't been worked much but if the dog was right and worked slowly they were nice and honest. We were able to get all of the duck tasks done and then moved back to the sheep. Diva pushed the sheep up the chute and held them at the gate to the barn yard while I opened it and then we put them back in a stall. I think that at that moment both Diva and I were bursting with joy. I had no idea how we would score but the fact that we had gotten through it was enough. A good friend, Amanda Farnsworth, happened to capture that exact moment on camera. I think the picture says it all! When all was said and done we ended up scoring a 105 which earned us a 3rd place and a leg towards OFTDm.

Diva pushing the sheep up the chute

Working the pens for the sorting

Waiting patiently

Holding them to the gate

Almost done at the gate to the barnyard!

   The PM farm trial brought a new group of sheep and a new set of challenges. We started in the barn yard again but instead of moving the sheep up the hill to the arena (which is what their routine is) we had to take them down into the duck arena and put them in the chute right away. Right away Diva and I lost the sheep up the hill to the arena and had to go get them. Once we were back down where we needed to be the sheep kept getting stuck around some vehicles that were parked there. Eventually though we did manage to get them into the duck arena and then the chute. Then it was on to duck work. This time we had to take the ducks out of the expen, put them through a duck chute, and then repen in another expen. Diva and I got through the obstacle fine but we had some trouble getting our group into the repen. Hindsight being what it was (and having the judge tell me ;-)) I realized that it was my fault that the ducks didn't go in the pen. I was standing to close to the entrance and waving my stick around. We ended up with 3 penned and I decided to move on. Unfortunately that was pretty much how the rest of the run went south. We took the sheep out of the chute to the arena and proceeded to sort off the marked ones. We got the sort done but this group of sheep were very strong on the gate and I think I lost a lot of points forcing the gate open while they struggled to get in. It was not ideal but the draw back to the barn was so strong that I knew if I called Diva in to push them off the gate that they would squirt out and we would lose them back down the hill. From the sort we went across the arena and into the back field to set out for the outrun. Here is where we lost our run altogether. These sheep, unlike the morning group, live on this farm so they know the lay of the land. As I was fetching them to the hold point they took every opportunity to lean on Diva and try to get by her to run down the side of the field and back to the barn. Diva and I were both getting stressed and all it took was a split second for the sheep to see their moment. They bolted and, instead of sending Diva on a hopeless chase, I let them go. Of course they went all the way back to the woods and down by the duck arena which put us off course. Right about the same time as Diva and I started down to the woods to collect them I also heard them give the 10 minute warning. I didn't feel like we had enough time to work our way back up the field and do the proper outrun/gather so I decided to salvage what I could and open a lower gate that lead to the barnyard area. Once inside Diva and I put the sheep back in their stall and it was all over. I felt some serious frustration at the end of that run but there were also things to look back on and appreciate. Diva tried hard but none of the sheep we work regularly have particularly strong draws and they certainly don't try and beat the dog. It's not something I have trained for but you can be certain that I will be finding situations to work on it in the future :-)!