You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
«r.'<br />
"»,5 V<br />
j' j<br />
fFinally, Finals!<br />
!'l'-^ i/v 'n^-'• / i !<br />
•-.'' t<br />
7<br />
Hello from Texas. Weather is<br />
warming up and things are<br />
looking good around here! The<br />
Finals point cut-off was May<br />
31, but as I write this, we still have four<br />
weeks to go! Good luck to all of you out<br />
there trying to acquire those last few points<br />
to make the cut! We won't know how many<br />
points it will take this year to make it until<br />
all trial points have been submitted and<br />
tallied. Remember to have fun with your<br />
partner and be good to your friends! If you<br />
are in the top 20 dogs selected, and get that<br />
all-important letter from the business office,<br />
congratulations!!! Something to make note<br />
of: if you pay your entry fees for Finals,<br />
and then something happens to keep you<br />
from attending the Finals at the last minute,<br />
be sure and let someone know so that they<br />
can let an alternate take your spot. I'm<br />
guessing that the listed course director<br />
would be a good start for someone to<br />
notify should that happen to you. It would<br />
be greatly appreciated by the person getting<br />
to fill your slot, as well as the folks who are<br />
putting on the Finals!!<br />
At this point in time, continuing to train<br />
our dogs and working to fill in any gaps in<br />
their learning is important to making a good<br />
showing at Finals as well as Nationals.<br />
Attending trials in your area helps show<br />
you where your dog still needs to become<br />
proficient, as well as giving them the muchneeded<br />
mileage under their belts! In fact,<br />
I find I also need the trials to sharpen my<br />
skills and timing.I seem to leam something<br />
new at every trial I attend! Animals tend<br />
to show us things that we never even<br />
considered in the realm of possibility!!!<br />
You will hear many people comment on<br />
how "dumb" sheepare!Well,/say they are<br />
very smart—they are just working within<br />
the framework they have been given!<br />
Ducks and cattle, too!! If they have been<br />
Linda Bel'i^Georgetown, Texas •(512) 868-1340 •winslide@msn.com<br />
treated well, and have<br />
always been handled by<br />
a fair dog that has covered<br />
and controlled them,<br />
they won't be trying to<br />
escape and outrun a dog<br />
every second. They also<br />
probably won't try and<br />
fight when they have been<br />
shown that isn't to their<br />
best interest! Don'tblame<br />
the livestock; train your<br />
dogs on tougher/different<br />
stock!!! You may have the<br />
best stock at your place,<br />
but when you travel,<br />
you aren't going to have<br />
anything familiar. There<br />
are many times when<br />
one of my dogs doesn't<br />
do well on a certain type<br />
ofstock at a trial. I try and<br />
remind myselfthat this is<br />
a learning experience! We<br />
try and come back with a<br />
Francesco Canfield, Kandi Knack, and Karen Russell<br />
new lesson learned for<br />
future competitions!<br />
We can't have all the different possible Mystery Dog 2004:<br />
combinations of stock or set-ups at our<br />
places, so going other places as well as to<br />
trials helps to bridge that gap.<br />
We are all looking forward to a<br />
wonderful Finals at Nationals this year<br />
in Georgia! If anyone has an opinion or<br />
suggestion or a dog they would like to write<br />
about in this column, please send me the<br />
information! I would welcome it! I asked<br />
for some mystery dogs from folks hoping<br />
to qualify for Finals, and I received a really<br />
nice and detailed note from someone about<br />
their dog! Hope you enjoy reading it, and<br />
thanksto that personfor submitting!<br />
'Til next time, keep striving for the<br />
Top!!<br />
Our yearstartedout in<strong>Aug</strong>ust,goingto<br />
a trial that I was really not sure about, with<br />
me being six weeks pregnant and having<br />
quite a bit of morning sickness. I wasn't<br />
sure whether nerves would make me unable<br />
to function, but as it turned out, having<br />
something to concentrate on took care of<br />
the morning sickness, at least for the time<br />
I was in the arena. At that point I hadn't<br />
decided to attempt to qualify for Finals, I<br />
wasjust tryingto finish myMysteryDog's<br />
WTCH.<br />
The firstday she got a leg in<strong>AT</strong>Dcand<br />
Finals points in sheep and ducks.<br />
The second morning of the trial I<br />
woke up in mytentat4:00a.m. absolutely<br />
AUSSIE TIMES I <strong>July</strong>-<strong>Aug</strong>ust <strong>2005</strong> 89
Change language