Porterville Report

We just got back from the 29th Annual Porterville Fall Driving Trial which is actually held in Lindsay, California. We were there for Pro Novice and Nursery on Friday and stayed for one day (of two) of Open on Saturday.

The field is a big plowed field in a large flat rectangle. There were some large dirt clods and the footing was very uneven for the dogs in places so some of the dogs were a little slow in spots on their outruns till they found better footing. The weather was absolutely gorgeous - mid 70's, calm, and maybe a single cloud in the sky both days.

The sheep were a mixed farm flock of Spencer and Oxford farm flock. They were largely uniform, responded well to the dogs, and, if anything, possibly a little too forgiving. If your dog was right -- the sheep were right and it is hard to ask for anything more. They were also possibly the easiest trial flock to pen I have witnessed. If you got to the pen with 30 seconds or so left you got your pen.

There were two rounds of Pro-Novice on Friday and I ran Piper in both. We had fairly consistent scores - although not particularly good - of 57 and 59 which I believe was good for 15th in a 30 dog field both runs. So pretty much dead middle in terms of scoring. But far from middle in terms of what she accomplished over the weekend.

Our first run was pretty similar to what we have been experiencing although possibly a slight improvement. The outrun - lift - fetch was pretty good losing a total of only 8 points (1-2-5). The drive-away was going pretty well until I managed to have an attack of panel phobia and gave a wrong and too much flank causing the drive to get seriously messed up. We did manage to recover enough to get through the cross drive panel where I flanked her come bye and pulled her up short on a quarter flank. The result was that our sheep came down way wide on the turn and we were off line on the final leg of the drive. (Jennifer told me afterwards that my timing was good but that I stopped her short and caused the problem - more later on the second run.) Our sheep slipped past the pen and we had to go get them back so we lost 4 points on the pen but overall a pretty good run except for the drive - which anyone who has been following this blog knows has been our nemesis.

On Piper's second run I sent her in the opposite direction (away) as I do not want to pattern her. This proved to be a mistake although only partially our fault. As Piper was running out - wide as usual - I watched her head and she was checking in on her sheep so I was not initially concerned. But as she continued out to the right somebody started riding a horse in the adjacent field way off to the right and Piper apparently got sucked in by the equestrian activity. Once I realized she was headed for the Trail of the Giants in the Sequoia National Forest I started frantically blowing my down and recall whistles alternately - initially to no effect as I had a view of a rapidly disappearing dog running away at full speed. Just as I was about to turn around and look for a 4-wheeler to go recover a wayward dog she took a stop and then a recall and started coming back as I was climbing down from the handler's tower. (Ron Ewers was watching and correctly guessed I was on the verge of retiring. He said he was going to run out and tie me to the tower to prevent retirement or shoot me.)

Anyway once Piper recalled and started to pay attention I decided to see how much we could get done. Strangely I relaxed knowing we had basically thrown away most of our outrun points. When she got back to about parallel with the set out I stopped her and gave her an away flank which she took. The fetch was a bit on the muscle and had some serpentine to it but we got control just after missing the panels.

From that point Piper was probably the best she has ever been for me. It was a right hand drive and we turned the post calmly and I lined her up for the drive-away. The sheep wanted to come back in front of the post (they had done this to a lot of dogs so I was ready) but I waggled my crook in their face and they gave up that idea. Then it was a series of "walk ups" and "lie downs" with virtually NO FLANKS (yes Jennifer I have been listening) and because she stayed far enough off and on the edge of the bubble the sheep walked straight on line to the panel. We needed one away flank just before the panel to turn them in the right direction and they walked right through. I gave her the flank whistle and let her make the full flank this time (thank you Jennifer for that observation from our first run). The turn was just a but wide as they probably went maybe 10 yards high of the panel on the turn before Piper brought them back down A nice quarter flank and they were pretty much on line for the cross drive. NO FLANKS the rest of the cross drive and she kept distance and Pace and lo and behold the sheep went right through the panels. A vocal flank and the sheep were coming right toward the pen where they went in easily.

THREE POINTS OFF THE DRIVE (yes I know I am shouting). By far our best drive performance and I think a lot of it was that I relaxed and trusted her.

Saturday I volunteered Piper and myself to work exhaust for the Open trial. Previously I had not felt that the trial organizers really thought we were up to tasks that required me to use a dog and I think there may still have been a slight hesitation. But our offer was accepted and we set to exhaust with run #2 of 55. We were there for the next 10 hours exhausting almost every single run (some never got to us and we had relief for about 5 or 6 runs late in the day). Piper was awesome. She only took maybe 2 or 3 wrong flanks in 10 hours - did not harass the sheep in the least - never broke early and interfered with an ongoing run and the couple times the Open dog was in thee wrong position and tried to push sheep back over top of Piper she would have none of it. Afterwards we received some since3re thanks and I think Piper gained some admirers with her solid work and stamina. I know she worked her little paws raw (actually her ankles right above the paw) on the uneven ground and was stepping gingerly but she did not show an ounce of quit. I was very proud of her.

In day 1 of Open there were a lot of good runs and it was very interesting to watch from the exhaust seat perspective. From my vantage point the difference between the good runs and the very good runs seemed to be on the turns at the drive panels. The handlers and dog teams that made the tightest turns set up the next leg of the drive best and had the best scores. Too late and the turn was wide and either started the next leg high or required an over correction. Not surprisingly some of the better handlers also had some of the better turns. Jennifer won with Soot, was fourth with Sly and 6th with Gunner. Wilda Bahr was second with Gracie, Tom Spencer 3rd with Floss and Suzy Applegate 5th with Buzz.

I also had the pleasure of meeting ABCA President Jim Swift at the trial and we chatted for quite a while. He was very familiar with Piper - knowing her as Laura Hicks "Uno" - her former name. We also had quite a chuckle regarding some of the internet message board criticisms from certain posters. I can report that Jim is very definitely accessible and quite willing to talk. A very nice man and I enjoyed chatting with him. And yes Jim we will work on getting a stop at distance.

Piper seems to be me introduction card as it turns out when we were chatting with the Judge - Roger Culbreath - during a break between the Open Runs that Jim Swift mentioned that Piper was formerly UNO and the Judge said he wished he had known the day before as he would be required to give a full report to Laura Hicks. Apparently he came VERY close to buying Uno from Laura before I did but said he did not have the money available at the time. I told him I was glad he did not buy her because I am very happy with her. He was very complimentary of her noting that she was "born with a bullet up her but" and has been a very fast dog since a little puppy.