Herding Trial – Day One

Today was the first day of the two day trial Duncan and I are attending. We got to the trial field shortly after 7:00, and he didn’t run until a little after 12:00. Having a dog in only one class definitely makes for a long day. Poor Duncan was miserably hot, even though I hosed him down with cold water a couple of times. He behaved beautifully, of course, sitting in the back of the truck or on the ground beside me.

When we went to start the Herding Certification Test, he seemed more clingy than usual, fussing a bit when Claire took him away from me to stretch out a bit. He did very little for Claire in the pen and kept coming back to the fence to look for me. The judge looked like he was getting ready to NQ Duncan, so I asked if he thought it would be a good idea for me to go in the pen and try to work him. So, I ended up working Duncan for the test while Claire took pictures (Mom took video footage, which will be posted late Monday).





The nice thing about this level is that the judge walks you through what he wants, and will actually go in the pen and assist. I definitely had him do that, as I hadn’t been planning to handle Duncan this time. Duncan settled down as soon as I walked into the pen. He did very well, although he wasn’t as quick or as interested in the sheep as he normally is. I’m sure he was just hot and stressed. Regardless of that, though, he qualified. With me handling him, earned his first leg towards his HCT title. Tomorrow, we’ll go the trial area later in the morning, so that he won’t be as hot and tired for the second leg of the test.



Duncan has been passed out cold since we got back to the hotel room, but he has defended us twice against the terror that is the housekeeping staff.