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Show 2007 Wednesday. August 2 DAILY HERALD M - Sheepdog 0 Continued from J cross country events during the 2002 Olympics, he knew " Soldier I loUuw would make the perfect venue. Apparently other shepherds agree, and the event's reputation has quickly grown. These sheepdog trials are an extreme test of the dog's sheepherding abilities (not unlike the trials shown in the movie Babe. but on a much larger scale). Dog and handler begin about 400 yards from a wild smaO group of sheep. As the clock starts, the dog runs to the sheep (the outrun") and then follows whistled commands from the handler to round up the sheep (the lift) and lead them to the handler (the fetch"). The dog must then lead the sheep through a series of gates (the drive') to a circle .. drawn on the ground Then the dog must usher those sheep marked with red collars outside the circle ('shedding), and finally get all the sheep into a pen near the handler ('penning), The handler moves over to dose the pent , gate, but throughout the trial shouldnt move from the start ing point. Thats why the com maiids are whistled a voice wouldnt carry over hundreds of yards. All this must be completed ; in less than 12 minutes, and judges award points based on the orderliness cl the dogs herding. The dog has to be able to get in the sheeps face, said Karen Stanley, an Eagle Mountain resident who has participated in the Soldier Hollow Classic every year. And when ; the sheep turn to look at the ' dog, the dog has to say, Oh, 1 think will do what you really? I want you to do. When the dog is too careful, the sheep sue it up right away and say, Make me." . .7 Stanley said that kind of , "ie ' J ' V V . k r ! - A1 . .N . 1 . - " . 'hkti'&fiK- : , v 't, - w: 4 ' i . : ' .f i S'; l -- i , f J V .. t : ' . , . i . ' hi r t ' . if ..if - . , , ,i l : r - e tr v.. f , , f - v t . . ' V i . It I a ?, . f ; 1 - . : ' - r r j ' v V , 1 T .ft 7 t f , f , . ? , 7 'J, . '' MAMO RUZtMy HenSd Stephanie Burdetfs Shetland Sheep Dog Grade demonstrates duck herding at a practice field in Proper Monday. The premier sheepdog competition in the world will be held at Soldier Hollow in Midway beginning Friday. focus and confidence is not something you can teach, even to dogs as famously intelligent and loyal as border collies, which are almost the only breed used in these trial eyents. : some as far away as 14 hours by car. Were crazy, Stanley aaid. move sheep really wel They We load up all the dogs in the have to be born with a certain car and take off. But 14 hours pales in comlevel of talent, a certain mix of parison to the distances some geneathat allows them to do. will travel to get to Soldier the work that were going to Hollow this year. Peterson ; do up at Soldier Hollow. You cant put that in a dog, but you said participants will come can mold it if its there. from South Africa and all over Stanley got irto sheephad-in- g Europe. Between airfare, lodgseven years ago when she ing and special care for the .. noticed the teamwork that has dop, Peterson estimated some to take place between handler people pay around $10,000 just and dog. She said she was swe- to attend the event. at ruck by that relationship, and Ita not a money issue, its just had to be part of it. Now, she participates in sheepdog the bestevenHn the world .. and wafting sway wkh that trials aU over the country, You can train some dogs to move sheep, Stanley said, but you cant train than to . . Utah County News mvw.heraldextni.com . sitsc :)siit .vitiu Time ,.i .. . . - fubnituse fos less medal, Peterson sakLTts not nearly so much about the money as about what sheepdog competition hawbeenrootol in for hundreds of years. Its shepherds getting together to see who has the best dog Stephanie Burdett, a class coordinator at Brigham Young University, uses her dog Gra-- . de during the summers to herd shBep on her Lehi farm. The two will compete in an inter--r mediate division (not the main championship, which is by invitation only) and in the duck herding competition. Burdett says ducks tend to stray more easily than sheep, so teamwork is aU the more kiqxxtant. !(lit MlU'riirJhR' tb iTTfiTBiPi? iiTAUTODAHNl MAT'f'i As a team, we can get the ;. animals to go where we want ; them to go, Burdett said. But if we dont work as a team, it all falls apart. bor- Burdett said well-bre- d der collie puppies, even before they're trained, can sell for hundreds of dollars. After they've begun training and shew some promise, the pups can sell for thousands. It all . depends on how well the dogs take orders, which Stanley said is something remarkable in itself. . I don't think we appreciate what goes on in that little head, Stanley said. "Its amazing that they can even do ft. . . . . . ; - . |