Washington Co. FFA Junior Stockdog Trial

Wow, what a great weekend! Can't say we were at all disappointed with our dogs! The trial was really nice and everyone worked very hard to put it on and raise $1300 for the kids. Thanks to everyone who made this possible. We couldn't have asked for better weather, it was just beautiful. The sheep were challenging for both dog and handler, but that's what keeps trialing interesting. :)

Tess was the first to run of the BBC team and gave me her all. She had one ewe who continued to be difficult and refused to keep up with the others, but she never quit trying. The first obstacle which was also the timeline proved to be very challenging. It was a y chute that looked very simple, but the sheep weren't having any part of it. After a long time of finessing we finally were able to get them through (one of only 2 dogs in the class to score) and were heading to the 3nd obstacle when we ran out of time. Tess showed her amazing stock sense and earned us a 2nd place trophy.

Next to run was Josh and Pete in the Ranch class. They had some tough luck on the first obstacle which wasted alot of their time. They conquered it and moved on to the 2nd where they went right through in good form and ran out of time on the 3rd obstacle. I'm not sure of their placing, but they were out of the money.

Blaze went in and made a run to remember. He made it look so easy. We got them all through the course plus all through the bonus in a time of 2 mins and change. Whoa! It all went so fast and easy that I couldn't believe we were already through when we walked out of the arena. What a good boy, and to think I was worried he'd never work again after his cattle injury in Feb. Blaze walked away with the win in the Ranch class.

Josie was also an awesome little girl and completed the course plus got her full bonus. She worked like a charm and even stopped at the top, which we've been working on deligently! :) With her time she managed to place 3rd in her 3rd trial. Once Josie and Jaycee get some age on them, watch out everyone! They are going to be the dream team. Special thanks to Jim and Pam Hicks for the more than generous gift to our little girl!

I ran Curly Bill owned by Tom and Ruth Hines of Oaktree Border Collies in the Ranch class as well. Curly did really well and listened to his commands like a good boy. The last obstacle was a T and to get the bonus points you had to turn them to come out the side. We worked on it for a bit and then the sheep split on me and started acting up, so I decided to end on a positive note and take my points without the bonus. I believe Curly ended up 5th.

After the trial was over they ran 2 jackpots. The first was the Open and Open Ranch combined into one. Tess went out and had a blazing run. She put the sheep through in fine fashion and won the jackpot! Next the other jackpot was run with the Ranch and Novice dogs. I decided not to enter any of my other dogs, since I already ran Tess, but Josh entered Pete and had a fantastic run and walked away with the win. I ran Curly again for the Hines and after alot of work getting the bonus on the last obstacle we got 2nd. I was so proud of him and couldn't think of a better way to end our working relationship. Curly went home to the Hines to continue working for Ruth. We'll miss ya pal!

So to sum it up, I don't think it could have gone any better. The dogs were all on point and the trial was tons of fun. Can't wait for next year! With the trial season over I plan to start blogging about the everyday occurances here on our little farm. Hope you'll find it entertaining. Thanks for reading!

Open Ranch Class

Glenn Christensen & Smoke, Floyd Overton, & Jenna Baxter & Tess

Ranch Class

Floyd Overton, Jenna Baxter & Blaze & Josie, & Ruth Hines & Katie

Open & Open Ranch Jackpot

Jenna Baxter & Tess, Robert Scutkowski & Seven, & Floyd Overton

Ranch & Novice Jackpot

Josh Baxter & Pete, Jenna Baxter & Curly Bill, Robert Scutkowski & Queen, & Floyd Overton

Oaktree Fall Classic

This was a really fun, laid back trial. Tom and Ruth Hines of Oaktree Border Collies in Bartlesville, Oklahoma were excellent hosts. This was the first year for the Oaktree Fall Classic and everyone who attended felt it was big success. Sat. went better for the BBC Team than did Sun. but we still had a wonderful time.

Tess was the first Baxter Border Collie dog to take to the post for the Open Ranch class. She had a pretty nice outrun. She started to drift in a little about 3/4 of the way through, but looked in to check her sheep and before I could try to redirect her, she kicked herself back out and completed her outrun and made a nice lift. The fetch on the otherhand wasn't anything to write home about. The sheep pulled over to one side of the field and I could not get Tess to flank to get them back online. The drive was decent and the cross drive was going well until Tess had trouble hearing with the wind and decided it was best to just bring the sheep back to me! Dang! We got things back in order and completed the course. Not exactly a picture perfect run at 64 points, but 2nd to Angie Coker-Sells, don't think there's much to complain about there! :)

Josie was next to run in the Ranch class. Two words, well 3 if you count "and" Fast and Furious! LOL She's a little speed demon. She made it out to the sheep a little tight, but for never having run out that far I wasn't too disappointed in her. She had them flying to the post and once she got closer to me she settled back down and we made the rest of the course in okay fashion. Josie ended up 4th in her second trial with 43 points.

Next was Josh and Pete. Pete laid down a decent run except for not listening to Josh on the drive, but still managed a 1st place finish with 55 points in the Ranch class due to a nice gather.

Blaze went last. His outrun could have been a little bit wider and he managed to drift off line and not want to flank like Tess, but his drive was pretty good. We had heck at the pen with one ewe that didn't want to keep with the others, but finally got them in. Blaze finished 3rd with 46 points.

I'd rather not relive our second day, so I'll spare the details and just sum it up with the scores. (The first day the drive was only worth 15 points and the second day Danny Shilling, the judge, decided to give the full 30 for the drive.)

Tess 3rd 44 points Open Ranch
Pete 4th 65 points Ranch
Blaze 5th 61 points Ranch
Josie 6th 46 points Ranch

Pictures soon to come. For full results, check out the OSDA Website.

Tulsa State Fair

Talk about running a marathon... The first run of the cattle trial was held on Tues. as was both runs of the sheep trial. So I was back and forth from arena to arena about a thousand times waiting for Josh to run Pete, checking to see when the sheep handlers' meetings were, going to get a dog from the trailer, running back over to see if Josh was running yet. Needless to say, there wasn't anytime for the camera on Tues.

I started off with Tess in the Open Ranch Class. She had a great outrun, lift, and fetch, but then the drive got really messy both times. Tess stalled out on me on the crossdrive both times. The set out was right next to the crossdrive panel and Tess wouldn't come off the pressure to push them through the panels she was too worried they'd get away back to the set out. I can't remember if we ever did get a pen either run. I'm leaning towards no for both. See... amnesia again! So we managed a 4th in the first run and a 5th in the 2nd run for an overall finish of 4th place. I was a little disappointed, but hey that's trialing!

Blaze on the other hand, I was really proud of. He had a great run both times and tied for 2nd in the first run and tied for 1st in the second run. That left me tied for the Overall First with Danny Shilling and his dog Rip. They looked at the gather scores for both runs. My gather was better on the first run and Danny's was better on the 2nd run, so I was excited about doing a run off. Then they came to us and told us that they were going to add the 2 gather points together, so we were edged out by 2 measley points for that nice Tulsa Fair buckle. Rats! Blaze could have cared less about the buckle and I was so happy with him!

Pete ran in the Tulsa Derby which is designated for 3 year old dogs only. The cattle were really fresh and too much pressure sent them all over the arena, so Josh played it safe and didn't hastle the cattle. He walked around with his hands in his pockets the entire time and him and Pete just caressed the cattle through all of the obstacles for one of only 2 full score runs of the day. When all was said and done, Josh and Pete came out on top for the first day. Way to go guys! Then 15 mins. later they were over in the sheep arena running in the Ranch class. Pete was still in cattle mode and had a hard time staying off the sheep and wasn't listening the greatest, so his sheep runs didn't go so well and he ended up 6th. That's okay Pete, we all know Josh likes cattle better anyways!

Then Wed. rolled around and Josh and Pete got their second run. The pressure was on for Josh. Him and Pete laid down another nice run, but they had one heifer that didn't feel like playing. She charged Pete more times than I can count. Pete turned her back with a nose bite a few times, but she wasn't deterred. So she slowed things down significantly. They still finished, but their time wasn't good enough to hold onto 1st place. So they had to settle for 2nd to Brent Daniel and LH Wood's good dog Bree.

Oklahoma State Fair

This was the first year for the OSDA to have the State Fair Trial back under our management. We were all really pleased with the turnout. Everyone had a great time and there were some nice runs laid down. Angie Sells was our judge for the day. We ran the trial twice. Some folks headed for home after the first one, but we still had several hang around to play some more. Our dogs had a pretty nice showing and we were really proud of them all.

Jenna & Tess Open Ranch 1- 2nd Place
Jenna & Blaze Ranch 1- 1st Place
Josh & Pete Ranch 1- 4th Place
Jenna & Tess Open Ranch 2- 4th Place
Jenna & Blaze Ranch 2- 3rd Place
Josh & Pete Ranch 2- 1st place


The sheep challenged Tess pretty hard her first run and I couldn't have been more proud of her. At one point she had a ewe split from the group and she was trying to decide the best method to bring them back to me when the single ewe caught her off guard and sent her rolling across the arena. Tess got up shook it off and marched that girl back to the group. At that point some dogs would have quit, but not Tess. She knew the task at hand and was determined to bring me those sheep. To be honest after running several times I can't remember what our drive was like, but she penned really well and we scored a 73, just one point off the lead for a 2nd place.


Tess' second run didn't go so well. She had a great outrun with no points off, but the sheep were hugging the arena wall and she couldn't squeeze herself between them because they were fighting pretty hard so she came around to the other side and pulled them off the wall, so we were 9 points off our lift. The drive went as well as I've ever been able to handle her through it and we ran out of time with the sheep halfway into the pen. Tess had to back them in inch by ince and we just didn't have the time to get it finished so another 10 points off for a score of 58 and 4th place. We don't have sheep that are as tough as these wooly girls, so no more experience than Tess has in working with them I was thrilled with her.

Blaze's 1st run went really well. Blaze likes the kind of sheep that he can get in there and boss around and it showed. Thing is I get amnesia after I run and forget half of what happened out there. Maybe I should start bringing the video camera instead of the picture camera. :) I just know that he looked incredible and I was walking on air after his run. He got a score of 74 and brought me home a nice check, a blue ribbon, and a belt buckle.

His 2nd run on the other hand wasn't near as pretty. Blaze was anticipating the sheep to me heavy and fighting again so he came in a little hard on the lift and unsettled the sheep. They never did calm down and the quicker they got the quicker Blaze got. Flighty sheep just draw him in and cause him to be tighter and faster. So we ended up with a score of 59 and 3rd place.

Pete's first run was alot like Blaze's 2nd run. He wasn't really tight, but he wasn't very settled and his score of 62 reflected it. He placed 4th in the Ranch class, but he redeemed himself in his 2nd run and got a score of 73 good enough for first place.

We can't wait until next year and hope that the trial we be bigger and better until it grows back to an all day event like it was in the past.

Duckhead Ranch Cattledog Trial

On September 19 Josh and I made the trip up north to South Coffeyville, OK, only a few miles from the Kansas line. Let me tell you, it was well worth the trip. The ranch was absolutely beautiful and the hosts were amazing. It was Mike Minor and his familys first time to see a cattledog trial as well as host one. Tom and Ruth Hines, Glenn Christensen, and Sue McDaniel all held an important role in getting this first time trial off to a great start. Thanks guys!

The trial field with a creek as a natural obstacle.

Seeing this trial made me wish Blaze was still fit to work cattle. I'd have loved the opportunity to challenge him with the creek crossing. A few dogs were a little hesitant about it, but everyone conquered it. Pete crossed the creek like he'd crossed creeks to fetch cattle a hundred times. The way he works I'm sure no one knows he rarely has the opportunity to work cattle. He's a neat dog.

Josh and Pete worked together and got the cattle across the creek, which was the first obstacle, and through 2 more obstacles made from panels and then the cattle started acting up and running for the exhaust. Pete stopped them and brought them back everytime, but they ran out of time and weren't able to complete the last obstacle. His timeline across the creek was fast enough for Josh and Pete to win the Ranch class. Pete has aquired enough points to win the OSDA Cattle Series Championship for the Ranch class. What a team! Great job guys. Josh and Pete aren't done yet though. They'll be in Lexington, OK at Yancy Paul's Bar L Ranch on October 3rd and then we're off to Tulsa to run in the Tulsa State Fair. Josh and Pete will be competing against top handlers in the Tulsa Derby for 3 year old dogs to wrap up the year for cattle trials. I'll keep you posted!

Grady County Fair

The sheep didn't feel like playing our game on Sat. but everyone put on a good face and gave it a go. I ran 4 dogs and felt like I had completed a marathon by the time the night was over. I started with Tess in the Open Ranch. She had a little trouble getting them off the fence where the setout and exhaust was, as did everyone, but we finally got them moving and around the first obstacle and got our timeline, but unfortunately the minute and a half it took us to get there cost us and we ended up with a 6th place finish. I wasn't disappointed with her in the least though. She tried her heart out for me and time after time the sheep would run her over and she'd squeeze between them and the fence and try to bring them back. We had 2 that would more or less stick together but the other absolutely refused to play by the rules and made it impossible for us to complete our figure 8. Tess ran all the way down the fence line smashed between this sheep and the arena fence trying her best to pull it off the fence, but nothing was going to convince this girl not even a set of sharp teeth which Tess was forced to use on her a time or two when the ewe was charging her. She showed me guts and all the try in the world so even after a tough run I was still proud of her. Better luck at the OKC Fair girl.

After the Open Ranch Class was completed we allowed the Ranch handlers to walk with their dogs the entire time hoping that they'd have more success and it proved to help quite a bit. I ran Oaktree Curly Bill owned by Tom and Ruth Hines first. Curly was a really good boy at his first trial and tried very hard to get the job done, but all but 45 seconds was wasted on trying to get the girls away from the setout/exhaust. We tried fetching them, we tried driving them, we tried everything short of throwing them over our shoulder and carrying them. Two of the ewes finally gave in and decided to go where Curly asked them, but another had her mind made that she wasn't going anywhere but back to the pen. She completely flattened Curly over even though he stood his ground and gave her a good grip and then proceeded to jump right over the top of him and head for home. We finally managed to convince her to follow the others and made the timeline and headed back and got them through the 2 barrels right before out time ran out. It was an honest try and hopefully the next trial won't be so difficult for such a young boy.

Then things started to look a little better for us. Josh and Pete had a good start. Pete managed to lift the girls and bring them to Josh without him having to go down and help him. They got their time line in a little over a min. Then they went straight through the barrels, but then stalled up on the L chute. The rest of their time was spent here trying to get the ewes to go through and keep them from high-tailing it back to the exhaust. They tried just about everything, but ran out of time. So Josh and Pete ended up placing 6th.

Oaktree Josie was the next dog I ran, owned by Jim and Pam Hicks. Josie was amazing. She was an absolute star. Being how much trouble the ewes had been I sent her and then went down to help her, but she didn't end up needing my help. She lifted those girls and blocked them everytime they tried to head back over her and we got our timeline at about 1 minute. Then she marched them straight through the barrels and back to the L chute where she put them through without much fuss and on to the pen. It took some time to finally convince them, but Josie finessed them into the pen for the 1 and only pen of the night! I was so thrilled with her and couldn't have asked for more. What an awesome job from such a young pup. Josie's about 16 months old. So a win for Josie's very first trial. Don't think it gets any better than that.

Blaze was my last dog to run and he showed the heart that I love so much about him. Those girls gave him a really tough time getting them away from the exhaust but he worked it out and finally gained their respect. Not before one charged him and rolled him in a big heap though. He got up and went right back to it and when she tried it again he gave her a good grip and she decided she'd had enough and caved in. So we got our timeline in about 2 minutes and went right through the barrels and L chute without much hassle. Then to the pen with a little time remaining. They ran around a little at first but we finally got them settle in the mouth of the three sided pen. As we were convincing them in, one girl thought about darting out and Blaze overreacted just a tiny bit with a block that was a bit too quick and they all got startled and we missed the pen and ran out of time. Still good enough for a 3rd place finish. I absolutely love this dog and I don't think there's anything he wouldn't do for me.

So to wrap it all up it was a very challenging trial, but I wasn't disappointed with any of our dogs performances. We'll be thinking of things to make it a little more doable for next year and will hopefully have more successful runs. Check out the full results here... http://www.okstockdog.com/gradycoresults.html

Busy Fall!

This weekend kicks off the fall trialing season for us with the Grady County Fair Sheepdog Trial. This will be our 2nd year in Chickasha with the trial. Josh will be taking Pete to run in the Ranch class. I will have Tess in the Open Ranch class, Blaze in the Ranch class, and 2 newcomers Oaktree Josie and Oaktree Curly Bill also in Ranch. This will be Josie's and Curly's first trial. Josie is owned by Jim and Pam Hicks. Curly is owned by Tom and Ruth Hines of Oaktree Border Collies. Both of these young dogs are a little over a year old and have come to me this summer to be started on sheep. Hope we do their owners proud this weekend. :)

September 12th and 13th is the North of the River Trial in Baum, OK. We are still uncertain at this point if we will be able to make this nice field trial, but we are going to give it an honest effort to make it out there.

The Duckhead Ranch Cattledog Trial is Sept. 19th in South Coffeyville, OK. Josh will be competing with Pete in this 3rd trial for the OSDA Series Championship.

Next on the fall schedule is the Oklahoma State Fair Sheepdog Trial on Sept. 23rd. This trial is now being run by the OSDA.

The Tulsa State Fair is Oct. 6th and 7th. Josh and Pete will be competing in the Tulsa Derby class at the cattle trial. There will be 2 go rounds one on each day. The 6th is the sheepdog trial, it is 2 trials in one day. Josh will be competing with Pete in the Ranch class, I will be competing with Blaze in the Ranch class, and Tess in the Open Ranch.

Then up to Bartlesville for the Oaktree Fall Classic sheepdog trial on Oct. 10th and 11th. This will be the 4th and 5th trial for our OSDA Series Championship.

There are 2 more cattle trials that are pending sanctioning for Oct. 3rd and Oct. 25th so watch for more info on them at the OSDA website... www.okstockdog.com

That's all for now, watch for the update after the Grady Co. Fair to see how the dogs did.

Fly's Training

or lack thereof.... :) I haven't found as much time to work with Fly this summer as I would have liked to, but she gets a bit of time on sheep here in there when the sun doesn't go down to fast. With the extreme heat, I find it impossible to get anything done until the worst of the heat is gone for the day and the sun doesn't cooperate and disappears on me to soon to get to Fly when I have outside dogs to work with that come first. I look forward to the cooler weather of fall, but then you'll hear me complaining about the time change!

Fly is pretty much everything I could ask for in a Blaze pup. She's smart, bidable, and wanting to please, almost to a fault. She looks to me pretty often to make sure she's doing everything right. I'm hoping as she matures she'll gain more confidence in herself. Now don't get me wrong, this girl's not lacking confidence when it comes to the sheep. She'll come right on in and get a bite when asked to. She loves to pull sheep off of fences and tight spaces. I haven't seen her falter when it comes to moving the sheep. She's doing all the things that I wished Blaze would have done when I started him. Blaze was a mad man and in it for numero uno. He chased and slashed and generally had himself a good time no matter how much I tried to be in the picture, but man oh man, now that he's matured he is my absolute favorite. Not only as a pet, but as a reliable working dog. He's got confidence that goes on for days and now that we see eye to eye, he'll do anything I ask him to and never question it. I have high hopes that Fly will turn out just as good if not better than her old man and make me one very happy handler!

Check out Fly's videos....

Fly's 2nd time in the round pen.

Working a larger flock in the pasture.

Celtic Festival Sheepdog Trial

Well it was a hot one that's for sure! We thought it might be cooler in the indoor arena under the shade, but man oh man, no breeze was a killer till the sun set. The sheep were pretty challenging in the small arena, but began settling down as it cooled off.

Tess was my first dog to run and we ran in Open Ranch. Only our second trial in Open Ranch and I was pleased with her. We placed 6th due to a slower time line. This trial was points and time and not judged. The top 7 received the same score of 24 for the first 4 obstacles completed. There were 2 more obstacled to complete, but nobody got them in the Open Ranch class. It was a very narrow chute and the pen. Me and Tess got to the chute in good order, but the sheep were just absolutely not respectful of people, they had no fear whatsoever. So I held my side and Tess held hers, but they kept trying to push me over. So I'd have Tess come over to help me and then they'd dart around the other vacant side of the chute. Little boogers! Oh well, that's trialing. I'll never be disappointed so long as my dog tries for me and try she did. She's such a neat little dog. So the time line which was the fetch panels was the tie breaker for the top 7 teams and after a couple failed attempts to get the sheep through the fetch panels and having to drive them back up and set it up again, we fell behind the first place time of 18 seconds with a 42 second time line. Good try Tess!

Next I ran Blaze in the Ranch class for his first trial since his injury. His first trial in fact since Nov. of last year. Blaze had a scorching timeline of 13 seconds straight through the fetch panels and had a wonderful run. He marched those sheep right through the drive panels and we were allowed to leave the post to help the Ranch dogs through the cross drive. They threw out the chute after it proved to be so difficult in the Open and Open Ranch classes, so after the drive we went right to the pen where Blaze had no trouble getting them penned and finished with a third place. I was so proud of him and happy to see him recovered from his accident that I was about to burst!

I also ran Nan in the Ranch class. We had alot of trouble at the fetch panels. Couldn't get those buggers to come through there so spent alot of time driving them back and attempting again. Finally got it done and moved on to the rest of the course and made it to the pen and ran out of time. I checked the scoreboard later and found out that we had been DQ'd. Evidently I thought I got them through the fetch panels and the scorekeepers said that I hadn't. So tough luck for us. Aw well, she tried. :)

Hot as it was, I still had a great time. Looking forward to Grady County in Chickasha, OK the 29th of August. I'm sure it will prove to be as hot and miserable as last year, but hey, you won't see the heat keeping me from trialing! I'm a die hard I guess. I'm hoping to have a couple young dogs ready to run by Grady County. We'll see how the next month pans out.

Me & Ruth Hines and Jackson and BB

Blaze's Rehab

So it's been awhile since I mentioned how Blaze was coming along. I'll admit he's slower coming back to condition than I had hoped for. When he's working he runs out of gas pretty quickly and seems to have some trouble covering if the sheep are running too hard. I notice it much more on his bad side (Way to me) where his shoulder was injured, but sometimes he still lags a little on his good side. Getting to the head was something Blaze was never known to slack at. I know I should be more patient because he's still recovering, but I can't help but worry a little about him not regaining that fire that I've always loved so much.

To those who don't know me personally, if he never looked at another sheep in his life, I'd still love him the same. Those that know me already know this. :) His nickname is "Princess" because Blaze is our house dog and often times you'll find him riding in the cab of the truck instead of the dog trailer like all the "dogs". :) He can also be found lounging on the bed in the hotel rooms while the "dogs" are in their crates. A couple weekends ago while attending the Kathy Knox clinic in Bartlesville, Blaze spent his night sleeping on the chair and ottoman looking quite comfortable laying on his back with legs splayed in the air. Should have got a picture of that one!

Blaze will be competing in his first trial since the injury next weekend. In fact, it will be his first trial since last Nov. so we'll see how he gets along. Its a points and time arena trial so hopefully he won't run out of steam quite as quickly as he would in a field trial. We'll have the rest of the summer to get him in tip-top shape for the field trials I hope to enter him in this fall.

Southwest Oklahoma Stockdog Trial Photos

Oaktree BBC Pete

Tess

Catching Up

I sure wish I was better at this blogging stuff. Everytime I get some free time to do it I always find myself reading other folks blogs and just milling around on the web.

Southwest Oklahoma Stockdog Trial
Altus, OK
April 18, 2009
This was the 1st OSDA sheep trial of the year. I ran Tess in the Ranch class and walked away with a score of 68 (the 3rd highest score of the day including Open!) and the win. Tess worked like a pro and never faltered. I was so proud of her. I was walking on clouds. Then Josh came in 2nd with Pete in the Ranch class as well. Pete made a beautiful outrun and worked so smoothly. Way to go guys! Then at the end of the day a Buddy Brace was run. We all put our names into a hat and they were draw out randomly. Guess whose names were the last in the hat? Yep, me and Josh. We carried on and acted disgusted by having to run together, but secretly I was happy to be on Josh's team. (Don't anybody tell him that or I'll never hear the end of it!) LOL We ran the full course, which neither of us has done before, not to mention our dogs hadn't either. It was complete chaos from the beginning. Every command I would give Tess Pete would take, then Josh would correct him and Tess was taking his corrections. Needless to say I think we saw smoke coming from our dogs ears by the end of the run, but believe it or not we completed the course and won! We couldn't believe it. It was so much fun!

Bar L Cattle and Sheep Trial
Lexington, OK
May 9-10 2009

The cattle were run on Saturday and Josh and Pete ran in the Ranch class. Pete was taking all his commands and Josh ran the course so well. The boys walked away with the win! Good job guys.

Sunday was the judged field trial on sheep. I made a leap of faith and decided to move up to Open Ranch. I was a nervous wreck the whole time leading up to the trial. I wasn't sure I had made the right decision. I knew it wasn't impossible, but I didn't feel like we were completely prepared. We only have 5 acres that is divided into 3 pastures so my training area is small to say the least. Tess has a beautiful outrun just not much chance to show it. I headed for the post and was telling Tess to "look" hoping she'd spot the sheep. No such luck, but then she perked up and I thought she saw them so I sent her. She was running out wide and beautiful, but then it became obvious she still couldn't see the sheep. I stopped her when she started drifting in far off the 300-350 yard mark (WAY farther than she'd ever run out before) where the sheep were set out and asked her for a "look back" but she just couldn't see them. So I left the post to help her find them. I only walked maybe 25 yards or so when she spotted them and ran out nicely to bring them in. I was still proud of her for finally finding the sheep, and a little disapointed that I hadn't prepared her better. So, I made it up to her by helping exhaust the rest of the trial. She absolutely loved it and helped save the sheep from being lost into the outer relms of the universe by an over eager dog. So all in all, I was still happy with my girl. She gives me her all everytime.

On an even better note.... Josh and Pete won the Ranch class! Man these guys are smokin this year! Pete is really turning into a great dog and Josh has come so far with his handling abilities. In order to keep Josh from getting the big head, I always tell him Pete is doing so well because I started him! LOL Josh has done a terrific job with him and although it was extremely difficult for me to give him up, I couldn't be happier with what Josh has done with him. Way to go guys! Keep cleaning house!

So the next trial is the Celtic Festival Trial in Stillwater on June 20. I plan to take Tess for the Open Ranch class, and Blaze and Nan in the Ranch class. Josh is on call and won't be able to make it. Good, maybe I'll have a chance! LOL

Josh and Pete

On a happier note! Josh and Pete have been doing excellent at their first 2 trials of the year. Josh started the season off by running Pete at the Sundowner Stockdog Associations February trial. He was 4th to go in a field of 8 and finished the course with the highest amount of points. The last 3 competitors edged him out though and he finished a strong 4th. His best placing ever at the SSA trials. He and Pete were working great as a team.

The second trial he competed at was the Oklahoma Stockdog Association's Bar L Cattle Trial hosted by Yancy Paul. The trial was held in Lexington, OK on Yancy family ranch. The cattle were fresh, but worked nicely and the trial was a great success. Josh moved up to the Ranch class and finished 2nd place! I was so excited for him and Pete. Josh is currently leading the OSDA Series Championship points for the Ranch class. Keep up the good work boys!

Check out for full results for both trials:
http://www.sundownersstockdogassociation.com/
http://www.okstockdog.com/

The Blaze Drama

Blaze had issues with the sling rubbing and causing problems with his skin throughout the next 3 weeks while it was on, so I was thrilled to have it off. That is until he still wouldn't bear weight on it. We did x-rays again and the shoulder was still out of place. Potentially for the whole 3 weeks. Off to the orthopedic specialist we went. Blaze had to have surgery to pin and wire his shoulder back in place. He's been recovering for 4 weeks now and is getting around almost normal. We've been taking it slow with walks everyday gradually longer and longer. His muscle tone in the shoulder was completely atrophied, so muscle build up has been slow. Four more weeks and we should be able to return to work.

I'll try to keep this thing updated more often. Watch for posts on Blaze's progress!

Doggie Downers

So Feb. hasn't been the greatest month for me and my dogs... we found out that Alba Nan wasn't pregnant. I guess its not the end of the world, but I was finally looking forward to the little rascals. Guess the positive side is that I'll get to get out there trialing with her this year. We butted heads at first, but the past week I've felt like we are really starting to connect. She's taking my commands more readily now and is really putting herself into her work instead of trying to outwit me. :) So, I'm getting excited about trialing her this year.

On another note, Blaze's is laid up with a recovering dislocated shoulder. We went to a friends house to work calves before the first cattle trial of the year we were planning to attend. I sent him to fetch the calves off a fence and I couldn't see what happened because he was directly behind the calves, but I guess he took a bad kick. He yelped and I called him to me. He was holding a front leg up about half way to me and set it down and put weight on it fine before he got to me, so I figured everything was fine. I sent him back to work for a min. or so longer and then put him up in the dog trailer. He wasn't taking a bad step so I didn't think anything else about it, that is until we got home. When he hoped out he wouldn't put any weight whatsoever on his front left leg. I took him inside and iced his shoulder down and took him to my work first thing Mon. morning.

We had him on the table prepping him for x-rays and my vet was manipulating his leg into position for the picture and his shoulder popped really loud and he screamed. She said, "Well there was your problem. It was dislocated." Poor guy! We took the x-rays anyhow to make sure there wasn't a fracture, and there wasn't. So we sat him down and he started walking around happy again. I loaded him up and took him to the gas station with me on the way home and when I got back in the truck he sat up and yelped again. So I took him straight back to work and sure enough it was out again. So he was sedated to put it back in place and wrapped up in a sling. Poor guy's been in that thing for almost 2 weeks and he's got another to go. He's pretty miserable. I feel soooo bad. Needless to say his cattle career is over. It's just not worth it to me! She told me if he took another bad kick like that and knocked it out of place we'd be looking at orthopedic surgery from a specialist and his entire working career would probably be finished. So, he's just going to have to be happy working sheep!

I'm hoping that we have enough time before the first sheep trial of the year and that I can slowly get him back in shape and prepared, but only time will tell. I'm not rushing it. I can't stand to see this guy in pain.

Some Winter Fun

Redneck Sledding




The Sheep Get the Last Laugh!!!

"Blue" The resident exterminator and his trainee "Tommi Cat."

Pete taking a thumping from the girls.

One Nan out One Nan In

Wow, where has 3 months gone. So much for keeping up with this blogging stuff. If anyone's visited my website lately http://www.baxterbordercollies.com/, they'll notice Nanna is no longer on the website. That is because Nanna has found a loving home with Kevin Bradbeary's mother, who was looking for another companion. It was a hard decision to make, but I know it was the best thing for our girl. Nanna gave me a very good start in my trialing career and I'll be forever thankful, but she just wasn't getting out and getting used for the past year and it was taking a toll on her. We could tell she was really depressed about taking the back burner. So we made the decision to quit holding onto her for sentimental reasons and let her make someone else as happy as she made us. So, Nanna's living the good life as a pet and spending alot of her time indoors.

It wasn't long after Nanna went to her new home that Alba Nan came to us from Tom and Ruth Hines. We are absolutely thrilled to have her. Nan was bred to Roper's Jackson, who is standing at Oaktree Border Collies, prior to coming here and we are excited about raising a litter for the first time in a long time. Check out Jackson's page http://www.oaktreebc.com/jackson.html and Nan's page http://www.baxterbordercollies.com/nan.html for information on the breeding.

We've had her now for a couple weeks and have been trying to figure each other out. She's a high-drive dog and has all the want to in the world, she just needs to figure out who the boss is. I like her spunk. She reminds me alot of Blaze and anyone who knows me, knows how crazy I am about him. I'm sure we'll get the kinks ironed out quickly and we're hoping to make a few trials this year with her after the pups are weaned.

P.S. Thanks Beth Lanier for the photos of Nan!