Didn’t get as warm as yesterday, I think, and there was a strong wind at our backs all day. The running was very good on the smaller course with at least one score in the 90s and many scores in the 80s. Alas, none of them were mine.

I wasn’t disappointed with how either of my dogs worked. A pen would have gotten Nel in the double lift and Hemp was a good boy with poor steering on my part costing us the fetch gate. So tomorrow I will be spotting sheep for my friends in the double lift.

I missed a lot of the running as I arranged to buy a dozen sheep in Bowman at the livestock auction. This involved a lot of to-ing and fro-ing. I’m going to stay out here for an extra week and train my dogs on my new sheep. Then Joni has offered to sell the sheep for me. Sure is nice in places where people actually keep sheep. I’m looking forward to getting Joe and Odinn up to full speed. I have Odinn entered in the rest of this season’s trials and I want to try and get our teamwork smoothed out after her long layoff with her injured toe.

I hope someone posts who is in the final. I’m afraid the only ones I know are Jean and Dennis Gellings, Joni, Alison, Bud and Ron. They are running back fifteen so I’m missing a bunch. Sorry to be such a poor reporter. I did manage to get my new puppy picked out so my day wasn’t a total bust. Pictures to follow tomorrow.

Got the open results wrong, sorry, Robin French was second not Jean Gellings.

We ran a combined Nursery/Ranch twice today. Very tough going for both the competitors and the set out crew. The sheep were hard to spot and often difficult for the young dogs to fetch.

There was some very nice work made all the more striking by all of the demonstrations of how difficult it actually was. Ron Burkey and his red, Star x Don nursery dog, Shadow, did really well every run. Amanda and Dory looked really good as did Dennis Gellings with his very young Sly x Roy.

My Joe was completely flumoxed by the sheep his first run. He fetched them and then had a bad hanging on grip at the turn. His second run he had a plan and inspite of his sheep being on their way back to the set out when he finished his outrun he brought them down with great aplomb. Nice run all the way around but no pen. He finished 3rd in the nursery and 4th in the ranch tied with Ron and Shadow who beat us on the out work. Joni and Sage won the second nursery and ranch with Dennis Edwards second in ranch and Ron Burkey second in nursery. I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten how the first ranch/nursery ended up.

It got quite hot today mid-80s and very little breeze. Tomorrow is the second open on a redesigned course. I believe the outrun has been shortened a little to aid in getting done and to make spotting the sheep easier.

It’s supposed to be hotter tomorrow then today. The sun here can get really hot with the clear, dry air. The sheep require a lot of herding which can really wear a dog out.

Tomorrow is everyone’s last chance to qualify for the double lift final. The 15 dogs with the highest combined three scores from the two trials (you get to drop one score) will compete. Hemp with two DQs is out of contention but with a good run Nel could still get in. She’s going to need to do better then her last run though.

This was at least as hard a trial as the Big One. The outrun is shorter at about 500 yards but the sheep appear to be more determined. They are very tough to get off the top. This combined with a deceptively tricky outrun has ended many runs without the sheep ever coming down the field.

Once the fetch is finished, and some of them take a very long time as the sheep fight and split up in an effort to get back to their buddies in the holding pen, the turn is daunting. The sheep split at the turn and take every opportunity to get into the crowd and off the field. Many of them successfully alas.

The drive isn’t big but it’s very flat and again deceptive. The panels are metal and I found it very hard to judge where I was and managed to miss what should have been an easy second drive gate. Especially easy as I had seen about 30 people miss it the same way I did, duh!

Needless to say they shed (any single) very easily. But it’s a desperate struggle to get them reunited before they escape the field. Hemp did heroic work after his shed getting his sheep back together for the pen. Didn’t matter as I believe I put too much dog pressure on them and never got them in. Sure not my dog’s fault. He was hot and tired but never failed in his duty the many times he had to head them back to the pen.

It’s really tough sheep and trials like this that remind me how marvelous these dogs are. It’s easy for me to forget how good any run is when what I’m seeking is the perfect run. I was very proud of my “also ran” today.

The low scores reflected the tough going. I think Vergil Holland and Scott won with a 72 Jean Gellings and her dependable Star were second with 70 earned in all that wind last evening. Again I’m not sure as I didn’t see the scores at the end. There was hardly any wind today and the hearing seemed pretty good.

We finished the open at 5:30 and ran 20 Nursery dogs. We will run all young dogs tomorrow.

On a personal note I took Meg with her big cut to Baker, Montana and got her sewed back together. She has never evidenced any lameness or concern about the wound and would happily run all about. Alas, I have scratched her from the nursery. Too bad she won the last one and I was hoping to try her again. Only dog I have whose won anything here!

New day, more wind. Was a very pretty day few clouds and tons of sunshine and 30+mph winds with gusts in 50s. Wasn’t blowing directly in our faces for nursery which was good.

The nursery course was over 300 yards up a hill. The drives were moderate as were the sheep after running in two open trials. Amazing what two open runs will do toward educating a flock of sheep. We probably had more pens in the nursery then in two open trials combined.

My dogs ran okay. Meg was short on her outrun and a bit erratic on her fetch and then settled down for an excellent drive and pen. Joe started out great, really listening and responding well. He missed a flank at the first drive and over compensated with a slice which got a DQ. I was delighted with him though. He handled the big course and the sheep very well. There were some lovely nursery runs, especially Bud’s winner. It was leading any way last time I looked.

After the nursery we all hurried to Joni’s ranch where the next trial started at 3:00. The wind was strong and nearly in our faces which didn’t slow Jean Gellings down at all as she and Star had a great go. I imagine they would currently be leading it. I ran Nel but she ran too wide on the outrun and didn’t handle the sheep well. We are running three fresh yearlings each run. We got through about 20 runs to day. Another 55 to finish the first runs on tomorrow when the wind is supposed to finally abate. A much anticipated event.

A big tractor just came and pulled Jim Swift out of where he got his rig stuck. There aren’t many of us camped at the trial. Tom and Joni cleared a section of fence and did some earth moving to make us a road but most folks feared getting stuck as much of the ground remains soft from all the rain. So there are perhaps 6-7 rigs here and the rest remain at the campground.

Meg injured herself somehow today. I need to take her in tomorrow and get her stitched up. Not life threatening but a nasty cut which will preclude her running her. Too bad she ran well today.

Well, the wind continued to blow all day at something between 30-40mph. The big difference from yesterday is that it blew into our faces. Dogs couldn’t hear anything until at or after the fetch gates. Made for a very interesting trial to watch and a nearly impossible one to run in.

Still there were some nice runs. Jean Gellings and Star had a good morning run and Tom Wilson and Sly a good late day run.

Still at the end Lyle’s really nice run from yesterday was the winner followed by Dale Montgomery also from last night (tied at 70). More then half the dogs had no scores. My 54 with Nel made the top twenty.

The sheep mostly eluded the dogs at the turn by splitting and disappearing amongst the parked cars. But there were many ways to fail and over the course of the day folks discovered most of them.

We started the second runs tonight at the conclusion of the first trial. I had come back to the camp grounds by then so I don’t know what changed. Tomorrow is supposed to be more wind and warmer so we all get to try it again. The constant wind really wears you out after a while.

I spotted sheep for an hour or so with Joe. Except for being more eager to walk up then lay down he did a good job. It was blowing even harder at the set out on the top of the field then at the handler’s post.

It was nice to see some of the dogs get up that half mile outrun and pick up their sheep with total control and confidence. Didn’t happen often but it was nice to see when it did. I was particularly struck by Marilyn Terpstra’s Gin who did a great job with a group that had moved off the set out spot and we were trying to reposition. Gin took them over and marched them away with a quick glance at us to make sure there were no hurt feelings.

The wind is still whistling around my windows. Unusual for here where it generally dues down at dusk. Oh well, wouldn’t be North Dakota without a little wind.

Day started really cold and windy. Really windy, North Dakota windy which is pretty serious. Camp ground was fairly deserted when I got up so I was able to let the dogs have about an hour of free running around time.

Herbert and Alison got in from the Cattle Finals at about 11:00 and Al set up the puppy pen for Becca and her brothers which was very nice for the puppy. She has been a very good sport about all the crate time but I know it must be hard for her.

Running of the open on the big field began at 3:00. Bud was up first and had trouble on his lift. Nel and I were second. She had a great outrun. I gave her one call in so she didn’t go too wide but she nailed the top. Watching dogs run out 900 yards is very cool. The sheep are freer moving then the Colorado sheep but still turn and face the dog when ever they aren’t running away. A difficult combination for Nel who seeks total control. She didn’t hold her side on the beginning part of the fetch and went too wide letting them get way off line. We got the gates and the rest was okay. Missed second drive and another confused shed. I think I must be confusing her there some how because she’s a great shedder. Any way a mediocre run.

Lyle Ladd and Shep had a good run right after us showing that it was very possible.

I ran Hemp a bit later. He pushed too hard on the fetch and lost a sheep at the turn around the post. A not uncommon occurrence but disappointing.

I think all together they ran almost 20 dogs tonight. The wind was quite strong when we started, 30mph at a guess but dropped a lot as it got later. There is no wind now which is a very pleasant change. No wind, no rain.

They hope to finish this first open tomorrow and get ten or so dogs from the second open run. The field is dry enough so we can all drive our vehicles to the trial site which is a relief. It’s a long walk from the main road to the trial field about a mile.

So I have tomorrow off. Time to do some laundry alas. I want to get back over and watch some. It’s a very fun trial to watch. The outrun is very pretty and the sheep are very tough. A great combination.

I’m camped at the lovely Butte View campgrounds in Bowman, ND. I spent the last two days at the Boudreau’s in Marcus, SD and drove up here this morning. Since it rained most of the time I was at Bud and Sarah’s, Rene, the trial organizer from the Big One has requested that all the campers stay at the campgrounds since the ground at the Kerr Ranch is too wet to handle us all driving in and out. I don’t know how they are going to managed all of the trucks each day but I’m sure they have a plan.

I’m delighted they haven’t cancelled these trials. The rain has been prodigious. Joni Swanke told me that while they normally get 12″ of rain a year they have had 9″ in the last two weeks, and that was befoe this week’s heavy rainfall. The ground is saturated everywhere and the dirt roads are in very slick condition as I can testify to first hand after slipping and sliding down five miles of the Boudreau’s road this afternoon. It doesn’t take much of a slide to scare me with that trailer following my truck into the mud.

The practice went fairly well. Joe is still the bright point in my day. Odinn, who has been lame the whole trip was sound and got some good work. She did some nice 500 yard outruns, also some pretty poor ones as she is still very easily confused. I’m hoping this will miraculously translate into adequate prep for the 900′ yard out run at The Big One. Seems unlikely but if I wasn’t a great optimist I could never dog trial.

So I arrived at one of my favorite places at 12:30 on a beautiful, sunny, albeit windy afternoon. I’m at Bud and Sarah Boudreau’s ranch in the spring time. Its wonderful. Covered in short grass prairie with the wind moving the grass like waves.

Bud bought a small flock of sheep to entertain his guests. He let Joe and me out on his three tame, practice sheep. They were much too light for Joe accustomed to pushing the heavy Colorado sheep about. Within three minutes I had two in the hills and one 300 yards away in a swamp. Not a very auspicious start to our Dakota adventure.

Bud saddled his horse and rounded the sheep up for us and held them 450 yards away on top of a big hill. Odinn nailed the outrun completing it with a dandy lift. Unfortunately when they came out of the hollow on the fetch we were back down to two sheep. Bud from his higher vantage point saw her run through the middle and pull one poor dear down twice until she finally stayed down. Then Odinn very nicely fetched the remaining two.

Bud reset them and the second time was the charm. A good outrun and steady fetch. I only have two days here. I’m going to really concentrate on trying to get Odinn ready for these next two trials and run her in Hemp’s place.

Later in the evening I took Nel and Joe out on four of the lambs. I let Joe get a feel for them and he backed himself off and settled down nicely. Nel is working them much too cautiously. I will work her some more tomorrow.

Tom and Carla arrived at 6:00 in convoy with Dennis and Jean Gellings having joined up with them in Sturgis. Carla brought the results of the last days running. Robin French and Bill won with Jeanine Van de Merwe in second followed by Alan Mills and Linda Tesdahl tied and Hemp and me in 5th. I didn’t see Jeanine’s run but Robin’s was very nice.

So off to bed. Tomorrow will be all of us wearing out poor Bud’s sheep and showing off our young dogs. I got Joe as a puppy from Dennis and Jean and they have his two littermates. I’m very curious to see how they all stack up to my lovely boy.

These trailing days start with such possibility. Nice high country weather. Sunny with fleecy clouds. Alas the wind came up around noon and really blew pretty hard. It was at our backs which was good, but it blew so hard it wasn’t always easy to hear each other talk, which is of course the principle activity of dog trials.

Today was the last day. It was a double lift trial. Two groups of 4 sheep spotted about 350 yards away up a pretty steep hill and about 400 yards apart. After the gathers you were to split the sheep and pen the 4 your dog turned on. Unfortunately, encouraged by Larry Adam’s nice fast first run, I set the time too short at 10 minutes. If everything went very well it was time enough. But one error and you couldn’t finish.

The running wasn’t great. Many failed attempts. Even the successes usually included at least one missed fetch panel. There were plenty of finished runs but not every good run got done because of the short clock.

Hemp again had a “take no prisoners” attitude and while his sheep moved pretty fast they were very unsettled. We weren’t able to hold the shed long enough to pen. He had a moderately good turn back and was still in third place when I left.

Nel was not very good. For some reason she assaulted a sheep at the fetch gate and we were lucky not to be called off. This ruined what had started as a good go. I left right after our run but I know it scored poorly.

Tom Wilson and Sly had a good turn back marred by Sly losing track of the sheep at the top of the first out run and a missed second fetch. Carla had a beautiful turn back but again missed gates. Linda Tesdahl with Juno and Alan Mills and Sis were tied. Linda had some trouble with the turn back but good fetches. Alan had a beautiful run with a missed fetch. There were still some to run when I left but those runs would have taken some beating.

Everyone seemed to really enjoy the different challenge and the opportunity to help their dogs to find the sheep even if they didn’t get it on the first try. It felt less like a trial and more like friends running dogs. Probably because we were all so bad at it with too few exceptions.

This was once again a great week of trailing. A wonderful field and great sheep. Lise had more help this year from Terry Murray and a great set out crew. I’m not sure who all else helped but it all went off very well and was a lot of fun.

I’m currently in Torrington, WY at the fair grounds camped with Robin French. I’m on my way to Bud and Sarah Boudreau’s ranch for a couple of days then off to rainy North Dakota.

Nice day. Some wind and cool but much the best day so far.

Finished the open around 3:30. Alan Mills and Sis won with far the best run of the trial. Ron Burkey and Carla King tied for second. Wilda Barr was 4th and Nel and I were fifth.

As predicted the sheep were very nice this morning. They were a bit heavy as the day went on but handled right, as Alan showed, they could be lovely.

After the open we ran two nurseries. The first was a smallish course with about a 200 yard outrun. This was the easiest nursery thus far and most of the dogs handled it. The sheep were pretty heavy for some of the young dogs unaccustomed to being questioned. Meg redeemed herself with a very respectable performance. Her first good run on the western sheep. Ron Burkey and Shadow had a great run to win the class.


The second nursery was bigger with perhaps 300 yards on the outrun and a little bigger drive. The class was smaller with some handlers opting out of the second run. Joe had his best run thus far really handling the sheep and won the class. I was very pleased to see the top of his outrun opening up a bit and him really listening on the lift. What fun youngster he is.

Tonight was the handler’s dinner. Great food and a pleasant warm evening for sitting outside. Lise gave out the prizes won thus far. Etched wine glasses for the class winners and dog food for second place.

The course is all laid out for tomorrow’s double lift trial and the last event. Should be fun.