Herding Trial - Day Two

We got to the trial grounds about 10:45, and Duncan’s class was scheduled to run no earlier than noon. Duncan was definitely feeling peppier Sunday, and was more like his normal self in the ring. That almost backfired on us, though. If he’d been slower and less active, like Saturday, our second run probably would have gone more smoothly. Duncan qualified for his second leg of the HCT with absolutely no help from me. I was trying to follow the instructions our trainer had given me that morning, as she was handling another dog in a different class. The judge gave me conflicting instructions while we were in the ring, so I ended up completely confused about what I should have been doing. Claire had told me to block Duncan from coming around me, but the judge told me that by blocking him I was frustrating him, and he was taking that out on the sheep. I think the final assessment (agreed to by both Claire and the judge) was that Duncan should never ever be worked in such a small ring, as there just isn’t enough space for such a big dog to do his job. But we got through it, and that’s what matters the most.