Diana Antlitz (comment #13)

Darlene Hastings (comment #40)

Random numbers from 1 to 110 generated courtesy of random.org. Diana and Darlene, please email me at hln@littlehats.net to claim your DVD box set. Congratulations, and thanks for playing, everyone. Hope you enjoyed watching the Finals this weekend!

And now for something completely different, we’re going to try a blog giveaway to promote the Finals web cast. This giveaway was inspired by a similar one implement by Jenna Woginrich at her always-entertaining Cold Antler Farm blog. Jenna is a NEBCA member and owner of a young border collie sired by last year’s Finals winner Riggs. She’s training him to be a sheepdog, and I’m sure they’ll be a successful team soon!

And now, to the meat of the post. We’re giving away two complete DVD box sets of this year’s Finals–that includes every Open run, the preliminary rounds through the double-lift Finals. Everyone can enter a total of four times, by doing four different things to promote the web cast. Here’s how it will work:

* Leave a comment to this blog post saying what you’re most looking forward to seeing in the web cast–that will be Entry #1

* Post a link to this instructional video explaining how to sign up for the streaming video to your Facebook wall (some of you have done this already–you don’t need to do it again) and come back and leave a comment telling me how many friends you have that will see it. That will be Entry #2.

* Write a short entry on your own blog linking to the instructional video and come back and leave a comment with a link to that blog entry. That will be Entry #3.

* Print out this poster and hang it up somewhere in your community (a vet’s office, feed store, etc.), and then come back and leave a comment telling me where you hung it. That will be Entry #4.

Not everyone will be able to enter four times, since not everyone has a blog or a Facebook page, but I wanted to give you all the options to throw your hats into the ring multiple times. The contest will run up until the end of the Finals. At that time. I’ll generate two random numbers from 1 to the number of comments we’ve gotten, and the two numbers corresponding to the comment numbers will win a DVD box set.

Good luck, everyone!

Amanda’s albums:

http://picasaweb.google.com/ajmilliken/Switzerland#

http://picasaweb.google.com/ajmilliken/Ireland#

http://picasaweb.google.com/ajmilliken/EniscorthyMart#

Another scorcher. We think it topped 100 degrees today. Sure felt it anyway.Not much wind, just hot and bright. We are on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation here. Turns out pieces of the reservation belong to non Indians to whom it's been sold over the years. Hence Mike and Laura Hicks' ranch in the middle of the reservation.

Glorious field. Must be 1500 yards long at least. We are standing at the highest point at one end and sending our dogs almost 700 yards over several hills for five sheep, two ewes and three lambs. Some of the old ewes were tough–they would just walk away from the group and ignore the dogs. The course was straightforward but because the ground on the right was so big and rough everyone sent left on the outrun.

L&M trial field

We started with open at 6:00 to try and run as many as we could ahead of the worst of the heatMy dogs went from bad to good. Mirk was marginal, flanking too wide and not pressing his sheep to my liking. Nel ran too big again and when I attempted to call her off the set out, where she ended up, she came back to me. No score, no biscuit. "Bad Dog!" Bud and Delta had a very good run toward the end when it was very hot scoring 90 and winning the trial. Hemp and I ran just after him and also had a good go. Hemp kept a lot of pressure on the sheep so there wasn't any splitting. He was a good boy and got second with a 85. Dennis Edwards was third with 81.

The ProNovice was a bit of a rerun of the open, with Bud winning and Mickey Welsh second. Mickey came from Oklahoma and Kay from Texas to escape the heat. Oops.

Meg ran like an express train and I left the post at the first drive gate to get after her. Too many trials in a row and no chance to school her. I have been letting her run stronger and stronger in order to hopefully win and she has finally gotten completely out of hand. The correction paid off as she was much more responsive in the nursery and had a very good run, beaten by Bud and Tine's even better go. I'm very pleased that she is lifting her sheep very calmly with plenty of authority. We get into trouble when she doesn't think they are moving fast enough and really starts trying to chase. She has a lot of chase in her. Once she starts chasing I have a very hard time getting her stopped and things go downhill from there. We have been working some very tough sheep and so I have been letting her carry on a bit. A bit too much maybe.

Laura had us all up to the house for dinner and some Blue Grass music. Turns out her dad is quite a talented musician.

Mike and the water truck left shortly after noon to go fight a wild fire. Laura said he would probably be gone all night. The fire danger here is "extreme"; everything is as dry as tinder. I don't smell any smoke so they must have gotten to the fire in time.

It's finally cooling off now so we are all hidden away in our campers resting. Nothing like 12 hours of dog trialing in 100 degree weather to wear one out.

Correction to yesterday, Kay Stephens won the PN Dennis was second.

Was a lovely day. Got up it was foggy and a bit smokey and cold enough for a turtleneck and a winter coat. It got warm but never really hot in the middle of the day and has now cooled back down to coat weather. Except for the ubiquitous mosquitos it's been great running weather.

We ran PN first. The PN course was a 200+ yard outrun up a hill and over a little swale to another hill. The dogs had to run at least half of it off either hand blind. The drives were not huge but made tricky by the sage brush and long grass. Meg ran 3rd and did a great job. Not stopping quite as readily as yesterday but figuring out the pen a bit so we finally managed to get the sheep in and the gate closed. She won the day and ended up winning the dog bed for overall as well. Her first win.

After the two youth runs we moved into the open. The sheep were more difficult then yesterday and I didn't handle as well, an unfortunate combination. My shedding was terrible so after Hemp managed to get a very cantankerous ewe around in good shape I blew the shed and pen. Nel ran much better than yesterday handling the outrun with aplomb. She handled two eager cheviots very nicely and had a good run except for my poor shed. Mirk had reasonable sheep but, you guessed it, I blew the shed. So no day money, but Mirk and Hemp managed to make the cut for the double lift in spite of my poor management.

George Stambulic and Kate won with a really nice go. Nancy Stephens was second. The top twelve combined went into the double lift: Scott Glen, Lee Lumb, Joann Zoerb and I with two each, Norm Sommer, Chris Jobe, George Stambulic and Wendy Schmatz with one I think.

Had a really great handler dinner tonight after which we did the prizes and the draw for tomorrow. I drew up 5th and 9th. I sure hope I'm over my shedding screw up by then. It's a cinch if anyone gets a Cheviot with a collar it's going to be very tricky. The outruns will be hard too with the ground being so hilly. Hemp managed it well last year and got first but I doubt he remembers how and I know I don't. Still I'm looking forward to trying to figure it out.

We'll start tomorrow  with today's left over nursery run followed by tomorrow's nursery first then the double lift. So I get two more chances to run Meg. I'm really looking forward to that as well.

Michele Brothers has set up a wonderful CollieCam to monitor her recent litter over the Internet.  The web cam didn't load for me in Firefox, but it worked fine in Internet Explorer (I haven't been able to test it in Safari yet).  Check it out–these are cute pups, and mother Snap is very attentive!

Available to ship by December 15 (in time for Christmas) is a great new shirt design by Betsy Drummond:

The shirts are available in four new styles (men's and women's long and short sleeves) and lots of cool colors. Check 'em out!

From Deb Mickey:

A few days ago Donald McCaig announced the 1999 Bell Grove Plantation National Finals poster/prints by noted western artist Kim Trickey were available for purchase. 

You can now order your 1999 National Sheepdog Finals poster by sending an email to Orders@NationalSheepdogFinals.com.   Please include your full name and house address, including zip code, your phone number, and the number of posters you'd like.

Once we receive your email you will receive an email from PayPal on behalf of National Sheepdog Finals Committee, Inc. with instructions how to submit your payment.  When we received your payment, the poster will be shipped.

Attention all Canadians – please use this method to order your posters.

 US residents – $25, includes shipping

Canadian residents - $30, includes shipping

Get 'em now!

Thanks for your support of the 2010 National Sheepdog Finals!

This just in from Donald McCaig:

****
Dear Sheepdoggers,
For 8 days in September 1999, at Belle Grove Plantation, you could purchase one of three hundred 22×28 original, numbered National Finals poster/prints by noted western artist Kim Trickey.

The unsold posters vanished after the trial and when rare print dealers phoned me asking to buy the leftovers I told them I didn't know where they were.

Ten years later, the prints have turned up – in mint condition.

The 2010 National Finals committee has decided to let sheepdog people have first crack at them before we offer them to rare print collectors. And we're selling them cheap. $25 each, postpaid, until they're gone or  December Fifth when we'll put them up on EBay.

All proceeds will benefit the 2010 Finals.

Send your $25 check to Deb Mickey, 126 Sheaffer Rd, Carlisle Pa 17013 and she'll send you your poster, in a mailing tube by media mail.

Some pictures:

Meeker, Day One

Meeker, Day Two

Meeker, Day Three

Meeker, the Finals