Bon Goes to a Herding Trial

[goldcreek]

Today Bonnie attended her first herding trial. We watched ducks and cows. Sadly, chose not to stay for sheep as the dogs we wanted to see were running very last. We didn't want to wait another six hours...

Bon was reunited with her sister and a brother, Aub, and also her dad and grandad. I was completely blown away by how like her sire Bonnie is. And the whole clan share a bunch of the same little idiosyncrasies. So Bonnie is not the only one who's weird I suppose, weirdness is in the blood. It was so much fun talking to the other owners. A handler who owns an older dog from this breeder came up to me and greeted Bonnie, and then guessed exactly who her parents were, just by her mannerisms, and of course she's the image of her dad, but with pricked ears. They have the very same expressions. And greeting style. hee hee... Too cool.

Bonnie vs Aub... the puppy showdown

I was really surprised Bonnie would consent to play with a strange dog, but he charmed her very sweetly, and they had a great time together! He thoroughly enjoyed dragging her through the dirt. She was absolutely filthy! Don't feel bad if you can't tell what's going on in these pics. It looks like a pile of black and white limbs to me too. Hint: Aub is green collar/black lead.

Aub gives Bon a good dust bath


He chews on her head


She chews on his head


His favorite game...sit on the sister!


Bonnie tells him to keep his fat butt to himself!


Bon being weird, trying the sneak attack


A close up of Bon's crazy eyes!



After having some fun with her brother and getting snapped at by her sister, Bon made a new friend of a 5 year old little girl. I told the girl that Bonnie will dig on command. She got Bonnie really going, there was a cloud of dust flying over the arena and settling over the spectators because of my puppy. LOL. Bon was tearing up great chunks of grass and sending sand and dirt everywhere, the little girl was just cackling and egging her on, she thought it was fantastic. Then she decided she wanted Bonnie to dig somewhere else so she just picked up her leash and took off with her! ok...says I, and follow meekly behind. She found a sand pit for Bonnie to dig in and some kids had a lot of fun, throwing grass clods and dirt for Bon to chase. Bonnie must have been digging for a half hour. Her tongue and mouth was packed with mud, she had dark circles around her eyes from dust settling in the dampness. One filthy, exhausted dog!

Here she is after a water break, thus the clean black nose and pink mouth. Too bad I didn't take a picture before. This picture just does not do justice to the quantity of dirt in this dog's fur. I gave her a bath when we got home.


We rested at the car and watched duck herding from there. It is not allowed for spectators to get close to the ring, and they had that orange netting up for the fence, made for terrible pictures, but hopefully you'll get the idea....

Here is Bonnie's grandsire, Moose, working the ducks. He's a red smooth. He did a fantastic job but drew awful ducks, they refused to have anything to do with the whole deal. It was frustrating to watch, he's such a nice dog.



Bon's sire, Henry, and his turn on ducks. He is working really well on sheep, this was only his 4th time on ducks. At first he was wishing there was something else around to herd, but then he settled down and turned in a very smooth, nice run. He's not even two years old yet. Great boy!





Bon watching Dad show her how its done


The handsome Aub


Aubbers! He's a big goofy boy, a super nice pup.


Bon was wore out from her exciting day.

Going once....


Going twice..............


Gone!!


Thanks for looking!

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[goldcreek]

Also, forgot to mention that Bonnie will be started on sheep this month! *gulp*

I'm a little anxious, but really quite excited. Will of course let you all know how it goes.

[Ali01]

Awhhh she's such a cutie! Her and her brother are gorgeous! Best of luck to you with the sheep! I'm sure she'll do great!

[Vicky]

Great shots, i love the pics of her and her brother playing, i am sure she will do well with the sheep herding.

[Tassle]

Aww - thats great.
I went to watch an open trial yesterday, Siren (living up to her name) made noise the whole time she was watching (in the van top crate!)

The sheep (having been used yesterday) knew where the exhaust pen was and were making a bee line for there as soon as they were released from the release pen. They were using a dog to hold them in place, but very few dogs managed a proper outrun or Lift as the sheep were already going full tilt! Many missed the fetch gates.

Make sure you take the camera when you start Bonnie on sheep

[Oenoke]

Great pics, looks like Bonnie had fun with her brother.

[sheepskin_border_collies]

What a fun time for any doggies. Looks like she was tuckered. Good luck on the sheep!

[joanne/shads]

looks like a lot of fun for all the dogs look forward to hearing how bonnie goes on sounds like she got it in her blood love the pics

[trickytrip]

Great pics, I love to watch dogs that are related get together and play. Silky and Green are sooo funny to watch.