Antelope and dog play

We stopped at a lovely rest area in Wyoming where these antelope were
grazing. There was a large grassy aarea with trees that the dogs could
run and stretch their legs a bit..not near the wildlife of course!

We're on the home stretch now, should arrive home late tonite...then a
day for laundry, refresh the camper, work the dogs somewhere and head
out to Wisconsin Thursday am for the trial at Chaffins. The dogs will
be happy to run around at home after being restrained for two
weeks...not easy for the youngsters...especially with just a few
minutes of work during that time.

Leaving the Butte area

This is the view as we drive out of the peaks of 6400 ft

Driving in to Butte Montana

We've had really great views as we travel home...Saturday we drove
along the Abert rim in Idaho, past Abert lake and that is as erie as
it gets! Very disconcerting...

Today we drove into Montana and the first look at the rockies coming
into Butte is awesome! What a beautiful town, built up the side of the
foothills.

This photo is that first view of the mountains in the far distance as
we drive the foothills.

A great ending

I have a lot to catch up on today..I was planning on posting Saturday
but I had no signal all day.

Let's start with Luc's run on Thursday afternoon...the day was
interesting with smoke and haze rolling in from distant wildfires
settling onto the nursery field making it very dificult to see the
sheep and the panels. Luc ran at the end of the day and the haze
cleared a bit by then...but not enuf for the little man to see the
sheep from the post causing him to cross the field twice hunting
sheep. Finally he saw them and kicked out nicely behind them but then
had a tough time keeping them online as they pressed hard to the right
toward the exhaust. All were settled back online before a very clean
turn and one of the best drives and pen of the round. The sheep really
liked him and flowed around the course and right into the pen like
soft butter on toast...really nice. Score of 73 didn't get us into the
final round.

Friday was a busy day watching the nursery final round and several
open runs from district 5 friends. None of us made it into the semis
but everyone had lots to be proud of.

Luc, Sue and Maya had blood drawn for the Optigen DNA test early
afternoon and were all very good patients making that job so easy. The
two pups were required to have their eyes examined by the
opthalamologist after the 20 minute wait for dilation and they both
behaved well and got a "eyes clear" report.

The last stop at the trial site on Friday was the austrialian hat
vendor where Joe and I bought beautiful waterproof western style
hats...they look great!

The day ended with a dinner invitation from Cindy and beth ann who
rented a stunning townhouse in the mountains for the weekend. The
place was just amazing...breath taking views and comfortable
furnishings. We had an awesome
dinner on the deck under the stars complete with great Oregon wine and
excellent company. We returned to our humble little camper tired and
full!

Saturday morning arrived too soon and we decided to pack up and head
home rather than go back to the trial to watch for a while. So a great
finals week is ending for us as we start a long and beautiful drive
home thru the western mountains and valleys.

Kathy
www.dancinghearts.org
Sent from my iPhone

Not what I had in mind!

Well...Sue had her go at handling the really tough sheep yesterday and
it did not go well at all!

She was really cranked up before her run, she could hardly contain
herself, so I figured it would be hard to get a hold of her at the
top, especially cause of the distance.

I thought she knew where the sheep were set out but when we got to the
post it was clear she didn't have a clue. I sent her to the right but
she did not cast out well and started to cross o er about 30 yards
out, I stopped her, told her to Look, she did and cast herself out to
the left crossing over the course. Not good, but her cast was
beautiful wide and deep, so I had hopes for the rest of the run. That
hope was soon dashed when she lifted with a bang.which caused the
sheep to run, and she then wouldn't stop or flank...I am pretty sure
she gripped on the lift...and now it was basically a chase down the
field ending with a "thankyou" from the judges. Fortunately she called
off right away.

I am disappointed but pleased with the way she kicked out on a great
outrun not knowing where the sheep were.

It was a tall order for such a youngster with so little experience! We
walked back to the camper and she looked at me clearly saying come on,
let's go again, now that I have that out of my system'. She is so
cute!!!

Luc runs at the end of the day...wonder if he will have a better
run...I hope so!!!

Kathy
www.dancinghearts.org

Sent from my iPhone

Russell's run

I am so pleased with our run today...our score is relatively low with
a 121 out of 200 it Russell worked great and looked fit and sound!

His outrun was good but we lost most of our fetch points, the drive
was ok, and we finished with the shed and pen. We had a nice quiet
run and Russell handled the sheep very well. We won't get into the
semi finals with that score, but I am happy nonetheless!

There were some good runs today and three more days of running the 150
dogs

Nursery atarts tomorrow at 9 am and Sue runs tomorrow afternoon -
hopefully well!

We're all tired, dusty and ready for a
Good night's sleep!

Kathy
www.dancinghearts.org

Sent from my iPhone

Getting ready

Today we went over to the ranch where the practice field is located,
about 20 miles away. There was a nice big field and a flock of fit
sheep. We had an hour booked and I shared it with a fellow handler
from District 5 in Minnesota, since he didn't have any time booked to
work his nursery dog. We held sheep for each other and it worked out
well.

Russell looked a bit slow and stiff , so that didn't make me too
happy...but I hope he worked out the stiffness from his muscles and
with the adrenelin of the trial he will be sharp and faster. He loves
to trial so I'm counting on that to help him run well! And with all
his experience, he could put down a great run! Russell is 7th in the
morning so that is a great draw for him, it will be nice and cool.

The pups ran well, sue had no trouble getting out to the sheep, but
Luc needed a little help. They both handled the sheep like troopers -
and looked confident.

The nursery field is very large with a longer outrun than either pup
has gone, hopefully that won't be a problem! Sue runs on Wednesday.

First look at the Open field

The gates are not in place yet and there are bales and the pivot on
the field...wonder if they will get all that off before tomorrow?

It's a beautiful to look out with the green alfalfa and the hills in
the background.

Morning wonder

I hope this photo is good enuf to see beautiful Mt Shasta In the
distance...it's breath taking!

And its cold!!!

We have the practice field booked for an hour this afternoon and I am
looking forward to working the dogs a bit after four days of being
cooped up.

Lots of folks pulled in yesterday and the excitement is building!

We have arrived!

Wow! What a long amd interesting day of driving thru several mountain
ranges on a two lane road. No mobile signal most of the day, and
sometimes we drove for 30 miles without seeing a homestead.

I'll send pics and fun stuff tomorrow!

I'm excited - hope I can sleep...

Wind...it's a beautiful thing

Southwestern Wyoming with wind turbines in the morning sun...beautiful!

Russell - heartaches and miracles

Just when I was starting to condition Russell for the fall trials,
hoping to peak him for the finals I fell and broke my arm. Well...I
figured I would just do the best I could...what I found out at the
Three Sisters trial mid august is that he could barely finish the
course...wow- that shook me out of my broken arm funk!

That Monday we got to work with lots of walking, trotting for 30--40
minutes every morning plus working with me during the day as much as
possible. The next trial to come was the Labor day trial in Portage
Wi. The three weeks of conditioning paid off and Russell finished that
large and challenging course with no problem - he was barely tired.
Great! We didn't get the shed and had an offline fetch but no problem
- well have a better 2nd run the next day. The tumble he took in the
ditch on his outrun didn't seem to have affected him so far.

My eager strategy turned to thoughts of physical trainer when he
showed a slight limp when we got back to the camper...so massage and
traumeel, stretching and lots of love ensued. then an hour later when
I checked on him my heart sank. He was in so much pain he could not
even get up. A handler-vet checked him and prescribed antionflms and
pain meds.

No 2nd run...and I began to wonder about the finals...

Dr Dan Beatty is a major team member to keep my dogs fit and sound and
he worked on him that week and recommended not running him the next
weekend to try to get him sound for the finals...and gave me the Ok
for walking/trotting conditioning. That's good news I thought.

Russ continued to get better every day and Dr Dan checked again
Wednesday before we left. Even better news this time - he's good to go
for the finals!! Yes!!! Thank you Dr Dan!

Did I mention that Russell is 12 years young? As far as I know he'll
be the oldest dog competing at the finals...simply amazing! We have
definitely been blessed with a few miracles that enabled him to come
back to work in great form after a couple scares and surgeries at 10.

I am so very excited and honored to step up to the post with such a
great partner - and I hope to handle him in the grand style he deserves!

In the meantime he is resting up for the big day while we drive.

Wyoming bound

We're on the road again...half way thru Nebraska this morning. The
packing went well and the dogs are traveling like troopers! Last night
we stopped near Grand Island Nebraska at a campground Joe says we were
at in 1998 on our way to Yellowstone. I can't believe he can remember
that!

We fed and walked the dogs in the dark last night and all went well
until the smell of skunk close by scared us back into the camper.
Yiikes!!

A song popped into my head last night and I couldn't remember the
artist or much of the lyrics but it drove me crazy trying to figure it
out. Joe is the king of knowing songs and artists but he was no help.
So I tried googling in the dark until I gave up. So...who can tell me
the name of the country artist who recorded a song called Why Wyoming
in the late 80's or early 90's?

More later...

Getting ready...

Wow...I can hardly believe how much work it is to get ready to leave for a couple weeks! The laundry seems endless...had to clean out the camper and van...having the oil changed and tires rotated on the van was an exercise in patience at the dealership yesterday...the ewes went on vacation to graze on Nancy's lush pastures, so loaded them up and made the round trip this afternoon. The ram and his wether buddy are hanging out at home to keep Maggie (the horse) company, and to get ready for his breeding job when the ewes come home in mid-October. And, of course, I wanted to work the dogs a bit before we left...that's another great story...I'll post that one tomorrow while Joe drives.

This afternoon I will start the "packing up everything a family of two people and seven dogs can possibly need for a two week trip into a very small space" project. Starting with, let's see...5 lbs of raw frozen meat per day, times 14 days is 70 lbs...hmmm...I don't think that will fit into a small camper freezer!! So, I have several meals of very expensive freeze dried meat, I will put a couple days worth in the refrigerator, cram the freezer full, then pack a cooler with the rest. Won't leave much room for people food...I guess we will be eating out a lot!

The weather in Klamath Falls Oregon this time of year is hot and sunny, 70-95 during the day, and very cold at night, down into the low 40's or high 30's. So, we'll be packing summer, fall and winter clothes. Did I mention there is just one small closet in our new 'mini' sized camper? I'm sure to figure it out!! The good news is that I have a ginormous pile of nicely washed and folded clothes to choose from after a two day marathon of doing laundry.

Okay, enough chatting, and time to get packing!

The long and winding road...

I thought it would be fun to blog about our training and trialing journey...inspired by the decision to travel to Klamath Falls Oregon for the 2009 Sheepdog Finals.

This past trial season has been exciting, fun and full of mystery and surprise. I have been trialing four dogs: Russell, Maya, Luc and Sue.

I'll post about each of them, giving you insight into our history together...and then keep you updated with the fall season's trials...including the trip out west!

I hope you enjoy!
Kathy