06/04/2026
Well we made it back from McBride, BC, and the Robson Valley Sheep Dog Trial. First off, I would like to give a big thank you to Jen L'Arrivee for hosting such a wonderful trial. Your farm is stunning! Secondly, I would also like to give a big thank you to Karen Ramstead for these beautiful photos of Bill and I, and allowing me to borrow them :)
I was very happy with how my dogs worked. The courses were challenging, and the sheep were very clever, and fast!! Too fast for poor Rip. The courses were not your usual field trial pattern, and really tested your dogs ability to not only work at a distance, but to be able to take redirection on an outrun, flank on the fetch, and hold pressure with the sheep really pulling to a strong draw. The courses were designed so that the sheep never came to your feet at the post. Although my dogs scores, particularly on Saturday, are not great, LOL, I was very happy with my dogs. They took their redirections and were able to get over the creek and find their sheep way out in a second field, across a creek. Having never been to this trial, or on terrain like this, I was pleased that they trusted me and kept going until finding their sheep. Unfortunately for Rip, with him being slightly lame and not a fast dog, these sheep were able to outwit him and outrun him. He worked very hard and we managed to get our sheep to the pen, but I could see he was very tired, so for his sake and respect for the sheep, I retired him. Bill, worked his butt off to catch and convince his sheep to come away from where they wanted to go. He worked so well. I even stopped whistling and just allowed him to figure out the sheep on his own, as I was just messing him up. I stood at the post and let him do his thing and magically he finally won the battle and got them down the field. Although his score was low, he did amazing, got to the pen, and got the sheep penned. Unfortunately we timed out in the shed ring, but I was very happy with him. On Sunday it was more of the same for poor Rip, but he did get his sheep around the course and completed the Maltese Cross with his sheep, quite well. Bill had an excellent run for how tough the sheep and course was. He came 5th out of 34 with a score of 62. If he had not tried to cross the course on his outrun, which I quickly blew him to a stop and redirected him, he would have not lost those few points and likely would have had a higher score. Maybe even putting him in the top 3! I was thrilled for Bill. This was only his second Open trial ever, and it was not an easy one. All in all, it was a great weekend. We learned a lot and came home with lots of "stuff" to work on and train for. Thank you Jen for stretching our brains, LOL!
