Tee Creek: Day 1

   In the days preceding Tee Creek I wrestled with nervous excitement. On one hand I was worried that we weren't prepared and on the other I knew that we had logged the hours and paid our dues. Trialing to me takes courage. It requires the confidence to go out there and let not only the judge but everyone else at the trial judge you. For me this moment seemed big, perhaps bigger than it really was. I have made a bit of a reputation for myself by finding these working situations on Craig's list and working primarily on my own so for me this trial was my chance to prove that 1.) I am not crazy ;-), 2.) Diva is a nice working dog, and 3.) Hard work pays off. No one likes it when people talk about them but I have to say it hurts me so much more to think that someone might be talking badly about my dog. Ok, so maybe I am a little crazy :-). Anyway, by the time Saturday morning rolled around I was all tied in knots and couldn't wait to just get that first run behind us. 

   The format they decided to work with was to run ducks and cattle simultaneously and then switch judges and do it again. Once that was over we would break for lunch and then move on to AM and PM sheep run back to back. Ontario saw fit to provide us with record heat and humidity for the day. 95 degrees with humidity levels in the high 70's. So by the time you took your dog out to potty you were dripping with sweat. Thank Heaven for Kelly's RV with the AC cranking!

   With 6 runs per day I am going to condense a little. A total play by play would end up being a short story instead of a blog post ;-). 

Ducks: They were a heavier bodies breed with lots of hens mixed in. On Saturday morning they started out working ok but the dog really had to have almost a completely flat footed walk and you could not over flank. Our first run was in Open and Diva wasn't taking her "steady" as well as she should have. The drive to panel 1 was a bit start stop and I didn't set myself up right to help Diva at the center obstacle. Our group of ducks ended up scattering and despite our efforts to regroup once they hit the back fence it was hard to pull them back up. We did not get any through the center obstacle and didn't get a Q. The 2nd duck run (also Open) went some what better as Diva had decided she could walk when asked and I handled the center obstacle better. This group of ducks stayed together pretty well and we did get 2 through the center for a Q that earned us her OTDd title.

Cattle: The cows were pretty nice but if your dog got in their face to much once they set their mind to run to the back fence there wasn't much stopping them. Overall I thought they were fairly cooperative if the dog would hold pressure and they were very good about not kicking in tight quarters. Our first run was when my stomach really started doing flip flops. Diva was in started cattle and my hope was to Q every run this weekend. I had made up my mind that I was going to go in the take pen with Diva regardless how she was acting because the take pen can be so key on cattle. What happens there often sets the tone for the rest of the run. We drew a nice group for our first run and Diva got a little strong in the take pen with her bark but everything went very smoothly around the course and I was able to hang back and "practice" my set up for the center obstacle in preparation for hopefully moving up on Sunday. We lost a fair amount of points on the control to the repen/repen when our nice little group did some running. I had a moment of indecision about whether to send Diva out to cover or elect to tell her keep "walking up" and have her tail gate some. In the end I choose to let her tail gate because I wasn't certain that if I sent her to cover she would stay committed. We did eek out a Q. On the 2nd run I had the confidence of a decent duck run and the morning cattle run to help me out. Diva was also feeling pretty good so we went out, took charge, and never looked back. She ended up with a nice started score of 86 and 1st place for her STDc title!

Sheep: The sheep at Tee Creek were wired from the get go. By far the lightest sheep I have ever worked and it made for an interesting predicament when it came to the 1st panel. Every group reacted exactly the same. When you would open the take pen and send your dog in the came absolutely flying out and bolted all the way down through panel one before they stopped. Very few dogs were able to cover without the sheep running into the fence so what most handlers did was flank the dog on a wide go bye and bring them back down before starting their run. It was rather odd considering that once you did that the sheep settled pretty well. If your dog had a decent steady and would hold the 45 off the fence you were ok. Diva's first Open run was ok but my set up at the center obstacle was a fail. I found myself not doing anything that I had planned to do and was standing in the mouth of the center chute, lol! We didn't get any through despite me being there because when I finally settled the sheep and had them ready to go through instead of getting out away as I asked Diva took 3 steps straight up before turning her head and it was just enough to have the sheep skim the chute. No Q for that run but a good lesson learned! By the time we got to the last sheep run of the day Diva was hot, I was miserable, and we both just wanted to lay down. Once again the sheep rocketed to the first panel so I kicked her out on a go bye and brought them back down before starting the drive. She did a great job walking steady and had a gorgeous cross drive. Coming through panel 2 the sheep bolted but Diva was able to cover and turn them back just after they passed the center chute. We steadied things up and managed to get 2 through the center. Not the prettiest set up but I was happy. Got a Q and earned her 1st leg of Open sheep. 

   On day one Diva earned her STDc, OTDd, and one leg of OTDs. She Q'd 4 of her 6 runs.