Living it!: Day of the Babies!

Mayanup Annual Three Sheep Arena Trial

at “Yallambee”, 12-15th August 2010

Open winners, Peter Gorman and Avalon Sox

Yep, this weekend was all about the youngsters: baby dogs, new handlers. The future of WA sheepdog trialling on display.

This was the second year the Mayanup Club has held its annual three sheep trial at “Yallambee”, instead of the traditional Mayanup grounds. While I still miss the old trial ground (my favourite), the challenges of the new ground and the resident sheep are starting to grow on me. Ken and Jenny Atherton have fully kitted out their property near Arthur River with all the amenities needed for a happy and comfortable weekend- lots of parking for caravans, hot showers, training sheep in the yards for messing around with pups, and a temporary kitchen dishing out tea, coffee and hot soup right by the trial ground. Somehow they brought in a couple of days of nice steady rain to put a smile on the faces of the farmer triallers. And they kindly provided a playmate for our Farmboy.

The Mayanup club also organised another DNA testing and vaccination clinic, courtesy of trialling vet Gibb Macdonald and trialler’s vet daughter Kathryn Rogers.

The queue for dog bleeding and stabbing, and the classy examination table

The sheep… as Nick Webb commented, two words you generally don’t want to hear at a sheepdog trial are “interesting” and “challenge”, and the Yallambee Dohnes were, as usual, both. They were fairly picky about the sort of dogs they liked- anything too intense or jerky unsettled them, and tightening or over-running on flanks would set them right off, and then if the dog gave too much ground they would take it and start to stand up and challenge the dog. They seemed to be quite individual sheep, and it was hard to pick a leader- they’d take turns to break in different directions, often simultaneously. And there were some that were just crazy and took off running for the dam or fence line before the dog even came close to contact.

Christies Cocoacina

Most runs were about holding onto your sheep, and then getting obstacles, rather than minding points, so there weren’t many high scores. We were also running on a Supreme course, with an anticlockwise turn around the casting peg, no winding posts, and an extra obstacle (the gap) before the race and bridge. The pen was worth 20 points, twice as many as usual, but was positioned at an awkward downhill angle near the dam, and it was almost impossible to get the sheep in. Once they’d seen the back side of the pen, they would swing around it without encouragement, and you could kiss your pen points goodbye. At least a dozen top runs made it to the pen and found themselves peeling off half their points. Heartbreaking.

Mac’s Magic (Boylee Fred x Christies Demhi)

Interesting. Challenging. The ingredients for a great trial, and we definitely enjoyed ourselves, even if we came home empty handed.

Gordon Curtis with Binnaburra Maggie, and Peter Gorman with Avalon Sox

R was pleased with his young dogs- Trim did some really nice work in the Novice, although the sheep didn’t like dogs that stopped on their bellies and gave her a fairly hard time. Bonnie only had one run, in the Improver, and didn’t see the sheep so she crossed on her cast, which was a pity because her casual upright sort of work would have suited the sheep, Fly finally cast without sticking (yay!) in the Open, but she was totally fired up for some reason, and her overflanking and ground pinching really cost them. But they made it to the pen, which was more than many did.

R and Fly, at the bridge

It’s like her front obeyed the stop, but her arse kept right on motoring

On their way to the pen- the hand is up, the teeth are gritted…

Tess worked pretty well- she argued a bit more than usual, and again they had an overflanking issue, particularly at the pen, but finished within spitting distance of the Open final. Poor old Freddy was just too slow to catch his sheep when they bolted down the fence and ended up crossing to catch them. Probably should have cast him the other way.

Boylee Fred (Boylee Pepper x Boylee Creamy)

I was only running Bill and Queani. I’m trying to stick to my promise not to trial Pinky until she’s a more solid farm dog, and I didn’t think any of my young dogs would benefit from the “interesting challenge” just yet. Call me gutless…

Anyway, it went pretty well considering that both my dogs are fairly unfit and haven’t been trained recently- oh, let’s be honest, they never get trained anyway. They don’t have reliable stops, they only half know their sides, and their only time on sheep recently has been doing their own thing on mobs of ewes and lambs while we’re tailing. So my expectations weren’t very high, but both Bill and Queani exceeded them. Bill’s Novice run ended at the bridge, where we couldn’t quite push the sheep over, scoring 44. It sounds rubbish, but it was high enough to lead the scoreboard for quite a while. Queani was very unlucky in her first run (Improver), with one sheep just bolting down the fence line before she’d even finished her cast. She tried to catch it but wasn’t quite quick enough, it go on the fence and crossed her.

Bill’s Improver run was pretty good- he was trying his heart out, and we made it to the pen without too many points off, and actually walked the sheep into the pen early on. But they weren’t settled, and one sheep had a foot over the line, so I couldn’t shut the gate. And then they bolted out. Bill got them back in again, but still not quite clear of the mouth- and then out they came again. We tried a couple more times, but Bill was getting knocked up as our potential score dwindled, so I retired.

The Open was good fun. Queani had a cracking run- she was steering the sheep through the obstacles like a professional 3sheep dog, and we would have had a reasonable score until we got to the pen. Again. She started getting slacker and slacker on her anticlockwise side, which has always been our Achilles heel. So again I retired, but I was still pretty happy with her work.

Bill’s Open run was the same old story- a bit of hard work early on to break them in, then a really nice smooth run until the pen. This time I made a concerted effort to walk more slowly so we wouldn’t end up at the pen with 5 minutes to lose points, and I tried to get him to hustle the sheep at the first two obstacles to prevent them standing up to him at the bridge. It worked fairly well in that we made it to the pen, but again couldn’t get them in. Fortunately the buzzer went before the sheep had done too many laps, so we finished with a 54, which was enough to get us into the final.

Shock, horror! It’s a photo of me!

The Open final was a giant killer. Some of the top scoring dogs in the first round, some of the top dogs in the state, copped difficult sheep and bad luck, and it still came down to just hanging on to your sheep and trying to get the obstacles without too much damage to your score. I thought Bill did some of his best work here- he was really thinking and steering and we felt like a team. We had trouble at the gap and our end score wasn’t very impressive, but it was brilliant fun.

Bill, my Wonder Dog (‘Wonder what he’ll do next?’)

The Open Final featured a couple of very young dogs as well as some of the most experienced dogs in the state. Andrew Gorton’s young kelpie Ramulam Rippa (Ramulam Jacko x Ramulam Malley) did a fabulous run to qualify for the final at only 14 months old. And after the final the decisive winner was Peter Gorman’s little Sox (Boylee Wal x Hudsons Tash)- 10 months old, in only her second trial.

There were lots of other beginning success stories: Ken Atherton’s Ramulam Lad (a brother to Rippa), Gibb MacDonald’s Gracehill Daisy (out of his Boylee Poppy by Ramulam Gus), who worked brilliantly in every run I saw, Nick Webb’s Morillo Shana and Nan Lloyd’s Kumbark Caleb, a big boofy kelpie boy who’s suddenly kicked into gear and looks like being a true utility dog.

Jane Dorrell hasn’t been trialling long with her Rocky Dusty, but he worked those difficult sheep so naturally and smoothly that they would have been a real chance in the Open- until he injured himself and had to sit it out. They still managed to collect 2nd places in both Novice and Improver, and the Aggregate trophy.

Nan Lloyd and Rocky Balto (Ramulam Gus x Rocky Bear)

And my favourite “baby” team of the trial would have to be Jenny Whitelock and Boylee Murphy. I bought Murphy as a birthday present for R five or so years ago. R and Murph worked reasonably well together, but Murphy was a bit too soft for R and he was never a dog that enjoyed being part of a big pack. So while I was a bit upset when R offered him to Jenny to help get her into trialling, we hoped it would make him happy. And he is so happy with Jen. With Tony Boyle’s coaching, they’re getting around the courses with more success every trial, and it was fantastic to see them win a special Novice handler’s trophy as well as top scoring in the Encourage.

Encourage: Jenny Whitelock with Boylee Murphy

Jenny and Boylee Murphy (Boylee Popeye x Boylee Mouse) at the bridge

Novice

1)	Peter Gorman	Glenmar Midge (collie)	64	60	124
2)	Jane Dorrell	Rocky Dusty (collie)	77	29	106
3)	Andrew Gorton	Just Martha (collie)	75	Ret	75

Glenmar Midge at the bridge

Glenmar Midge at the bridge

Somerville Lucy

Germaine Seymour and Euroa Nan (Stoneyridge Harry x Glenview Ruby)

Euroa Nan (Stoneyridge Harry x Glenview Ruby)

Improver

1)	Rod Forsyth	Binnaburra Milo (kelpie)	71	23	94
2)	Jane Dorrell	Rocky Dusty (collie)	83	Scr	83
3)	Ray Sutherland	Swagman Cyndy (collie)	77	X	77

Jandoree Dotcom (Boylee Sid x Boylee Elly)

Germaine Seymour and Euroa Nan (Stoneyridge Harry x Glenview Ruby)

Open

1)	Peter Gorman	Avalon Sox (collie)	84	81	165
2)	Ivan Solomon	Perangery Sasha (collie)	69	59	128
3)	Ivan Solomon	Perangery Beck (collie)	69	56	125
4)	Gordon Curtis	Binnaburra Tuff (kelpie)	88	24	112
5)	Ken Atherton	Olboa Merle (NZHDxcollie)	51	54	105
6)	Ken Atherton	Ramulam Gus (collie)	88	16	104
7)	Sam Weaver	Boylee Bill (collie)	54	42	96
8)	Peter Gorman	El Shamah Ellie (collie)	54	36	90
9)	Andrew Gorton	Boylee Ella (collie)	56	32	88
10)	Andrew Gorton	Ramulam Rippa (kelpie)	77	X	77
11)	Malcolm Seymour	Glenview Ruby (collie)	75	X	75
12)	Peter Gorman	Princes Casper (collie)	56	LS	56

Peter Gorman’s Avalon Sox (Boylee Wal x Hudsons Tash)

Peter Gorman’s Avalon Sox (Boylee Wal x Hudsons Tash)

Ray Sutherland and Christies Tammy (Glenview Lofty x Delapre Queen)

Waiting her turn, Tess’ mother El Shamah Ellie (Rosedale Capper x Reidsville Midge)

Wee Sox’s dam, Hudsons Tash

And Sox’s sire, Wayne Hall’s Boylee Wal, somewhere in there

Malcolm Seymour and Glenview Ruby

Morillo Bailey

Aggregate (total scores from all classes): Jane Dorrell and Rocky Dusty
Novice Handler Trophy: Jenny Whitelock and Boylee Murphy
donated by Jean Hydleman , awarded for exceptional work by a Novice handler

There were baby kelpies galore-

Andrew Gorton’s Ramulam Nugget and adorable black/tan littermate (sorry, didn’t catch the name)

Awww!

The best looking kelpie ever, Just Bounce (Badgingarra Jake x Ramulam Pepsi)

Blue Steel!

‘Yes, I am unnaturally attractive, aren’t I?”

“And with an awesome sense of humour. It’s true!””

One of Nan Lloyd’s young kelpie pups-
“What?! Better looking than me?”

“Pfft!”

And what about the real babies? Well, they had a great time.

The Ginger Biscuit is now the proud owner of not one, but TWO bottom fangs.

And she suddenly learned to sit up unassisted, just like that!

This was particularly handy for me, because it meant that I could dump her on the hard, dirty, cold ground and abandon her for long stretches of time.

Fortunately there were some caring people to rescue a poor waif from a fate worse than death (namely boredom and a damp bottom)

Marge Solomon and Germaine Seymour

The Farmboy is right into dog trials at the moment, and practically drags us along behind him. I wonder how long this stage will last?

He quite likes the dogs and the sheep action, but he also enjoys some tinkering around with machinery,