I was gone to the Deer Creek Trial in Porterville, CA over the weekend, and had a great time as usual. The trial is held in a cow pasture running between 2 shallow, slow-moving creeks. The dogs work, then the dogs play as shown in the photo. My dogs were successful, I had a lot of fun, and Star learned volumes about big, scary range ewes running in the nursery and pro-novice. Here's an excerpt:
The rain threatened sincerely on Monday, but I entered Star in the pro-novice anyway. He was getting good mileage on bad sheep, and that's not something I can duplicate at home. Just as I sent him off, the heavens opened and the rain came down. I had to shield my face to be able to see down field. I never blew a whistle to Star until well after the lift. His outwork was gorgeous, and right on target. He came on a little strong at the lift, and had them running by the time we missed the fetch panels. That was OK, I steadied him and tried a come-bye flank. He gave ground, and I had to resort to my flank, walk-up, "come on" from the day before. The sheep were as determined to break around the post as I had seen them all weekend long, and Star did a grand job of stopping and sending them on their way. It was pretty to watch that stylish young dog work so hard and take charge.
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