Alberta Stock Dog Association

12/01/2024

WCF

11/01/2024

Reminder:
•8am CST tomorrow (Jan 11) registration begins
•Message the FB page with the name of the person registering, which class (beginner, intermediate,advanced) they would like to join, and a contact number
•we will respond to each message by the end of the day and let you know where to send payment
•in previous years the clinic has filled fairly quickly, so don’t delay if you are interested - also we will start a wait list if needed

07/01/2024

Please join us in Jansen, SK, August 9,10,11, 2024 for The Making Of A Stock Dog. Here are some details-
• cost is $375 per participant
• meals ( supper Friday, breakfast, lunch,supper Saturday, breakfast, lunch Sunday) included in price
• 3 clinicians taking different levels of dogs and handlers (beginner, intermediate, advanced)
• clinicians are Jared Epp, Jack Regier, Campbell Forsyth (descriptions in previous post)
• free camping
• trial with champion buckle for clinic participants
• informational speakers TBA
• entries for the clinic will begin at 8am January 11, 2024 via The Making of A Stockdog’s FB messenger

Please send us any questions you may have, and we look forward to hearing from you on January 11 .

07/01/2024

02/01/2024

Our first announcement, as promised!

We are SO EXCITED to be hosting our first trial!

🗓 Save the date: September 7 and 8, 2024 for our inaugural Field Trial!

🐑 We will be offering two runs each of Open, Nursery, Pro-Novice and Novice. The sheep will be our lovely farm flock of wool sheep; strong cheviot influence.

🐕 Sanctioned with USBCHA and SSDA

More Details to follow in the coming months!

01/01/2024

Some dates to add to your calendar ….

31/12/2023

Do you remember singing “This old man?” as a child? It went like this: “This old man, he plays one. He plays knick knack on my thumb. With a knick knack paddywack, give a dog a bone. This old man comes rolling home.”

Guess what? There IS such a thing as a “paddywack.” It’s the nickname given to the nuchal ligament (“nuchal” means “attaching to the nape”) found in the midline of the neck of a sheep, horse, or cow that relieves the animal of the weight of its head as it grazes. Once upon a time (maybe even now) dried paddywack was commonly packaged and sold as a dog treat, but we digress.

Dogs also have a similar ligament in their neck (though it’s different in precise structural detail). As early dogs evolved longer legs, noses and necks, they needed the nuchal ligament to conserve energy while running long distances with their nose to the ground as they followed scent trails. It supports the head without using muscles and saves the dog energy while making her more efficient.

All dogs’ necks have five primary muscles and that nuchal ligament. Together, they’re responsible for the extensive movement of a dog’s head, as well as for maintaining posture. In many scent hunting breeds, the neck is hard muscled, powerful and strong – but is their nuchal ligament different in any way than, say, a lap dog? We honestly don’t know, and perhaps a veterinarian or canine physiologist can help us out?

Image: Running Hound: Jacques-Philippe Le Bas and Jean Eric Rehn after Jean-Baptiste Oudry/ Public Domain,

30/12/2023

25/12/2023

Happy Holidays !
from
Alberta Stock Dog Association

21/12/2023

🚨🚨 Due to the cold temperatures next weekend; Trial #2 has been postponed to hopefully a warmer Saturday, February 3rd.

Pre entries are Tuesday, January 30th. Day of entries will be accepted as well. 🚨🚨

———***—————***———————***————

Winter MSDA SHEEP TRIAL SERIES - Trial #2 🙌🏻🔥

TRAIL #2 Details:
- Date: Saturday January 13th 2023
- Location: Morrison Arena - Hartney, MB

(https://goo.gl/maps/KFTVH8GHKbKxKtSFA)

- Entry Fee: $30 / run (2 runs time permitting)
- PRE-Entries: January 9th to JoAnn McCannell
- Classes: Open, Nursery, Pro-Novice, Novice & Junior
- 10am Start (9:45am Open Handler Meeting)

Series Details:
- 4 Trials throughout the winter months
- End of Series Awards/Prizes
- Series End Points based off of 3 of 4 trials (in case you are unable to make one)
- Stock - Sheep 🐑🐑🐑
- MSDA Sanctioned
- Fees will be as reasonable as possible (Cover costs of stock, hauling, arena rentals, sanctioning & small amount of each fee going towards awards)

This is going to be a fun and encouraging environment; hope to see lots of old and new faces out at this series! Huge thanks to Joann McCannell, Barry Breemersch and Mike Morrison for hosting Trial #2 of the 4 Trial Series!

21/12/2023