11/02/2014 Jig’s Journey ~ ASCA Nationals Part I

We arrived at the Expo center in Bryan, Texas at noon on Friday. The trip down had been fairly smooth and uneventful. Just the way every trip should be. Jig handled it well. For her. There were only two minor incidences. One involving getting her neck and front leg so entangled in a canvas bag Gail had in the back seat that we were forced to cut the strap to get it off her. And one involving her chewing nearly all the way through her harness. The part on her chest, I may add. Quite a feat if you ask me. Thankfully I had a bicycle harness along to replace it with. Mostly, she spent a lot of the trip doing this: We did finally hit on something we think may be her issue while traveling: speed. She's pretty calm and relaxed until around 70 mph. Then she starts to get

10/24/2014 Jig’s Journey ~ The Coyote Classic

Last weekend we went to MN to attend the Coyote Classic put on by the Upper Midwest Australian Shepherd Club at Conroy Farm. As always, it was a great time. I got a great surprise when I arrived at Deb's and found Gail in the kitchen. That was the awesomesauce on the entire weekend, as I didn't expect her to be there. But she'd come to support me in the quest for Quinn's last cattle leg. That gets its own post so I'll move on to Jig. On the plus side, we ended the weekend with a Started Cattle leg, and came within two points of a qualifying score our first time running in Open Sheep. There were some blue ribbon moments sprinkled about, which was a good thing. Most of those came on Friday and Saturday. By Sunday… I don't know about anyone else, but by the third day of a

03/24/2014 First Trial of the Year

The first trial of the season is always a bit nerve-wracking. This year, what made it even more so, is the fact I haven't done any training since last year. But, it was only a duck trial, and only Quinn ('only'--ha, ha!). Still, the pre-trial jitters kicked in, adrenalin started pumping, and I questioned my sanity for ever deciding to put myself through this time and again. Once I'm out there to start my run and it's just me, the dog, and the stock, everything else disappears, and the judge becomes something of a hazy, indistinct image at the edge of my awareness. I usually always think my runs are worse than what they turn out to be. There are the occasions where I think they were better than the judge does, but those are pretty rare. I'm pleased to say, our first trial Sunday was a huge success. Quinn qualified

10/24/2012 Coyote Classic 2012

The Coyote Classic is fast becoming one of my favorite trials.  Even though the weather has a tendency to be a bit cool, sometimes wet, and usually breezy, Deb & Tom Conroy go out of their way to make everyone feel relaxed and at home.  The stock is excellent -- with some of the best cattle I've had the opportunity to trial on anywhere.  And the folks that come to trial, help, and judge, are just plain good fun. It's a good thing the trial is so enjoyable, because my runs weren't as good as I had hoped they would be.  I had one consistent problem -- no crossdrive.  Yep, that's an issue all right.  Quinn's best scores were in the take pen.  The dog has a great one.  His drive up to the first panel isn't so shabby either.  Coming off that first panel, however, he sucks to the fence and