Black dog with a little white.

I liked watching this dog. She stayed wide and seemed to just know how to be in the right spot to control the stock with out getting them riled. She seemed so willing to do what ever asked and worked well with her handler. You can see it in these pictures. She also did not fail to stop anything that tried to bolt off. She was a very good dog.

Blue dog working.

A Blue dog

This blue dog sets out, flanks well, does some back and forth wearing to push cattle. In this run it is not apparent that she has typical slinky border collie eye but acts immediately with presence to stop cattle from going in the wrong direction. The handler and dog have only 4 minutes to show their stuff in this run. There was a basic course but in truth, it took all of the teams at least 3 minutes and 50 seconds just to get this batch of stargazing, distracted, energized adolesant cattle to get the idea that a dog might be something to heed.

There is not the luxury in this run to show any style at all, but mainly just to show how a dog can put a stop on a bolting steer.

She does her best and gets trammeled near the end but bounces back up. In the end a job well done.

Red Bluff Bull Sale Stock Dog Competition and Sale

On Jan.30,2010 I went to the Red Bluff Bull Sale and watched the stock dog competition. The dogs were auctioned off afterwards. The prices rocked on up past 10,000 bucks on several dogs. None of the dogs went for a price under 2000 dollars.

These were trained stock dogs, highly valued for their ability to help manage livestock. They remind us of a time when all dogs were bred for a certain job and hence came into existance. These dogs are not pampered pets but working dogs. No one will judge them for their coat color or ear set, but how good they can accomplish a job. They are young dogs so they will have many years with their new partners. They are doing the job they love. More power to them.

One dog was donated by a top breeder, trained by a top trainer who donated his time, and sold with the proceeds going to The Klamath Basin water rights group to help pay legal fees. Water being the life blood of the farmers and ranchers. The dog was auctioned off three times and each time donated back to raise more money. Finally he gavel came down for the last time and the highest bidder took him home.