*photos by Richard Horn Photography
August has been another busy month for CDC. We started off with another evening CKC herding trial on August 12. The dogs did really great on the stockdog runs and I really enjoyed watching the handlers navigate through the course. We added in a trailer load for the Intermediate dogs as well and it was so fun to watch. I am looking forward to more stockdog runs at the September trial.
The following weekend 7 of our CDC Herding dogs attended the ACDCC / Chasin Dreams Herding trials in Duffield, AB. They hosted both CKC as well as AHBA. As always they did a really great job hosting and there were a lot of great successes. My Vucko at just shy of 11 years old, earned 2 AHBA level 3 cattle qualifying runs (one being a Reserve High in Trial) and he also won the Chasin Dreams Stockmanship award. I am very proud of my Grandpa dog. Slick the youngster also had a great time competing on sheep for the weekend and finished off his AHBA level 3 sheep title and earned his first Championship point. He also earned his first 4 CKC Championship points and 2 Reserve High in Trials (one CKC and one AHBA). Slick has a lot of work to do before the next trial however he did have some lovely moments. All of the other students came out with either qualifying scores, close calls or Championship points. It was a really great weekend for all of us.
This past week we finished off our Monday evening CKC Herding Trial series with one arena sheep and one arena duck run. We had so many beautiful runs and I was very pleased to see some of the students being rewarded for all of their hard work. Congratulations to everyone that has earned titles, made improvements, reached goals and most importantly, had a great time with your dogs this summer. I am also super excited to announce that Rebecca and Kestrel are our very first CDC students to earn their Herding Arena Championship! I am so very proud of you and your hard work.
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Now we are all getting prepared for our last CDC event of the year, CKC Herding on September 21 & 22. Stockdog sheep as well as plenty of Arena Ducks! We will be having an out of town judge so I will get a chance to run some dogs as well.
Although I am sad that summer is coming to an end, we are preparing for the fall and winter months. We are booked in for November and December once again at the Sturgeon Agriplex for indoor sheep herding lessons. We are also starting to make plans for next summer’s trial season. Lots of herding going on the books for 2025!
Enjoy your last warm days of the year and please remember to enjoy all of your moments with your dogs.
Brandy-Lee and the CDC crew
