Rock N' Roll Stockdogs

19/11/2024

Peter K and his 10 month old Betty. First time they’ve tried a course. I have a feeling they’re gonna be just fine in this herding deal 😉

18/11/2024

Client dog Jim’s second nursery run saw him pick up a few more points than his first and move up from 5th to 4th of 10 dogs in this round.

He cracks me up with how gentle but neat he always is when he works. Timed events are not necessarily his strong suit but boy is he relaxing and reliable no matter what stock you’re working.

This was the afternoon of day 3 so a lot of runs were starting to encounter cattle that were a bit more resistant and draw-heavy than earlier in the trial (still great though) but old soul Jim has a way of just melting the edges off his stock. He’s getting more confident bit by bit but he sure knows how to keep things calm 😅

17/11/2024

My 2024 Double Shoe SDT crew

Client dog Jim: (14 months old)
Day 3 4th place nursery (of 10 dogs)

Hendrix:
Day 3 2nd place Open (of 21 dogs)

Lennon:
Day 1 1st Nursery (of 10 dogs)
Day 2 3rd Nursery
Day 1 6th Horseback
Day 2 2nd Horseback (17 dogs)
Day 3 1st Horseback
Day 3 5th Nursery
Overall Nursery Champ (3 day total)
Overall Horseback Champ

Total winnings: $2,842 USD

Can’t say enough things about how enormous of an undertaking this trial must have been to put on by the Walker family, their crew and the sponsors. Very challenging courses but doable thanks to terrific cattle.

They are doing another in February and it’s a must-go in my opinion for anyone in even remote driving distance.

Look for another post in the next day or so to better thank these trial organizers and crew for making this event happen.

17/11/2024

Good day 3 at the Double Shoe Ranch SDT for the Rock N' Roll Stockdogs squad (and client dog Jim).

Horseback:
Lennon 1st (of 17 dogs)
*Think Lennon won the 3 day horseback avg but will confirm that later

Open:
Hendrix 2nd (of 21 dogs)

Nursery:
Jim 4th (of 10 dogs, lol)
Lennon 5th
*think Lennon also won the 3 day overall avg but not sure yet

17/11/2024

Lennon, Smoke (horse) and I got a nearly full point run this morning here on day 3 of this epic trial.

The course is 6 minutes, full of tricky obstacles (none of which are along the edge of the arena) and you can’t put any cattle back through an obstacle they have already pointed through (whether you wanted them to or not).

We dropped 12 points I think on obstacle 2 but full points elsewhere even despite my amateur riding.

16/11/2024

Day 2 results at Double Shoe SDT

Lennon won 2nd in today’s Horseback class (despite his dad’s riding skills costing us 18 points).

He came 3rd in Nursery (a small mistake on the fetch, which you can’t retry, was costly).

He’s sitting good in the overall in both classes with Day 3 still to come tomorrow.

Nothing to write home about score wise in Open today

16/11/2024

With his owners blessing I put 14 month old Jim into his first trial today.

He worked exactly as Jim always does: slow, thoughtful, clean, gentle and slow. Also slow.

But you know what? He did pretty darn good for a first timer. In fact I’m sure a 7 year old child could run Jim at a trial and never get into any trouble.

Only thing that went wrong with Jim’s run here is that they only give you 6 minutes. Jim would’ve got full points for sure with more time 😂

15/11/2024

Lennon won Nursery and placed 6th in both Open and Horseback today in Day 1 of Double Shoe Stockdog Trial in Jackson, OH.

Did he take any lie downs? Essentially no.

But in his defense he had horseback won also but my rental horse was a bit above my pay grade and we had a 1-2 minute civil war as I tried to convince him to let me touch the exhaust gate for our final 30 points 😂 The horse won the war lol.

Hendrix ran just in Open and was just ok — a bit wide but cattle aren’t his strong suit in general.

15/11/2024

Haven’t been working cattle enough lately so after giving a lesson at a nearby farm on sheep I leapt at the opportunity to put Lennon in with some fresh heifers he doesn’t know.

13/11/2024

Frosty morning singling practice with the OG

11/11/2024

This is Peter K’s dog Betty.

She just turned 10 months old and he just started training her a few short weeks ago.

It’s pretty cool to see a newer handler and a young dog looking like a super team in the making already. When he first got her she was a bit pressure sensitive and it’s been awesome how he’s building up her confidence in leaps and bounds each day.

Ontario is on the move 👊

10/11/2024

Client dog Jim (~14 months) working fresh sheep he’s never seen before in an arena he’s not worked in before.

He has always been a cautious and thoughtful dog and is less pushy than my dogs but his growing confidence is staring to compliment the genius level of feel he always has had.

Here we’re trying to keep things as straight as possible which is not easy with light sheep but Jim is easier than most to handle in that regard.

08/11/2024

Client dog Jim (12-14 months) is really turning into a handy partner these days.

He’s been helping bring the mixed herd/flock each evening and it’s a different set up almost every day where they are on the property. So he has to know how to both take commands when asked but also think for himself to puzzle out where the stock are, how to get to them and how to navigate around whatever electro net arrangement he finds when sent.

This video is of his first time encountering this particular set up and I am proud of how he handled it both when being instructed and when left to his own problem solving.

03/11/2024

Lennon took 5th out of 27 dogs in todays Open class.

It was pouring rain during his run and there’s a murderer’s row of top handlers and dogs at this trial so I am proud of how he handled himself as a dog who just turned 2 only 4 months ago (even if he doesn’t always like to lie down the first time you ask just yet 😂🤦🏽‍♂️).

He also took 2nd in the Sheep Open here on Friday.

I’m a big believer in dogs that can work or compete on whatever stock is put in front of them and hope to keep developing Lennon to be a consistent operator going forward.

03/11/2024

Results from today’s cattle runs.

Lennon beat his brother again today, but we’ll see if tomorrow both can move up a bit higher on the scoresheets 👊

01/11/2024

Lennon took 2nd in the sheep round of the Open Lock CDT trial today.

His brother was on pace to win it all but we pushed a bit too hard at the final obstacle (the pen) and ended up burning a bunch of time there.

Tomorrow the cattle rounds start (and another sheep round) and it’s apparently going to be a big class of ~30 Open teams.

29/10/2024

Getting into training/working/competing with herding dogs isn't always the easiest thing in the world.

There's a lot of opportunity for doubt, second guessing and losing confidence. Some of that can be external, but it can also come from within.

This blog post is about how we think about failure and how, sometimes, maybe it's something to be proud of.

The more I think about it, the harder it becomes to escape the realization that failure isn't just everywhere... it's pretty essential to ge

26/10/2024

Dune is a 3 year old Australian Shepherd from the city who met sheep for the first time today. Her mom brought her to see if she might have any instinct.

At first she was a bit worried to come into the pen but this video starts only a few moments after she did. Really neat how a dog that’s never met sheep before can figure out balance within a few minutes.