Oct 18th 09

It has been a fairly eventful week or so.

Poor Jake had a trip to the Vet with a swollen ear which required an operation. He now has a splint in his ear which he doesn’t like, but he is enjoying being on the verandah and being spoilt a bit.

The blowflies are out in force so we are jetting the sheep mob by mob, which is fairly slow. The sheep are fat and woolly and the weather is warming up fast so they are very sluggish and reluctant to move. I have been using four dogs to bring the mobs in and the dogs are working well, although when the heat comes in a bit quickly it takes the dogs a while to get used to it and they feel it a bit.

Leena has been helping to muster the big mobs for Jetting and she is a fabulous paddock dog. Always seems to be in the right position and I rarely have to tell her anything.

Yindi is doing a bit of work too and learning to slow down slightly but still dashes about most of the time.

My husband has been hit once again with a bad case of the flu so we have all been struggling a bit. However we are gettting through the work.

I did manage to get to the Margaret River Trials, escaping Thursday afternoon after I helped them draft out a mob for Jetting.

After all my concern about judging I thoroughly enjoyed it and learned a lot about losing points.

Murray Bell walked around with me for the first few competitors to show me the ropes and Andrew Gorton gave me a few pointers the day before.

Everything was fairly straight forward, I had a few questions about various elements which I double checked as I went along. The weather was a little warm but quite pleasant. Sarah Somers filled in when I had to run a dog and it was good to have a break and a snack.

I felt sorry for Gibb Mcdonald who also had his first stint at judging in the open event as Sat came out very hot and uncomfortable so I was glad it was not me out there.

To top off a lovely weekend Drift had a great run to place second in the novice with a 77.

Her run in the open is not worth mentioning though. The sheep started off running, she would not stop and then neither would the sheep so we retired. It was rather humid out there too and most of the competitors were wetting down their dogs before their runs.

Rio works better if allowed to sit and watch for half an hour before her run, which I couldn’t do as I was judging, so her novice run was ordinary. She would not go near the judge and so would not come around and bring the sheep over. She still managed a 46 though. Her second run was much better, she did get the first obstacle, but like a lot of competitors came unstuck at the bridge. As it was hot the sheep were doughy and would not go up the ramp. She scored a 54.

Angel went quite well in her novice with a 60, but the heat and sticky sheep in her open run made things a bit difficult and she only gained a 49.

Many people had a lot of problems bringing the dog around clockwise, and the sheep, smart corriedale crosses, soon worked out the gap and constantly snuck around the corner. It is tricky for the dog as they know they are not allowed to go between sheep and handler so are reluctant to come in close enough to cover the break. The sheep also quickly worked out the weaker dogs and took advantage, some of them quietly grazing and ignoring the dog completely. Or they just decided to run right over the top of the dog.

I decided to give Leena a run to see what she would do and she managed a creditable cast and bought the sheep into the dee quite nicely. We walked back down the ground and got to the first obstacle where the sheep ran too far away and she crossed. I was pleased with her, as I have only had her a short time, and she has done no trial training. She does get distracted easily though and a couple of times wandered off sniffing, so I am not sure how she will go under pressure. She is the most relaxed easy going dog I have ever had. I got her out about half an hour before her run to see the sheep but she wasn’t really interested and just crawled into my lap where she lay upside down with her head under my chin and went to sleep. More of a couch spud than a working dog, but a real likeable little girl, finding her way into my heart. (Sigh)

Only four dogs ran in the open final due to time constraints.

The winner of the Novice was Rick Janitz with Jandoree Dotcom.

Rick also placed fouth with Boylee Elly. Third was Ken Atherton with the lovely young dog Olboa Merle, and fifth was Jenny Nolan with Nolans Edge.

In the open Peter Gorman was first and second with Elshamah Ellie and Princes Caspar.

Third was Ivan Solomon with Perengary Danny.

Fourth was Grant Cook with Grassvalley Magpie who is actually John Charlicks dog. John has been unwell so Grant is running Magpie for him. Magpie had a fabulous first run in the open to score a 96.

Fifth was Ken Atherton with Ramulam Gus.

All in all an enjoyable trial, despite the warm weather.

Grant Cooke and Grassvalley Brooke still looking sprightly at almost eleven years old. ( The dog not Grant, although Grant is pretty sprightly too.)

Andrew Gorton and Just Martha first time on the ground, putting in a creditable performance.

Germaine Seymour and Euroa Nan. It was odd judging Germaine and listening to her saying my name as she spoke to the dog.

Nan is a talented young  dog, still fairly full on but showing heaps of promise.

Nan,  showing the sheep who was boss when they decided to take her on.

Karen Buller's Badgingarra Barney, who had a beautiful run in the open to score a 79 and just miss out on a place.

Ken Atherton, beer in one hand grandson in the other.

Some fairly serious playing going on, from  a doting grandfather.

Everything is yellow at home. the neighbours canola crop, the capeweed. (our oat crop a green contrast).

Even the dogs had yellow feet from working in the flowers.

Caleb, holding the mob in front of the gate.

Caleb and Angel working the sheep acros the salt flats.