By Peter Gonnet
When I was asked to write an article on gripping, I spent many hours thinking about how to approach this subject. It probably is one of the most contentious issues in judging trials. Everyone has their own opinion on what is right and what is wrong. So, my approach to this subject will be from a practical Stockman’s approach.
It does not matter to me whether I am running in a trial or on the farm. I expect my dog to work the same. I do believe one of the problems with trials these days is a high percentage of handlers that are participating in trials need to educate themselves more in proper stockmanship. They are just concentrating on their dog and not paying attention to how their dog is affecting the movement of their stock, so it is hard for them to understand when a dog should or should not bite.
Photo credit to Norma de Rose
I think an important point to make here is that trials are set up to judge how correctly or incorrectly the handler and dog are moving the stock. It is not a game for the dog even though it is the dog that wins the prize. The trial is all about how the handler moves the sheep with their dog around a designated course.
As well, I might point out that I do not believe a dog should work any differently whether he is working cattle or sheep. To me, proper work will be the same on both. The one difference I will say is when working cattle, you might want a heel bite at certain times which you probably wouldn’t when working sheep but other than that, I feel the dog should work basically the same.
There is a thought out there that some people feel working cattle is too dangerous. I’m not saying there isn’t danger involved with working cattle but there is also danger when working rams or ewes with newborn lambs. I do believe part of the reason dogs get hurt working cattle or sheep is they are working improperly. They are diving in to grip out of fear when they shouldn’t, or applying too much pressure and upsetting the livestock. One misconception a lot of people have is that a dog gripping is a sign of power which in most cases it’s not. It could be more of a sign of fear - it all depends how the dog does it.
I think the biggest problem when judging grips is that not all grips are the same. There are grips that are warranted and executed properly, and then there are grips that are warranted and executed improperly. So to me there is a huge difference in how I would judge that. I have a general rule of thumb that if the stock attacks the dog, he has permission to defend himself, but only when he does it properly - a quick nip on the nose and release. Any hanging on or gripping a chest or front leg etc would not be appropriate. A dog that lunges forward on the stock is not something that I would allow even if he gripped properly. The dog should boldly walk forward or stand his ground applying pressure and only if the stock refuses to move or attacks a dog should the dog then be allowed to take a proper grip on the nose with a quick release. If the dog hangs on too long, even when gripping is warranted, it should be severely penalized or the dog disqualified.
It seems to me in the past number of years we have been breeding very high adrenaline types for trialing. We have been moving away from the good old school, solid dogs with quiet power (these dogs can be harder to flank and not be as biddable). They can just shift stock with the movement of their head. Those dogs usually never have to bite, stock just respects their authority. When they do grip, they do it with precision.
I do feel we are hurting our dogs when judges just disqualify every dog for any grip, as well as leaving all dogs on that grip. It takes experience and courage as a judge to judge grips properly, leaving the correct ones on the field (but maybe with a point deduction leaving room for the dog that doesn’t have to grip in that same situation) and taking incorrect ones off.
To summarize, we as handlers need to learn to handle livestock with our dogs with the right amount of contact and be critical of our dogs when they are not doing it correctly so that we can help them to do it correctly. I am a firm believer that I want to teach my dogs to handle livestock with quiet authority and respect.
An exercise I use to teach the dog patience and control and to quiet his mind down when he’s in a tense situation.
Photo credit Anne Wheatley.
A bit about Peter:
I got my first border collie in 1982. At that time, I was just cowboying for big outfits and needed a dog for the ranch work. Eventually I met some good dog men that got me interested in trialing. I have used my dogs for ranch work and shepherding. Since then, I’ve judged the USBCHA national finals in both the Sheep and the Cattle divisions, I’ve judged the Bluegrass, Meeker (twice), the North Carolina State championships and Ettrick sheep trial in Missouri, as well as trials in other areas of the states and western and eastern Canada.