Back from the Sheep Races... I mean Dog Trial.

We just straggled in last night, way too late, from the March Madness trial in Tonopah, Az. This was a fun, casual trial and the weather could not have been better. A friendly club they have down there, with lots of novice people who are enthusiastic about dogs. We ran on a farm flock of saintly sheep- they were well used to dogs and it was a challenge to keep them from drawing to the exhaust and setout.

Unfortunately, someone (not me!) forgot to charge the camera, so there are no pictures to share. But here is the Jet-Date and other reports.

Jet-date: Did o.k, a little wild on day one but found her sheep and once I got control of her bad-ness, she did ok. Day 2: No comment.

Brice: Very proud of Mike and Brice. After a fast first Pro-Novice run where there was not nearly enough steady but they did get an ok score, they came together nice yesterday for their second field run and got the best score they’ve had so far and a placing (I think 4th or 5th). Would have been a better placing had someone been watching their pushy dog, who brought the sheep back out of the pen before the gate could be shut. He did well in the arena too and I’m especially jealous because someone (same person who did not charge the batteries) has not been practicing nearly enough to have put down that nice of a run.

Jane: Found her sheep! 3 times! WHO HOO. Only lost them twice…hmmm. We’ve had a little trouble adjusting to Open level, Jane and I but I think we are making progress. The outrun was small but the field was tricky enough that several dogs had problems making the outrun. Jane’s outrun was beautiful and got better each day but two of her runs, she got confused at the crossdrive panels and I had to go help her. But the middle run, she did get a complete course, a little trouble with driving but nailed the outrun/lift, shed and pen and we got 5th place.

We drove back through Wickenburg, Az and the beautiful Joshua Tree forest. Especially pretty when it’s not 100 plus degrees!

ETA: Whoops- Poor Nellie! Forgot all about her stellar arena run. I have not run Nellie for over 2 years, but she did great. It was a time trial (not points I guess, the scoring was a bit unusual) and we were not as fast as other dogs but we got each obstacle with no time faults. It was a blast running Nells again, she always did the best in arena trials- fast and accurate girl!