By Maureen Gibbons
In early June, we had the opportunity to participate at the Sheep Camp at Handy Dog Farm with clinician Viki Kidd. The idea behind the camp was for the participants to try out the farm tasks that sheep farmers do on a daily basis as well as to try to learn to "WATCH THE SHEEP, PLEASE".
It started out in the barnyard where we were assigned groups of sheep to move around the barnyard. Sounds simple? Viki added one small twist, you couldn't use a dog. Okay so once we got the hang of that, it was into the barn to have one person and their dog hold a group of sheep and their lambs, while the other person selected a lamb for ewe replacement or for market. The lamb had to be caught, vaccinated and placed into a holding pen and needless to say, this took awhile. Some of the dogs were quite experienced and handled the flock like pros. Other less experienced dogs were kept on a leash, so they didn't rush the sheep and have the other participant run over.
All this before lunch!
After lunch we got a chance to try gate sorting of sheep which didn't seem too bad until Viki explained that it doesn't mean to let in the one that is staring at the gate and really wants to go into the next field and make the great escape. It actually means to choose one randomly (say that one at the back of the group) and get that one through the gate. Not quite as easy! Once we got through the gate sorting, we moved to the sheep chute under the watchful eye of Carol Guy and her super dog Baz.
Carol and Baz demonstrated very efficiently and smoothly how to move the sheep into the chute. Some dogs and handlers were quite successful at completing this task. Marie Sawford's dog Trew, was a champ at moving those sheep into the chute and holding them in place!
The next day, which started off with some heavy rain, we watched the Bluegrass Classic Trials with Viki explaining what the handlers were doing and why some runs went more smoothly than others. Once the rain stopped, we were back at the chute for those that hadn't tried it and the rest practiced driving sheep through pylons. Victoria Lamont, was passing out great advice for the novice handlers as we attempted to move through the cones.
After lunch Victoria, Lynn and Marie held the sheep for the mock trial with Viki mentoring us through the course. It was a great weekend for both dogs and handlers and a fun time was had by all !!