Mr. and Mrs. Dog: Our Travels, Trials, Adventures, and Epiphanies

Mrs. Dog Buys Our Ticket

60 Mrs.DogBuysOurTicket T he National Finals Sheepdog Trials began at noon on Tues­ day, September 18, in a forty­acre field outside Gettysburg, Penn­ sylvania. One hundred fifty dogs would be winnowed to forty, who’d then compete in the semifinals Saturday. The best seventeen of those would run on Sunday for the championship. If Luke or June reached that magical top seventeen, we’d be on the United States Team to compete in the World Trials. If either Mister or Missus got into the semifinals, we still had a shot. The outrun was 470 yards across a rumpled field with a deep gully after the lift (the moment of first dog/sheep contact), so sheep and dog dropped out of sight for what seemed like forever but probably wasn’t more than twenty seconds. In that gully, the sheep might veer left or right and often reappeared wildly off the correct line to a “dogleg” post 300 yards in front of the handler. Earlier that summer, our trial field had hosted Civil War reenactors, who’d erected a low rock wall behind which blue could repel gray or vice versa. A straight fetch would bring sheep and dog over that wall. Should a dog snag its paw under a loose rock, its owner might have a $500 cruciate ligament operation and a dog laid up for weeks. Hence the dogleg fetch. The dog should lift his sheep and fetch them a hundred yards or so where all vanished into that gully. The sheep would reappear (one hoped) at the dogleg post, after which they’d turn forty de­ grees toward the fetch panels at the left end of the stone wall. If you sent your dog left, he’d outrun uphill, through a swale where he couldn’t see the waiting sheep or his anxious handler. Three hundred yards out he’d disappear into that gully and Lord knows where he’d come up. If he emerged where he ought, he’d enter dense woods. Through the woods, Mrs. Dog Buys Our Ticket 61 for the first time since leaving his handler, the dog could see the sheep. During the left outrun, the handler would lose sight of his dog until it got to the sheep. Sending right seemed the smarter option. I can’t put it off any longer. Here’s everything you wanted to know —and more—about sheepdog trials. There are simpler doggy tests, tests most dogs easily pass, viz., the AKC’s “herding” trials. Such faux trials gratify owners who can win prizes and put “herding titles” on their dogs. But the traditional sheepdog trial is not meant to gratify dog owners. The trial is designed to produce useful sheep­ dogs. Since trials began, the winners’ offspring have become working farm and ranch sheepdogs all over the world. Farmers and ranchers don’t have time to train dogs, and trust that Sheepdog Shep will “get it” if they yell at him just a little louder. The miracle is: more often than not, Shep does get it. In 2001, 2002, and 2003, not one sheepdog completed the course at the National Finals. The winner lost the fewest points before he ran out of time. Dog fancy friends are puzzled: “What kind of sport is that?” A Day­ tona 500 that no stockcar finishes? A Super Bowl without touchdowns or field goals? Fair enough: what kind of a sport is this? In 2001, 2002, and 2003, somewhere on a farm, ranch, or remote sheep station, there was a sheepdog that could have completed those Finals courses. Sheepdoggers defer to the perfect (visionary) sheepdog. When judging, they leave room on the score sheet—in case the perfect sheepdog appears. In thirty years I know of one (1) perfect score at a sheepdog trial, and everyone—including the handler who earned it—thought the judge had been too generous. Terrain varies, sheep vary, and no two trials are identical. The most dif­ ficult trials are the most popular. During his run, each competing dog must solve unique problems. He may draw bad sheep, or he may run late in the day when it’s hot and the sheep are cranky. It may rain or sleet or snow 62 mr. and mrs. dog during his run, or a high wind may panic the sheep and deafen the dog. The field may develop “dead spots” where the dog...