10/28/2025
Last week we attended our first ever Australian Cattle Dog National Specialty. I took Rave and Gabby, both bred and trained by myself. Thanks to Rebecca Elder for allowing me to use Rash on Rave to produce Gabby's litter.
Huge thanks to everyone that is involved in putting this on. This is no small event and many people are trying to keep things running behind the scenes while also managing their own dogs. This takes months of preparation and couldn't be done without those who are heavily dedicated to this breed!
Day 1 was two A course (arena course) trials and Day 2 was two D course (farm course) trials. That's 4 trials in two days!
Gabby came in a little hot on her first cattle run and though she completed the course she lost too many points to qualify. Her first sheep run was practically back to back with her cattle run and she had her head on right and ran a really nice sheep run. Trial 2 she had a nice cattle run and I fibbed up a bit in my handling on her sheep run costing us the run.
Gabby
Trial 1
High in Trial sheep
1st place started sheep
Trial 2
Second place started cattle
Rave had a nice cattle run in trial 1 and was our first run of the weekend. Her sheep run was touchy but we managed a third place. My green trial handling showed up in trial 2 and I cost her both of her runs and learned some very valuable lessons that I won't make again!
Rave was entered in Advanced D course cattle and this is where she really shined! D course is a 25 minute run and is set up to simulate practical farm work. There was a take pen, alley work, a sort, arena work, a field drive, a field gather, and a repen.
Rave was second place and reserve high in trial in both trials. She showed how consistent and reliable she is, scoring 95.5 in both trials!
I am so proud of these dogs! They showed that with minimal trial experience and a green trial handler, these dogs are still capable of demonstrating that farm dogs can go out and trial too. Thank you to my family and friends who have supported me and pushed me out of my comfort zone. I couldn't do any of this without them! ❤️