Yard Dog Trials At The 2011 Goulburn Show

[koalathebear]

In case anyone is interested, there will be yard dog trials at the Goulburn Show tomorrow. The show website is wrong when it says that the trials are on Sunday, I phoned the organisers and they've said that the trials are on Saturday and will start at around 7.30am and go through to 4pm or so.

Unlike the Cooma Show Yard Dog Trials which had to be cancelled due to rain the day before the show, I've been assured that the Goulburn Yard Dog Trials should be able to proceed regardless of inclement weather. There should be lots of Kelpies there

Edited March 26, 2011 by koalathebear

[koalathebear]

After our disappointing attempt to see Kelpies in action in Cooma (cancelled due to bad weather), we decided to head to Goulburn on Saturday 26 March for the Goulburn Show. Fortunately, we had confirmed that the trials would proceed and that there would be Kelpies. Alas, there were no puppies for me to cuddle but there were plenty of gorgeous Kelpies. Mostly black and tan though!

Sheepies!

This majestic fellow is Rooster.

Gorgeous Kelpies in action

[koalathebear]

Unlike the Bredbo Sheepdog Trials, we only saw one Border Collie - who seemed to be doing pretty well.

I always worry they'll be trampled by the sheep ...

More Kelpie action ..

[koalathebear]

Because of where we were sitting, we saw a lot of Kelpie Bums ... still, it was pretty cool to see them running across the backs of sheep.

[koalathebear]

Plucky Kelpie.

Oops - we lost him!

Phew - found him again

All the dogs were very diligent.

[koalathebear]

Lovely chocolate red Kelpie

Little Kelpie

We saw one red and tan competing - I guess the B&Ts are far more popular

The Kelpies when waiting their turn were clearly very anxious to take part

Edited March 26, 2011 by koalathebear

[bedazzledx2]

Terrific photos! How wonderful...a kelpie fest!!!

[Kavik]

Great shots How cool is it when they go on the backs of the sheep!

[jesomil]

Great photos, thanks for sharing

[4Kelpies]

I'm glad you finally got to see a yard trial after waiting and trying for so long. Great photos. I wonder if any of them were Hoover's relatives. Unfortunately at trials a lot of secretaries only write up the dog's call name and leave off the prefix when writing up the program or scoreboard. It saves time but I really enjoy knowing the dogs' background and breeding. Around here you would probably see equal numbers of black and tans and red and tans. In NSW you have the very popular and successful Capree and Karana studs who produce mostly black and tans so their bloodlines might dominate around Goulburn. I'm only guessing here.

If anyone is interested in seeing Kelpies trialling, the National Kelpie Field Dog Trial will be held at Euroa showgrounds on April 7-10 and the Australian Yard Dog Championships will be at Mansfield showgrounds on April 15-17. The best of the best from around Australia will be competing there.

[persephone]

great shots!

[koalathebear]

Glad everyone liked the photos. It was a really interesting day. Most interesting parts for me were:

1. Complete lack of treats. Dogs worked for the pleasure of herding the sheep and also for pats at the end from handler. I only ever saw a dog lose focus once and that was when his handler basically took over and shut him out of the process. The dog seemed to say "screw this", leapt out of the yard and didn't want to come back. For the rest of the dogs, they were totally attentive and torn between staring at their handler and at the sheep.

2. The distance work - I was impressed by how far away the dogs were when responding to commands.

3. Some handlers used 'right' and 'left' and some used 'come by', 'over' and other commands to get their dogs to go certain places.

4. I noticed that when the handlers said 'sit', very very rarely did the dog actually sit. Usually the dog would drop. I'm wondering if 'sit' is just a way to tell the dog to stop what it's doing and the handlers don't care if the dog sits or drops as long as it stops - but there was also the 'stop' command

5. One handler's 'speak' command seemed to be 'spooks' when he wanted the dog to bark and rush the last sheep into the pen so that he could close the gate. For the most part the dogs were not barky but did occasionally bark to get a sheep through the gate. I saw no nipping - there was one dog that got overexcited and accidentally slammed a sheep into the fence - he ended up being disqualified shortly after because he just wasn't making any progress with the sheep.

6. I wasn't sure if the sheep backing was always compulsory i.e. necessary to pass or if it's something that just happened every session. I got quite nervous for the dogs when they slipped from the sheep backs and ended up at the feet of the sheep

7. For me, the divide between dog intitiative and handler instruction wasn't entirely clear. To be honest, for the good dogs - it looks as if the dog was doing almost all of the hard work with just a little bit of guidance from the handler. For some sessions, the handlers were calling out a lot of instructions and I couldn't tell if the dog was actually 'disobeying' the instructions of 'showing initative' because it thought that it knew better. For instance, often the handler would tell the dog to sit and it would keep going.

8. Loved the Kelpies leaping over the yard fence to get in and out of the yard - so graceful and athletic.

There were two sessions and we weren't entirely sure why they were different. The first was that the handler stood very far away and was not permitted to handle the dog or the sheep. In the second set of sessions, they actually walked around with the sheep, used their arms to push and shoo the sheep sometimes.

4kelpies - you're right. I heard the names Karana and Capree thrown around a lot. This dog (which performed very well) was an Eveready Kelpie.

[lilli_star]

4kelpies - you're right. I heard the names Karana and Capree thrown around a lot. This dog (which performed very well) was an Eveready Kelpie.

Hee! Eveready! What a great prefix for a Kelpie!

[Jigsaw]

Great shots!! Love to see dogs working!

[OSoSwift]

6. I wasn't sure if the sheep backing was always compulsory i.e. necessary to pass or if it's something that just happened every session. I got quite nervous for the dogs when they slipped from the sheep backs and ended up at the feet of the sheep

For dogs that do back they also quite often(on the farm working - not sure about trials) run up the backs of the sheep then drop down the front and run under their legs on the way back and it packs the sheep firmly into the race for drenching etc. They are rarely hurt.

I love watching sheep dogs working, thanks for the great pictures

[luvsdogs]

Wonderful photos KB, so clear for action shots. What camera did you use & what settings?

I've taken Tilba to sheep herding lessons twice & no family member would come with me to take photos to record a major milestone in her life.

[koalathebear]

Wonderful photos KB, so clear for action shots. What camera did you use & what settings?

I've taken Tilba to sheep herding lessons twice & no family member would come with me to take photos to record a major milestone in her life. ;)

Thanks! Glad you like the photos. My OH took them on a Canon EOS 30D. 70-300mm lens. On the "Sports mode" setting. I was glad he was happy to come along. He was never a dog person but suddenly finds himself with two dogs, attending obedience class, doggy play dates, herding trials ... oh and he takes photos to help me make rescue dog photos. Poor him.

For dogs that do back they also quite often(on the farm working - not sure about trials) run up the backs of the sheep then drop down the front and run under their legs on the way back and it packs the sheep firmly into the race for drenching etc. They are rarely hurt.

Thanks for the info! I'm now very curious about whether it's a 'compulsory' feature to get points in the trials or whether it always just happens because the sheep are bunched up like that!

[jesomil]

Thanks for the info! I'm now very curious about whether it's a 'compulsory' feature to get points in the trials or whether it always just happens because the sheep are bunched up like that!

Its not compulsory but usually it is needed to get the sheep packed in close enough to close the gate behind them. To get them to move out of the race again, the dog runs along to the first one then drops down to get them all moving forward.

[jesomil]

1. Complete lack of treats.

There is a good reason for that

4. I noticed that when the handlers said 'sit', very very rarely did the dog actually sit. Usually the dog would drop. I'm wondering if 'sit' is just a way to tell the dog to stop what it's doing and the handlers don't care if the dog sits or drops as long as it stops - but there was also the 'stop' command

I use sit as a momentary pause, doesnt matter what position the dog pauses in.

6. I wasn't sure if the sheep backing was always compulsory i.e. necessary to pass or if it's something that just happened every session. I got quite nervous for the dogs when they slipped from the sheep backs and ended up at the feet of the sheep

As before, the backing is needed to get sheep tightly packed in race. They dont usually get hurt down there, they are very sheep savy and clever and know where to go. My dog has been squashed, kicked, butted, stepped on etc but it doesnt bother him

7. For me, the divide between dog intitiative and handler instruction wasn't entirely clear. To be honest, for the good dogs - it looks as if the dog was doing almost all of the hard work with just a little bit of guidance from the handler. For some sessions, the handlers were calling out a lot of instructions and I couldn't tell if the dog was actually 'disobeying' the instructions of 'showing initative' because it thought that it knew better. For instance, often the handler would tell the dog to sit and it would keep going.

The dogs know what they are doing but the instructions are there to guide them exactly where to put the sheep. The dogs will bring the sheep to wherever the handler is. Sometimes the handler sees something the dog doesnt or the dog might see something the handler doesnt. They work together as a good team. Doesnt require absolute obedience to every command.

When not working I expect 100% obedience but not when working.

8. Loved the Kelpies leaping over the yard fence to get in and out of the yard - so graceful and athletic.

There were two sessions and we weren't entirely sure why they were different. The first was that the handler stood very far away and was not permitted to handle the dog or the sheep. In the second set of sessions, they actually walked around with the sheep, used their arms to push and shoo the sheep sometimes.

There are usually 3 classes offered at yard trials. Encourage, novice and open. Encourage are allowed to be more helping with their dogs.

[cry123]

Glad everyone liked the photos. It was a really interesting day. Most interesting parts for me were:

1. Complete lack of treats. Dogs worked for the pleasure of herding the sheep and also for pats at the end from handler. I only ever saw a dog lose focus once and that was when his handler basically took over and shut him out of the process. The dog seemed to say "screw this", leapt out of the yard and didn't want to come back. For the rest of the dogs, they were totally attentive and torn between staring at their handler and at the sheep.

Defiantely in our case with the kelpies and BC's, a pat is a enough. They dont need treats to know they have done well.

2. The distance work - I was impressed by how far away the dogs were when responding to commands.

3. Some handlers used 'right' and 'left' and some used 'come by', 'over' and other commands to get their dogs to go certain places.

4. I noticed that when the handlers said 'sit', very very rarely did the dog actually sit. Usually the dog would drop. I'm wondering if 'sit' is just a way to tell the dog to stop what it's doing and the handlers don't care if the dog sits or drops as long as it stops - but there was also the 'stop' command

We generally use sit as a stop with the dog on the ground (so either a sit or a drop) and we use stop to stop on thier feet, or as a pause what they are doing type of thing.

5. One handler's 'speak' command seemed to be 'spooks' when he wanted the dog to bark and rush the last sheep into the pen so that he could close the gate. For the most part the dogs were not barky but did occasionally bark to get a sheep through the gate. I saw no nipping - there was one dog that got overexcited and accidentally slammed a sheep into the fence - he ended up being disqualified shortly after because he just wasn't making any progress with the sheep.

6. I wasn't sure if the sheep backing was always compulsory i.e. necessary to pass or if it's something that just happened every session. I got quite nervous for the dogs when they slipped from the sheep backs and ended up at the feet of the sheep

I dont think it is compulsary but to be effective in packing the race and then unpacking they do need to back.

7. For me, the divide between dog intitiative and handler instruction wasn't entirely clear. To be honest, for the good dogs - it looks as if the dog was doing almost all of the hard work with just a little bit of guidance from the handler. For some sessions, the handlers were calling out a lot of instructions and I couldn't tell if the dog was actually 'disobeying' the instructions of 'showing initative' because it thought that it knew better. For instance, often the handler would tell the dog to sit and it would keep going.

I think that sometime sthey would be disobeying. Sometimes they think they know better and other times they do actually know better. There is a fine line between these two.

8. Loved the Kelpies leaping over the yard fence to get in and out of the yard - so graceful and athletic.

There were two sessions and we weren't entirely sure why they were different. The first was that the handler stood very far away and was not permitted to handle the dog or the sheep. In the second set of sessions, they actually walked around with the sheep, used their arms to push and shoo the sheep sometimes.

Edited March 29, 2011 by cry123