Back to the BC Activities PageFirst, let me provide some reassurances: everybody hopes your dog lays down a beautiful run; unless you lose your temper or are rude nobody will think less of you (or your dog) if you wreck. After many flamboyant novice wrecks I would have bought the dog on the spot. Some dogs I wish I had. It is easy to underestimate the difficulty of the novice/novice trial. In recent years AKC Herding champions, trainers, and judges have attempted the novice/novice course. If any of them actually finished, I was not present that day.
At our novice/novice trial, dogs can earn seventy points and fifty of those points - the outwork - are the most important points earned in the open class. Two years ago Samantha Furman's novice dog's score wasn't surpassed until the open dogs ran and Sam had one of the few pens of the day. Novice/novice does not translate "easy".
PREPARE YOURSELF AND YOUR DOG
Watch a good run. If you don't know who to watch, ask the Course Director. Notice where the more experienced handler puts his (her) dog. That will show you where the sheep intend to go. It is not unusual for trialwise sheep to adopt a consistent strategy to beat the dog- heavy on one side so the dog is drawn out of position so he can't possibly catch them as they bolt for the exhaust. At the Blue Ridge one year, in place of the drive panel, the sheep were pushed up a nearly sheer twenty foot cliff. By the final day savvy sheep learned that if they started up the cliff and paused, the handler would send the dog around to catch them at the top and while the dog sailed around, they could jump down off the wall and to the exhaust. Score: sheep - 3;sheepdog -0.
When you are six dogs away from your run , walk your dog and let him empty. If you have an obedience, agility or pet dog background, don't do it. Obedience routines, ball throwing, demanding unusually good manners or alpha dog rollovers are counterproductive. Unless you have a good reason not to, put your dog up and leave him be. Your dog will intuit and reflect your mental state. Just because you are cranked up doesn't mean your dog should be cranked up too.
Four dogs away: bring the dog to the fence during a lift/fetch. As soon as he's seen the sheep lifting take him away and put him up again.
Three dogs away: quit gossiping, abandon your friends and as another's dog executes the course, mentally (silently) command it. This will improve your timing and may help you remember which side is "Come by" on the fetch.
Two dogs away: bring your dog to the fence a second time to watch the lift. Unless your dog is unusually placid, keep him on lead. You don't want to be disciplining your dog moments before he takes his final exam.
Walk your dog back where he can't see the sheep on the course and keep him quietly with you (Don't blather at him!). When your turn comes, don't walk onto the course until the previous sheep are off. All trial organizers try to hustle handlers along but I have never seen a handler DQ'd because he was starting toward the course and I have seen dozens who came on too early and had to go off again because the previous sheep weren't exhausted. I suppose that's no big deal unless your inexperienced dog runs to the sheep in the exhaust pen (he may) or your mental focus is broken (guaranteed).
Take your time. Greet the judge, give your name and your dog's. Take a deep breath.
Years ago, Bruce Fogt told me: "Think of it as just another job of work. No different from any other."
THE OUTRUN
Walk to the post quietly. Do not yatter at your dog. You will have determined which side the dog should be sent but if your dog has a strong preference for the other side, let him go that way.
Do not throw your dog to start him. Your dog is not a paratrooper.
While I hope your dog does a classy outrun, he may not. (a) If your dog doesn't leave your feet, try exciting him with shrill cries. If that fails (as it likely will) abandon the post, walk halfway to the sheep and send your dog again. If that fails, move nearer. No shouting. Your dog lacks confidence and shouting will eliminate what little confidence he has left. When you get near enough so your dog finally runs out, gets behind his sheep and brings them to you, praise him effusively, exhaust the sheep if you are able, promptly leash your dog if not. Thank the judge as you leave the field.
(b) Dog crosses over at your feet. Hush up. Let him go. He has already lost all the points he will. This mistake doesn't often scramble a young dog's brains and he may recover and finish his run - provided his mistake hasn't scrambled your brains.
(c) Dog bullets right up the middle and blows the sheep apart. Promptly run, DON'T WALK to your dog. Hush up. Until you are very near, your dog won't take your commands no matter how loudly you bellow. Call your dog off quietly and leash him. Thank the judge as you leave the field.
(d) Dog starts to cross over halfway out. This crossover really does make a dog witless so you must try to do something about it. We are all tempted to hope the dog will correct himself at the last minute. Yes, and the Governor just might sign that eleventh hour reprieve. Unfortunately, the longer the dog is uncorrected the less correctable he will be. AS SOON AS HE IS ON THE WRONG TRACK DOWN HIM. Don't try a flying redirect, your inexperienced dog won't take it. You'll be lucky if he downs. Cry his name. It's the most important command you have. Try it soft, try it loud, try it in-between: DOWN HIM.
Then take a deep breath. Count to five. Let the dog (and yourself) get off the wrong track. Wait until he looks back at you; wondering what next. Don't be afraid to use a recall whistle before you redirect. Often that will break the dog's concentration on the wrong course and he can be redirected to the right course.
If you remember that your dog is learning what a trial is (is it fun, does it make the Boss mad at me?) and that you and he have a good many years of trialing ahead -and if you remember to thank our judge, you'll be welcome at my or anyone else's trial.
THE LIFT
In a novice run when the outrun goes sour, the run is usually kaput. But having completed the outrun, the dog must lift the sheep (10) points - take command of the sheep and start them toward his handler.
Usually the set out man will do what he can to assist the beginner. If, for instance, your dog goes out of sight the set out man will often stare directly at him. And if the setout man doesn't start running toward your invisible dog, the dog's not doing anything too wicked. If the setout man does get excited, you get excited too. Run to your dog. Now.
The setout man has the absolute right to prevent your dog from savaging a sheep by rude words or if necessary, blows. I have known some novices who resented this. Thank the man. If it's our ewe your dog is savaging that setout man may be saving you $125 and my wife's formidable wrath.
(a) If your dog starts ringing the sheep, try a "Shep! Down!" and let the sheep drift until your dog regains his wits. If he doesn't down the second time you utter your calm, quiet command - and I'm afraid he probably won't - run out to him. Down him and let him fetch the sheep to you. Exhaust if you are able. If not, leash your dog.
(b) If the dog holds the sheep to the setout man - which he may do if you haven't had somebody set out sheep for you before - use the dog's name. When you watch Tommy Wilson run count the number of times - and the different ways - Tommy uses his dog's name. Remind your dog that you and he are the team, not him and some stranger. You may need to down the dog, wait a beat and call (sweetly but insistently) "Shep" Don't panic. Most times you can get the dog bringing the sheep.
(c) The dog comes in too hard and the sheep bolt left, right or straight down the course a million miles an hour with your dog right on their heels.
Not a pretty sight, not uncommon and, probably not much a novice can do about it. However, you should try. The dog's thinking these sheep are getting away and he's got to stop them (he may even head them). The judge is thinking of calling you off. The sheep are thinking they're lunch.
Take a resolute step toward the dog, raise your crook over your head , try to make eye contact with the dog. If the dog hesitates, call his name, don't be afraid to take another step forward. Some judges will be so grateful at your sensible attempt to restore order they won't disqualify you for leaving the post.
Any command your dog will take will reestablish your connection and improve matters. In order of preference try, "Shep!" "Oh, Shep -ey","Hey!", "Shep, lie down." "LIEDOWN YOU GORMLESS TWIT!","Awaaay to me","Shep, come by", "That'll do, Shep", "Shep! Din-Din!"
If the sheep are coming on like an express train, use your body language, your eyes, your variable voice. If you can get the dog to do one single thing you ask him to, you can regain control.
Please do not shriek the down command over and over on an escalating scale. It is ugly, marks you as a novice and tells your dog "EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!" All the while, your dog is telling you, "I KNOW IT'S AN EMERGENCY -THE SHEEP ARE GETTING AWAY! Instead, try varying your voice. Next time you're around Jack Knox working a young dog, close your eyes and listen. Top handlers' voices (and whistles) have as many notes as cathedral organs. Don't be Johnny-one-note.
(d) The dog lifts the sheep too slowly, too hesitantly and perhaps the sheep are considering challenging the dog. If the setout man has put down corn to hold the sheep, sometimes the sheep keep their heads down until your dog is so close it disappears behind them. Some dogs creep up closer and closer, and at the last minute grip a sheep. Others lie down and wait. I've seen young dogs pretend these aren't the sheep they were sent for and cast out for others.
Try exciting your dog. Use random high pitched noises. Clap your hands. If that doesn't work try a recall - he'll be happy to take it. As soon as he starts to you, promptly flank him behind the sheep. That may jar them loose and, if not, at least the dog has been jarred loose and he'll work for you.
The decisions-per-second rate at a trial is very high. It is everything I can do to keep up with events and perhaps anticipate a half second ahead. I cannot believe many novices - during an emergency - will recall my advice, nor am I confident my advice will suit any particular novice/his sheep/his dog.
However, you should know that at a sheepdog trial, whatever can go wrong, will. And over time you will learn how to (sometimes) regain control of bad situations.
You might also remember that the dog is doing what it would rather do than anything else in life. Novice handlers who persist will run in Open one day, and they will never forget the dogs they started with and the lessons those dogs taught them.
SHEEP
Suppose things have gone fairly well to this point. Suppose your dog goes out okay and gets behind his sheep and you ask him to lie down and, by God he does!
Alas, a new element now enters the equation: a third living creature. It's a sheep (at least three of them in fact) and despite your dog training skills, your dog's breeding and natural ability you will not have a prayer of finishing the novice/novice course unless you have begun to learn to think like a stockman.
This sheep-creature is the biggest single difference between sheepdog trialing and dog events like obedience and agility. If you don't understand this sheep-creature it won't matter one whit how well you can or have trained your dog.
Tom Wilson, Alasdair MacCrae, Bruce Fogt, Angie Pickle, Stu Ligon, Barbara Ligon, Hub Holmes, Patrick Shannahan, Dorance Eikamp, Jack Knox, Ralph Pulfer (to name a few) were all stockmen before they became (or as they became) dog handlers.
Next time you attend an open trial, offer to bring sodas to the people working the putout pens. Walk to the top end, have a seat, and get a free education. Watch how the sheep evaluate the dogs, how less skilled dogs make them nervous, how hard the setout man works keeping the inexperienced dog's sheep on the course - even before the dog arrives behind them! Watch the sheep's ears, their body language. See how they react to strong dogs, calm dogs, lunatics. We handlers sometimes inflate our role in trialing. At the top, listening to the handler's faint whistles, it is apparent what sheepdog trials are about: one particular dog; three particular sheep.
Imagine you are one of those sheep. It's ten o'clock in the morning - late graze-early siesta time. Instead of your normal comforting routine, since 6 am you've been jammed together into a putout pen until a human and a strange dog bring you and two others from the flock (not sheep you'd associate with by choice) onto the hilltop and there's strange humans down there where the salt feeder usually is and big glistening motorhomes that weren't there yesterday and you'd like to have a bite to eat but there's this human down there with a dog and the dog starts running out toward you in a threatening manner.
That ewe is not a willing participant. She wants to hang out with other sheep and eat some grass. Her daily habits are deeply reassuring to her and this trial is - unless she's a professional training/trial sheep - worrisome and unpleasant. (If she's a t/t sheep its merely unpleasant). A good dog and careful dog handling will reassure her so that she will escape(1) toward you, around the handler's post. She and her pals will follow as you trot backwards around whatever marks the end of the wear. She will even escape into the pen if she must. But she is no robot, no billiard ball, no mere excuse for having a dog trial. She has a mind, habits and, in defense of her young, courage. She is a gentle, splendid animal.
All breeds of sheep eat when its cool, doze in the heat. All sub-yearlings are goofy, all twelve year old ewes are too old for trial stress. Sick or exhausted sheep will fight the dog or just stand head down, resigned to death. All sheep are good at reading a dog (they have genetic Ph.D's in predator calculus) and if they ever determine to beat the (novice) dog, they will beat it. If they are panicked by a dog they will try a desperate escape to the exhaust, through or over the nearest fence, or back to the putout chute. Once they get up speed, this attempt is often successful.
There are dozens of sheep breeds in this country, and no one who has worked both will ever again mistake a Suffolk for a Scottish Blackface. Easterners traveling west for the Meeker Colorado trail make a point of stopping somewhere en route so their dogs can work, and adjust to, western ewes.
To a novice, what matters most is the sheep's condition and how often they are used in trials. Fortunately, this is something you can discover - ahead of time - and prepare for. In some cases you can arrange to work the trial sheep (or similar sheep) before the trial. Take every opportunity to educate your dog.
THE FETCH
Now suppose your dog has completed his outrun, lifted his sheep and started them toward you. Perhaps you are remembering how the judge told everybody that he will deduct points for every moment the sheep are offline. Perhaps you are working hard to keep those sheep on line. In my view this is mistaking the end for the means. Forget about line. Line is the result of pace. Concentrate on pace.
There is a magic spot where each individual dog should be behind (or on the flanks of) each group of sheep. Too near: the sheep bolt, break up or one will turn and fight (her pals duck behind her saying: "Okay Betsy, you fight that nasty dog and we'll sneer at him." Too far, the sheep mosey and have a bite of grass and the handler may achieve a pretty good line but will run out of time. (Unless his dog gets frustrated and starts circling the sheep or grips). The magic spot will vary by dog and time of day. At a trial with even sheep it will not vary much from one group of sheep to another.
If the dog is on that spot, the sheep will move at a brisk walk.
It is up to the dog to find that spot and he will do so during the lift/first part of the fetch. It is up to the handler to assist him. Unless the dog is diving in, give him a moment to feel his sheep and start them moving. Afterwards, the weak dog should be encouraged to stay on the sheep's heels, the powerful dog must be restrained. Once pace is established and the sheep are making their comfortable escape , then the handler can put them on line.
Pace is mental. The sheep should feel the pressure of the dog but not be rattled, terrified or confused. The sheep should believe that they are making the decisions where to go next. The dog is comfortable doing his job. Correct pace is three species/one mind.
Commands stress all but the most experienced dogs. The weaker the handler/dog bond, the less confidence each has in the other, and the greater stress commands produce. Because of the strength of their bond, John Templeton was able to command Roy at a rate of 2 commands per second (watch Amanda Milliken work Hazel) but you (or I) probably should ease up a bit. Commands always ask the dog to do something different than what he is doing and young dogs may take them as rebukes - particularly the down command which some dogs understand as "You dope - you're fired!" When the inexperienced dog is off his feet, he has no contact with the sheep, the magic spot is moving away as the sheep escape and when he gets up again, he may come on like a kamikaze . . .
Some clappy dogs (as Dorrance Eikamp's Rex was winning the Sheridan Finals, Rex flopped down repeatedly) don't seem to feel "lie down" pressure much. Other dogs truly hate to go off their feet (and the upstanding dog is more fashionable today than he was twenty years ago).
Trial pace is achieved at home by handlers who learn how to slow their dog and speed it up. If you don't work on pace at home, you will not have it on the trial field.
You speed up your dog with shrillness, slow him by using his name (which is how you ask him to think) and/or gruffness. An "Ahhh Shep!" or "Get out of that" will produce better effects than LIEDOWNLIEDOWNLIEDOWN.
I don't know many handlers who walk to the post without butterflies in their stomach. Their novice dogs are every bit as nervous. If the dog has got around behind his sheep, lifted them and started toward you, he has increased his confidence. Now, it's up to you to set the pace. Be easy. Sssshhhh.
Sometimes - outrun, lift and fetch being more-or-less accomplished; - as the novice's dog nears the post, the novice grabs his chance to deliver a heartfelt morality lecture; informing the dog that he must listen forevermore and remember who is the Boss. Please omit this procedure. Your dog already knows who is Boss and whilst you lecture, the sheep are drifting toward the exhaust and the judge is deducting points.
Instead, as the sheep approach the post, move to the side opposite the side where you wish them to turn, extend your crook and wiggle it a little so the wrong side will seem unappealing to the sheep.
Take a deep breath, coo to your dog.. Settle him and yourself. Be wary as the sheep near the post; last instant swerves are common on courses where the judge (and/or spectators) are too near behind you.
Imagine a revolving door. You in one compartment, the sheep in the opposite compartment. As they come around revolve with them. Most novices keep their eyes on their dog to insure he doesn't get into mischief. Open handlers mostly watch the sheep. It is not always possible to watch both and the sheep turn, not the dog turn is what the judge scores.
If you have kept your cool, here at your feet is the least likely place for your dog to lose his. Perhaps dogs have gripped at the turn around the post but I cannot recall an instance. Mostly watch the sheep. The sheep will tell you what your dog is doing.
THE WEAR
Although I have judged novice classes. I was out of novice before the wear was invented and have never run it myself. Others can advise you better than I.
THE PEN
If you have to sprint for it, beat the sheep to the pen. If the sheep pass the pen you will have lost points unnecessarily.
As they approach, waggle your stick ,adopt a mildly threatening posture; notify the sheep that you are also a predator to be reckoned with.
Some sheep are so over-dogged they've learned that the pen is their quickest way off the trial field and will walk in if you fling the gate open, stand aside and keep your dog back. If you are unfortunate enough to train on these faux sheep, you and your dog will be helpless when you encounter real ones.
You cannot "Put" real sheep in a pen. They must elect to go in of their own will. Nor can you "put" them in by chance or on the fly.
Many novices picture the pen as a single task. It may help to think of penning as a two -stage operation: (1) getting the sheep in the mouth of the pen (2) the pen itself.
What you must do - you will not be able to sleaze this - is bring the sheep into the spatial cone that empties into the pen. You will hold your side, the dog his. Unless the sheep are unusually man-shy, the sheep will be less wary of you than of the dog.
Gate, rope, your body, extended crook: that's you: nearly twenty feet of swinging bluff-gate. Your dog prowls the other side, balancing constantly.
Think of that spatial cone between you and the dog as a tube of toothpaste. Persuade the sheep to enter the cone and then you and dog squeeze gently at the big end until they go into the pen.
Hold your side! The dog (who bears most of the pressure) can be excused for sheep slipping around him, the handler cannot. Rope and crook are part of your bluff-gate. When a sheep is thinking about jumping the rope, flick it. Don't wait until a sheep's head is beyond the reach of your crook before you wriggle it at her. Remember that you too have "eye." Use it. Don't be afraid to make your body a body sheep don't wish to come near. I have dropped to my knees to block a rope-ducker.
At the '94 Sheridan finals, when man-shy range Rambouilette sheep were locked up in the mouth of the pen, Stu Ligon (a onetime 4-H kid) couldn't put any pressure on them for fear they'd bolt. Stu and his dog were at the greatest distance they could possibly be while holding an explosive device (the sheep) they daren't squeeze. So Stu started jumping up and down like a lunatic. His sheep were so puzzled and disconcerted by Stu's actions, they strolled into the pen.
If the sheep are looking at you, they are feeling the dog's pressure. When they're facing the dog, your pressure is greater. If your sheep are pressing too hard against you or seem ready to bolt, down your dog.
When the sheep are considering going in the pen, they will look into it. Until they look, you must not push them; they'll break if you do. Have patience. Eventually that lead sheep who is looking everywhere else, will look into the pen and then you can push a little.
J.M. Wilson claimed that when a sheep finally decided to go in, her eyes changed. If this is true (it may be) I've not been able to detect it. After two sheep go in you may yet need to persuade the final one. Don't count on her to follow her pals. When all your sheep are almost inside, swing the gate briskly and call your dog to your feet. Bringing him there will help prepare your dog for open when you must do a shed after the pen.
If they break, start from scratch. Take the time to create the cone again, remembering that they've already found a weak spot and will try that same weak spot again before agreeing to go in this time.
If they break, start from scratch. If they break again, start from scratch. Sometimes sheep will go in simply because your will is stronger than theirs. Sure, you've only a point or two left but that doesn't matter. Get the job done. Finish, and you can work out the fine points next time.
If the sheep get behind the pen and are coming toward the pen opening (NOT THE HINGE SIDE) this creates a secondary cone. This secondary cone is: dog pressing them against the pen while you block their forward movement until you open the gate and let them roll around into the mouth of the pen and in.
The primary cone accounts for most pens and all full point pens but the secondary cone can sometimes salvage a few points.
If you have penned or run out of time, exhaust your sheep if you can. If not, don't worry; somebody else's dog will get them off. Give your dog a pat and lead him to the cooling tub. Don't ask anything more of him; he's given you every damn thing he has.
It's over. Take a slow moment to come down into the tremendous, noisy, senseless world where all of us spend our ordinary days.
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