HERDING AT THE 2003 AWSA NATIONALS

Our first herding event went off just about without a hitch. The only thing I wish I could do over is to have had at least sandwiches brought to the site. I apologize to everyone that I misunderstood about the concession being open on Friday. At least we started the day with donuts and cookies -- and we did have water....

Special thanks to Gloria Erskine, Pam Koons, and Priscilla Walker for all their help. Thank you Michelle for the stop watch and white board. And thanks to everyone who contributed to the success of the event by going with the flow, being ready to go in the ring, and being so enthusiastic-- and for your offers to help. Diana, thanks for the coffee :-).

The following White Shepherds earned the first leg of their AHBA Capability Test:
1. Luger's Lazer Beam v Stellar "Lazer" owed by Michelle Koons
2. Stellar's Lunar Eclipse "Luna" owned by Becky Joyce
3. Braehead's Memento of Q "Dylan" owned by Susan Ewart
4. Royal Dinah of WillowWood owned by Jacki Wheeler
5. Regalwise Stafford Pet Ill "Pill" owned by Margaret Stafford
6. Proud's Corinthian Connection "Chloe" owned by Jen Proud
7. Marike Weisse Shonheit "Vysee" owned by Martha Angle
8. Royal Spasz Von Tasz "Pebbles" owned by Diana Updike
9. Royal Sir Isaac's IQ "Isaac" owned by Jean Reeves
10. Stellar's My White Desire "Kimber" owned by Pam Koons (this little girl stunned Pam and Michelle by silently and with sustained interest worked the stock so swiftly and efficiently that she finished sooner by half a minute than any other dog -- the next two fastest finishers were her siblings, Lazer, and only 2 seconds slower Luna.)

Just a word about what that means. Each dog is given a maximum of 10 minutes to prove they have interest. The tester looks at their style, approach, eye, wearing, barking, temperament, interest, power, responsiveness, grouping of stock, and balancing stock with handler. Once the tester can evaluate the dog in respect to these guidelines, they have shown they qualify to go on to their second leg. Little Ms. Kimber showed her stuff in 2 minutes and 36 seconds. Lazer was 3:02, Luna 3:04 and Vysee and Pill were in the low 3's too. This doesn't mean they have more instinct than the others or that they will be better at herding -- but their instinct clearly kicked in so quickly that they took a minimum amount of time. It was especially exciting for the owners of Kimber and Vysee because I know it was Kimber's first time on sheep and I believe Vysee's first time too!

German Shepherd or Shiloh Shepherds
11. Sir Andrew Von Proud-Haus "Andy" owned by Jen Proud
12. Asgard-Samson "Samson" owned by Pam DuRussell

Puppies not passing this time but probably will with maturity and confidence:
13. Abby, 14. Daisy, 15. Annah

Adults not passing but that showed interest. The tester recommended trying again.
16. GSD, Lacey (very keen interest -- too much chasing :-)
17. Gracie, 18. Bill, 19. Luger, 20. Reveille, 21. Jessi, 22, Rion

Only two of the remaining three dogs tested for HCT failed because of no interest. One had interest so keen that he chased a wee bit too much -- you'll get Lacey under control Chris <grin>.

For the Herding Instinct only part of the event, we had seven White Shepherds tested -- all of them young.
Three puppies did not pass but surely will given maturity (Haley, Sam, and Margaret's little pup that had to go in the ring w/o mom because she was in the conformation ring). Delinda's Zato passed, Jen's Gabi passed, and Gloria's Chance and Ozzie passed. One adult didn't pass but may at a future time. There were seven non-whites tested for HIC and five of them passed.

I'll write more for an AWSA Times article. If you got a picture of your dog herding, please send it for the article.

Oh, and much to my surprise and delight, we were able to pay for the event with a little extra for the club.

I am so proud of you all and hope even more turn out next time.


Judy Huston
Herding Chair