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Lana Rowley and Kell - All-Around Stockdog winners

Sue R

By Sue R
in Under the Handlers Tent

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Sue R Apprentice

Sue R

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I just got the new Working Border Collie Magazine (#126), and was pleased to find Lana's Kell on the cover and center photo, honored as the winner of the 2009 All-Around Stockdog award. This award is for the dog that places highest in the average of combined Sheepdog and Cattledog Finals placings. A wonderful job by both Lana and Kell to do so well on both kinds of stock. What can we say? Kell is an all-around stock dog who proves his worth on the ranch and on the trial field.

 

Congrats to Lana and Kell!

 

And it's a terrific issue with lots of good articles throughout. Thanks to Bruce and Linda!

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KathyF Newbie

KathyF

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Congrats to Lana and Kell!!!! Wonderful shots on the cover and in the centerfold. Good article to boot and love the picture with James and Katy!!

 

Kathy

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Lana Newbie

Lana

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Thanks gals! The all round stockdog award is an honor for us and it is made even more special because i very much admired the past winners that i have competed against. Tony Stewart Bess and Cole, Roy Taber and Biscuit and Laura Hicks and Zac.

 

I wont get the magazine for a week or so, what are the cattle pics? They should be mine and i can post here if you like.

 

 

Lana

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Lana Newbie

Lana

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I think these are some of the pics used Lani.

 

 

movingsheepMay002.jpg Kell moving ewes and lambs across dry land to pasture

 

 

DSCN0204.jpg Kell holding the side moving dry cows in from the range late fall

 

 

allaroundstockdog2009046-1.jpg James and his buckle and Katy and her dog Kell :rolleyes:

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KathyF Newbie

KathyF

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Yup, those are the pictures. The first one is the centerfold, the second one is the cover shot and the one with Katy and James was used in the article.

 

Kathy

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Jeanne Joy Newbie

Jeanne Joy

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Congratulations on a great job of handling. Your pictures are really good too!!!

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Lana Newbie

Lana

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Article for working stockdog

Magazine

 

I bought Kell as a pup from Lee Lumb of Coldstream BC, and he is out of her Shae X Lad. Kell is a half brother to my Blue, and he was my second Border Collie. I raised and trained Kell from a pup, and he continues to teach me something new daily.

 

Kell was a very serious pup, very willing to work and trained up easily at a young age.

He learned to drive in just a few days by using cattle. Being only my second Border collie( I started my Stockdog training with 2 ACD’s), I made some mistakes with respect to his eye. Kell is much stronger eyed than Blue, and I was not sure how to handle that.

 

The winter that Kell turned 3 years, I was quite frustrated with his need to always control pressure and decided to turn to Karen Child for help. I told her that I thought Kell had the desire, talent and work ethic, but we just could not get it together as a team. I knew I was the half of the team with the problem, but I had decided that winter that I would either figure it out, or sell Kell. Karen watched us work and said that Kell was worth the work, and she began to help me learn the skills of handling an eye dog. That winter our relationship changed, and Kell and I have been a team ever since.

 

If I had to choose one word to describe Kell it would be BIG. Kell is a big, leggy dog with a big work ethic and big heart to match. Kell is at his best when pushing hundreds of sheep or cattle. The more brutal the job the better Kell shines. Kell never quits and his stamina is second to none. This summer Kell was the only dog setting sheep range ewes for a nursery class. Most of the young dogs were over their head and this resulted in many splits, with ewes singling off into wait high wheat, and up and into a rugged dry land hill. Kell spent 2.5 hours pulling singles out of impossible places, and then calmly setting the next group. When Kell takes on a tough job like that my pride, respect and love for this dog are the strongest.

 

My husband Martin and I have two children James 5 1/2 and Katy 4. We raise fine wool sheep on our ranch on the OR/CA border and are currently running 300 ewes with plans to double that number in the next few years. We use our dogs extensively on our ranch moving sheep on our place as well as using neighbor’s alfalfa stubble fields in the fall which requires trailing the sheep on the roads 3-5 miles. We pasture lamb in May and a good dog is essential to hold ewes while their lambs are tagged and banded.

 

I also work for R.A Byrne Cattle Company, moving cattle over thousands of acres in the brutal country known as the Devil’s Garden. This is wide open range with lava rock that eats up ATV’s, bulls, horses and dogs, especially their feet.

 

This fall my boss sent me out find 6 rogue cows that were holed up in an area that was not accessible to ATV or on foot. After several hours of riding, I found the cows and sent Kell from about 800 yards away. I knew the area was wet, but I did not see the very large, deep ditch that Kell would swim to get to the cattle. I continued riding toward the cattle and waited and waited expecting to see Kell. I thought I finally spotted him, but then realized it was actually a giant coyote that Kell flushed on his way out.

 

Kell finally popped up behind the cows and began pushing them down the water’s edge to the most likely crossing. The crossing looked shallow, but had huge holes in it. I did not want to jump my horse into it and risk having wet feet and pants on a 25 deg snowy day. Kell pushed them and they started across the water. About mid way across one bald face cow turned and charged Kell driving him completely under water. When Kell resurfaced, he hit her hard on the nose and she decided to cross with the rest. None of the cows even turned a head the rest of the trip back. We spent the rest of that day helping one other hand on ATV gathering 600 head of cows in a 46,000 acre allotment of which 20,000 acres is water.

 

A few weeks before this incident we took some sheep to our son James’ grade school for a sheepdog demo. Kell maneuvered the sheep around some cones and penned them, and then allowed hundreds of kids to mob him with love and pats. Kell calmly lay there while the kids hovered over him. They loved it when I would give Kell the “get um up!” whistle and Kell would leap up and head to the sheep. Then I would say “that will do” and he would come back calmly and let the kids mob him again. To me Kell is just an all around do-anything-I-ever-ask-him-to-do dog.

 

To handle Kell on the trial field can be a task some times. He is not good on very light sheep and tends to scare them before he even leaves the post. To be fair, I am also not a very good hand on light sheep. Kell is at his best on range ewes, and the more “dog eating”, “running dogs off” kind of sheep they are, the better for Kell and I. One of the high lights of my Stockdog career was being asked to come to Soldier Hollow in 2008. Kell and Blue both made the top 20 with Kell finishing 8th in the Final We finished our international shed and, after struggling with shedding over the years, it was an amazing feeling. It was made even more special because my Mom and Dad were at Soldier Hollow watching our success for their very first sheepdog trial. 2008 was a special year with Kell wining the USBCHA Cattledog finals, and being “rookie of the year” for the western states regional sheepdog trial.

 

Kell is much more relaxed on cattle, but again the less dog broke they are, the more he shines. Kell can work pairs very effectively. He has learned when to stop and just hold pressure and when to walk in and bite a head, if needed. In cattle trials, Kell often does not ever need to bite as his confidence comes through and the cattle move off of him.

 

In ranch work, Kell never picks a fight on stock or bites needlessly. He reads his stock well and easily transitions from sheep to cattle. I find it more challenging to make the transition with Kell from ranch work to trial work. Kell likes to push and likes to know what his job is. In ranch work, I give few commands and expect him to quickly figure out what I want. Sometimes on the trial field Kell forgets who has the reins that day which can lead to a battle for control. The days I trust Kell, he in turn trusts me… that is when I feel the magic of our partnership.

 

Kell is not a dog for everybody, but I feel blessed to have been given the chance to own, work and trial him. Winning the all around Stockdog Award has been a dream of mine since I began trialing. I feel very fortunate to have met and trialed with past winners: Tony Stewart and Cole, Roy Taber and Biscuit and Laura Hicks and Zac.

 

My husband is my biggest fan. He has encouraged and supported me though many years of trials, lessons, and clinics. He has been with me for many cross country trips with babies and toddlers in tow. Without his love and support, I could not pursue my passion that is the all around Border collie. As our children get older and become involved in their own passions. I will probably be hitting the trial field less. However, I will always need, admire and strive for that all around Stockdog.

 

Lana Rowley

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Lana Newbie

Lana

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Thanks Jan :D Katy is sure she will be working/trialing Kell any day now LOL I told her maybe a dog that was a shade easier to handle for her 1st one :rolleyes:

 

I got my WBC mag this weekend and was happy to see Bruce used the pic of Kell being mobed by the kids when we took him to James' school for a working dog demo.

 

Lana

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