Thankfully, this year's Championship is a little later in the year (and hopefully a little cooler).
As I headout, its sunny to the East but very cloudy over the Salt Lake valley. There's no rain in the forecast (although they did say mountain showers in the late afternoon), but it sure does look like rain's coming. I check the weather at Soldier Hollow and it says dry for next 6 hours and its a cool 46 degrees -- better bring a jacket.
Lots of folks on the expressway this morning travelling for the Labor Day week-end. But it was a quick drive for me. The trees are actually changing into their Fall colors on the Wasatch back -- splatches of red and yellow among many many green leaves.
I get one of the first 10 spots in the "normal" people's parking -- I wanted to get there early to avoid the crowds, my planned worked. I missed the 1st two dogs run and arrive with the 3rd attempting the last 2 tasks; splitting the herd and penning the sheep. Both tasks require a lot of skill for the dog and handler and a LOT of patience. (It's also quite nerve-wrecking from a spectator point of view --- the sheep just bolt at the last minute.)
The course is the same as last year. The dog runs uphill to the sheep and drives them down and through a gate,
then down to the "main area" where the handler is, then uphill through another gate,
They get points for each task completed and how they are working the sheep (good lines, etc).
The first dog I see, Tess, pens the sheep and receives an 86 (out of 100) for the high score so far. (And that's a really good score.)
The dogs appear to be doing much better at penning the sheep this year. (I only remember a few successful ones last year.) But there are dogs having a bad day as well, like a few of the finalists from last year -- missing gates, can't get them penned. But I think they do get at least 2 attempts over the 3 days (maybe more).
But some dogs had feisty sheep that didn't want do what the dogs wanted them to do -- made for some interesting runs. And there was one dog that got challenged by one of the sheep - nose to nose -- and the dog had show her whose boss (the dogs are not allowed to nip/bite the sheep unless its to protect themselves as in this case -- but this dog maintained its cool and didn't bite).
Other dogs, well they simply weren't very good at listening to their handlers.
But at the end of the course, they all get the water bath to cool off.
Mick scored an 89 on the course, it was a beautiful run and he had the top score for some time.
My favorite of the day was Cole, he was from Indiana (OK he was my favorite by default). I noticed when he walked onto the course that he seemed to have a limp. And then they announced, he only had 3 legs!! What a champ -- what a breed of dog!!
Sis scored another 89 on the course. But Mick held the top spot because of tie-breakers (maybe faster time).
I watched for 3 hours and took a break for lunch. It drizzled for a little bit and there was more rain looking clouds moving our way. I then watched a couple more dogs from the tented area. The wind was really starting to pick up now so I headed for the exit. (Lots of people still coming in.)
The whole way drive back to SLC was in the rain. But as I entered the valley, hazy sunshine.
Great day! This is so much fun. And even more so because the people cheer when the dog gets the sheep thru the gate, splits the herd and pens the sheep. They also moaned when the sheep miss the gate or they don't get penned. Fun time!!
Next year, finals!!
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