Cow Doggin'

I went to my first USBCHA Sanctioned Cow Dog Trial on Sunday. It was a small trial held at Stockdog Ranch - Anna Guthrie's place in Pala just across Hwy 76 from the Pala Casino. I had never been to a Cow Dog Trial and thought it might be fun to go.

On Saturday I got drafted to be "scorekeeper" because Anna needed help and asked. Once I figured out what the job entailed I agreed to pitch in and it was a lot of fun.

Actually there were two trials - a morning trial and an afternoon trial. Fittingly the morning trial (across the street from the casino) was a "Gamblers Choice." Dogs could earn points by going through designated obstacles of their choice but had to do at least one other obstacle before returning to the prior obstacle. There was also an option to assist your dog by walking the course with the dog but exercising this option would mean all obstacles were worth only half points.

It was a lot of fun and my role as scorekeeper was limited to keeping time and counting heads of cattle that went through the obstacles. Ten points for each head through an obstacle or 5 points per head if the handler walked with the dog. There were no elements of the trial that were judged so it was purely practical get the job done as quickly as you can and then move on to the next obstacle of your choice. This looked like a really fun format and would translate well to a fun trial on sheep as well - maybe a fun thing to do in conjunction with a more traditional trial or just a stand alone fun day.

The afternoon trial was a mounted trial where the handlers were on horseback - just one more reason I can't do cow trials since I can't ride a horse. The course was laid out in three adjoining fenced arenas. The outrun, lift and fetch were in the first arena. Then the next task was to move the cattle through an open gate into the second arena where they were to be driven through two barrels and then into a catch pen at the far end of the second arena. From there they needed to be let out and walked across a narrow road into a catch pen in the third arena. In the third arena there was a chute with a side escape hole that the cattle needed to go all the way through for full credit (half credit if they popped out the side escape hole). Finally they needed to be pushed to a sort of holding pen are where the three arenas all came together (this would make a lot more sense with a diagram). Anyway - it is basically what I would think of as a ranch course with practical skill sets on display. Again, no judging - only time and points for each head of cattle going through an obstacle.

The whole thing was very different than what I am used to at a dog trial - not necessarily either better or worse - but different. Some of the differences are due to the time and points scoring system and some are due to the difference of working cattle. Talking with Anna at dinner afterwards she said the trial was fairly typical though small. The Gamblers portion was not as common but the overall work was.

It was strange to watch a dog trial where lines simply are not judged. I was going to say they do not matter - and to an extent that is true - but since the shortest path - both distance and time - is still a straight line, good lines are still somewhat rewarded. But if the dog crossed the course in front of its stock, no problem, whereas at a sheep trial it would be major deduction. If you serpentined all the way down the fetch but happened to hit your panels that's ok because you get full credit. Stalls and grips were fairly common and, except for the loss of time, no penalty.

I don't mean this to sound as critical because it is really meant as an observation but generally the work was somewhat wilder than I am used to seeing at a sheepdog trial. The precision that I have come to expect of top handler/dog teams at a sheepdog trial was not there. By that I mean that there was not the same concern for constant pace and precise lines. Much more of a get the job done - style points do not matter.

The dogs were able to get away with a lot more than I have come to expect at a sheepdog trial. Certainly this was not true of all of the dogs and the top teams worked pretty calmly and had reasonably straight lines (just not the precise lines I have seen at Sheepdog trials). Some of it was probably due to differences in the handler/dog teams but generally to me the work did not seem as controlled as what I am used to.

In some ways it seemed to me the handlers do not have as many choices or decisions to make as at a judged sheepdog trial. For example, if the dog starts the outrun poorly there was no decision to make whether to start blowing a whistle to correct or hope the dog is going to figure it out. Go ahead and blow the whistle because there are no points lost for blowing. Or if your lines have been straight to a panel but the livestock is going to slide by start b;lowing because your straight lines to the mouth of the panel mean nothing for points.

The other thing that was odd to me was starting with zero points and adding points based on making obstacles. This was a change after sheep trials where you start with a set number of points and then lose points for flaws.

In all it was very interesting and a fun day.