TIME FOR THE TRIAL

NEAR YOUR TURN

If you run first or early in the running order you better hope you have your dog WELL TRAINED to look for sheep.

$$$$. This is a good spot for me to mention something very important. The field trial is a competition where you pit the skills of your dog and yourself against the skills of others. The trial field IS NOT WHERE YOU GO TO TRAIN YOUR DOG!!!! Training is done at home – the trial field is where you test the success or failure of your efforts. The trial field is however, a valuable learning tool as it allows you to quickly learn where your short comings and inadequacies lie. Identifying those short comings and taking action to correct them at home will help you to progress. I will probably need to mention this several times throughout these tips so rather than repeat myself I will just inject “$$$$” from time to time to remind you that it “costs” you in terms of time, money, and embarrassment if you go unprepared.

If possible take your dog to a spot near and in line with the handlers post and let him watch an OUTRUN and LIFT only. Remember, your dog will look for sheep at the LAST PLACE he previously saw them. NEVER let that be the exhaust! After the lift take the dog away. Repeat this as often as necessary until you are confident your dog has seen the sheep come off the top end.

GOING TO THE POST

This sets the attitude for your run. Be ready when your turn comes but be where your dog doesn’t see the action on the field or sheep being exhausted from the field.

Hopefully you have observed a few runs and have studied how the sheep behave at the top. Which direction they tend to pull to, how well they settle, etc. With these factors in mind you should know which side you will send your dog to on his outrun.

What you do now and how you convey what you expect to your dog sets the tone for your entire run. There are several things that you must do all at once so have your mind straight and have a plan. If the trial is being run efficiently your set of sheep should already be on the field as the last runs sheep are being exhausted. This means you won’t have the luxury of your dog seeing the sheep being spotted. Be prepared to take the sheep and send your dog at the VERY EARLIEST OPPORTUNITY. If you wait for everything to be “just right” bad things usually happen. If the sheep are handled too much at the top to get them settled they will get worse instead of better. Try not to allow time for things to go to hell at the top. Now, you have already decided which way to send the dog so your approach to the post needs to be done in a manner that sets the dog up properly, lets him know without question which way he is to go, and relaxes him all in one swift move. Assume that you have chosen to send the dog to the right or “Away to Me”. Looking up field from a position behind the handlers post – position yourself several yards to the left. With your dog on your right side (to the outside) approach the post travelling at an angle to the right. The angle of your approach should represent the line that you want the dog to continue on for a proper outrun. All this time you are being careful to handle your dog in soft reassuring tones to relax him, build his confidence, and not distract him from the job to be done. Try your best not to excite or intimidate him. Send him on his outrun AS SOON AS you know he has seen the sheep and things are in order. If something has changed and you feel it necessary to send in the opposite direction quickly step away from the post a short distance and reposition your dog on the left side and again make an angled approach from right rear to left forward. You should already know if you need to set your dog in a special fashion to accomplish a wide outrun or a tight one. $$$$. Many times your dog might see something that you don’t and have it set in his mind that he wants to go the opposite direction from what you want. It is usually in your best interest on the trial field to succumb to your dog’s desire. Don’t try to force the dog to run against his will unless he is well seasoned and you have done your homework. $$$$

THE OUTRUN

Remember, the objective of the outrun is for the dog to get to the sheep in such a fashion that he does not disturb the sheep and ends up in a position to lift the sheep quietly and in direct line down the course and to the handler. Most people talk about the perfect outrun being “pear shaped” with the widest part of the “pear” being at the top. This is one part of dog work where you need to know the individual characteristics of you dog. Some dogs run better by making a wide arc, or half circle, from the handler’s feet to the 12 o’clock position behind the sheep. Others run “flat” and bend out before they approach the sheep. There are an infinite number of was that different dogs feel comfortable in making the outrun. The most important thing is that you know your dog and it’s method of getting to sheep so that you are prepared to make a correction or give a redirect immediately when you perceive that the dog is going to do something foolish, i.e. crossover, come in too quickly, loose sight of the sheep, etc.

Until dogs are VERY seasoned (this can, and usually does take years) you can be assured that the dog is not going to act the same at a trial in a strange place as it does at home. Although corrections and/or redirect commands will cost you points you will still be better off in the end if you anticipate error and make adjustments before or as soon as they occur rather than letting the dog do as it wants and end up wrong.

If you have done your homework ($$$$) and done lots of balance work in the early stages of training your dog should know how to read the sheep and finish it’s outrun so the dog is in the right position to lift the sheep properly. If your dog tends to come up short or overrun the sheep you must be prepared to give a redirect or a stop whistle, whichever is appropriate, in anticipation. I prefer a dog that overturns the sheep as you know the dog is going to “cover” its stock. It should be easy for you to give a stop whistle to put the dog in what you believe is the right position. You are rarely given loss of points for a stop whistle at the top.

The Lift

The lift is the act of the dog actually putting the sheep in motion. It should be done in a quiet, controlled, and authoritative manner with the sheep moving off calmly and in direct line toward the fetch panels or handler. The OUTRUN should not be judged completely until the LIFT actually takes place as the dog’s position upon completion of the OUTRUN dictates the direction of the lift. Excessive command during the LIFT will result in loss of points, but again, corrections must be made in order to set the stage for a good FETCH.

In the next instalment we will look at the FETCH and DRIVE portions of the trial course.

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