Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Lacamas Valley Sheep Dog Trial, Camas, WA

Went down to Lynn Johnston's wonderful trial. Unlike last year, the temps were perfect - not too hot, not too cold, and no sign of rain.

The lambs were as silly as last year, and it took a patient, persistent dog to lift them nicely. Handlers, too, had to wait patiently as, some 525 yards away, your dog was negotiating with the sheep and there was nothing you could do but breathe deeply and hope to see some signs of movement.

I was very happy with Lou. Last year, we retired both days, as he couldn't move the lambs in anything remotely like the proper direction. This year, he was much better, even turning in a drive on the Friday that I didn't think he had in him. Only 5 off, and that was probably due to the wobbly start to the drive-away panel. OMG, it was a thing of beauty! OTOH, his fetches were not good at all, and the sheds were, um, brutal. However, he wasn't many points off from making the double-lift. If we had a fetch line either of the two days ... oh well. We got numbers instead of letters. For a dog that hates working lambs, it was a vast improvement.

This is why I'm hot:


I like really black dogs. Elizabeth's Soot fits the bill!



I also covet tight-skinned dogs. Noelle refused to give me her nursery dog. POUT.




The view from the post was nice.



I thought this dog looked like a female version of Lou:


Look at this face!!


Patrick's nursery dog for 2010: