SUMMER RECREATION
Herd it all
BY CHRISTINA GUERRERO
UNLESS YOU’RE a farmer or a rancher,
chances are you don’t see many working
border collies handling sheep. However,
thanks to an increase in the number of
hobbyist herders and a growing interest
among spectators, sheepherding competitions have become popular events across
the country.
“It’s a bit of history, and I think that’s
what draws people to the event: It does feel
like you’re taking a step back in time,” says
Costco member Maggi McClure, executive
director of the Vashon Sheepdog Classic.
“And people still use these dogs for work in
this manner all over the world—it’s just,
people don’t have a chance to see it happening. And so it’s a great landscape to take in.”
Held on Vashon Island, near Seattle, the
Vashon Sheepdog Classic (vashonsheep
dogclassic.com) is one of several herding
trials where top sheepherding teams participate under rules sanctioned by the
International Sheep Dog Society (ISDS; isds.
org.uk), which is the leading sheepdog
registry in the UK. In ;;;;, the first recorded
sheepdog trials were held in North Wales,
but it wasn’t until ;;;; that ISDS was
formed, following a meeting of English and
Scottish sheepherders, according to the
ISDS. Shortly afterward, the first international trials were held in Scotland, and they
have continued to be an annual event, except
during time of war.
The first recorded sheepdog trial in the
U.S. was held in Philadelphia in ;;;;. Today,
the sport continues to grow, with many
North American trials (
usbcha.com) seeing
an increase in competitors from dog agility
and obedience backgrounds.
At these trials the teams of handlers
and highly trained dogs are judged on dif-
ferent phases of work completed. Handlers
signal the dogs with whistles or voice com-
mands to gather sheep hundreds of yards
away and move them through a course in a
quiet, workman-like manner, performing
a series of tasks that could be encountered
on a farm, such as moving them through
gates, splitting a certain number of sheep
from the herd and penning the sheep, all
within an allotted number of minutes.
“We don’t want to have the sheep
on the defense. It should be a very com-
passionate sport,” McClure says. “We
want our dogs working livestock in such
a way that they kind of make a handshake
agreement with the sheep that they’re going
to work together. And it’s done at a pace
that’s comfortable for everybody, ideally.
So that’s what we’re looking for in watch-
ing the dogs work. These
sheep are being moved
around, but they’re not
being chased around.”
The dogs apply pres-
sure by staring at the
sheep, which makes the
sheep move in the desired
direction. Biting the live-
stock, called “gripping,”
usually is a disqualifica-
tion unless the dog is
defending itself from
being charged by the
sheep. Although the dogs are taught basic
commands, they definitely bring different
talents and personalities to the course.
“There’s an old saying from the UK that
it takes four years to train a dog and four
dogs to train a handler,” says McClure, who
will also be participating in the World Sheep
Dog Trials in Holland in July. “Which is
kind of a funny way of saying there is a lot
to learn.”
McClure, who has helped dog owners
with canine obedience training and behav-
ior work for ;; years, admits that, because
of their intelligence and their innate sense
of being a working dog, border collies are
her favorite breed to collaborate with on
her farm.
“To me, making the dogs sit down and
walk nice on a leash is not as interesting as
being able to go out and actually work with
my own dogs,” she says. “If I need to bring
my sheep in because someone needs medicine or their feet need to be trimmed, and
I have a dog there with me that’s going to
help me get all that done in such a nice,
efficient manner, we get to have that time
together where we’re both enjoying ourselves and we’re tasking, we’re getting stuff
done. It’s different.” C
©
TE
RRY
DO
N
NELLY
Where there’s wool,
there’s a way
THECOSTCOCONNECTION
A variety of dog food and supplies can
be found in your local Costco and on
Costco.com.
©
B
ON
NI
E
BL
OCK
U.S. National Champion
Riggs, owned by
Patrick Shannahan.
Vashon Sheepdog Classic
competitor Dot and her
owner Suzy Applegate
of Plymouth, California.
OUR DIGITAL EDITIONS
Click here to see scenes from the
Vashon Sheepdog Classic. (See page 9
for details.)
