By Lynn Johnston
I had the pleasure of speaking with Jack Crook recently, in advance of the World Sheepdog Trials. Jack is the first Junior Canadian to be competing for Canada.
Jack grew up on a cattle farm in BC and always wanted to get a border collie. He got his first dog from Hanna Harmon, but at the time there were only horses on the family farm, so he thought he would do agility with this dog. In the interim, Jack was invited to attend the Gellings trial as a spectator, which was his first introduction to herding trials. Hanna suggested he find out if his dog would herd, so he went to a clinic with Carol Nelson. He never did get to the agility clinic he planned to attend. An earlier passion was racing pigeons, 2which was how Jack met both Wayne Roberts and Corey Perry, experienced western handlers. So the scene was set to pivot to herding!
At the time, Jack was fourteen, and Corey suggested he spend the summer on Ken Price’s graze, which he did and loved. He had 2 border collies of his own and Ken loaned him a trained dog, Bran, to use, so by the second summer, when Jack was 15, he was hooked! He spent the next winter training dogs every weekend with Ken, an hour and a half away. He appreciates and thanks his parents for all the driving.
Ken took him to his first sheepdog trial at the Alberta Open. He and his dog had just come off the graze, so the dog tried to bring all the sheep at the top, not just the five set out. He was looking for 3000! A bit of a mess Jack recalled.
I asked him about his mentors and he identified Carol Nelson and Ken Price. He is in touch with them regularly and works dogs with them on an ongoing basis. Many people have been generous with their time and advice and he’d eventually like to be in a position to give back as well by helping bring young people into herding.
The dog going with him to the Worlds is Pic, by Scott Glen’s Pip and out of Chris Jobe’s Becca, so his sire and a littermate are going to compete with Jack and Pic! He got Pic as a started dog from Jamie Wagner when Pic was 4.
We spoke about what advice he has been given to prepare for a major trial in the UK and the advice has consistently been to not try to change the dog in anticipation of what sheep you might encounter over there. Prepare for every eventually. He gave the example of a Welsh dog he knows that has been trained to hitch back at the top when the sheep start to move, otherwise, the sheep will wildly flee, and that’s not necessarily what you want in North America. The advice has been to make sure the dog is solid and is listening, because you can handle your way from there, as you really don’t know what you will be running on. He acknowledged he does need to work on the confines of a shedding ring, to practice on a ring smaller than regulation to develop the feel of the ring size. Not a skill you would pick up on the graze, or with farm work.
One of Jack’s goals is eventually to go to Meeker. His great grandmother was born and raised in Meeker, Colorado and as a girl, originally volunteered at an early Meeker trial. His current goals are two-fold – to become a top-notch handler and to become a skilled shepherd.
We spoke more about Pic and what an interesting dog he has been to bring along. When Jack got him at age 4, he had verbal commands and a lie down. An incredibly biddable dog, he has come on with a full set of whistles, a turn back, shedding, 3 different flank whistles, blowbacks, the works. All in a short period of time. Jack speculated that because Pic is susceptible to pressure, it was probably a good thing that he was a bit older when asked to cope with the higher demands. Jack feels he’s a better dog because of taking this time.
A number of family members will be cheering Jack on in Scotland – parents, grandparents, a brother and some aunts. We wish him all the best and to enjoy this experience. Keep an eye out for Jack Crook – he may well be a member of the Canadian team for many years to come.
