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Copyright 2008 Rocky Mountain Rider. ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED. Reproduction of any editorial material, artwork and photos is
strictly forbidden without express written permission of the publisher.
For information about reprint rights, please contact the editor; editor@rockymountainrider.com.
January 2008 Issue
The Wyoming
Stockdog Association (WSA) was formed in 1986 to help members learn
positive, humane training and breeding methods to bring stockdogs up to a
level of partnership on ranches that had been unknown previously. The
association helps members sponsor four or five training clinics of four to
five days in length per year, and also with about twelve annual
competitive stockdog trials.
Lisa Cunningham, President of the Association, explains that in
1986, a group of twelve
“We quickly understood that we had never seen a good dog work
with stock before,” says Cunningham.
“We all thought we had good dogs, but our handling and training
methods were not that great. Watching Jack, we thought, ‘Wow — these
are absolutely amazingly well-trained dogs that could figure out the
answers to problems on their own!”
The WSA now has about 120 members from across the
“For the most part, our members are still ranchers, although more
and more hobbyists are coming to clinics and competitions,” explains
Cunningham.
“Our dogs have improved a thousand-percent since that 1986
clinic. Ranchers can now get the same amount of work done with one or two
dogs that a hired hand used to do. We don’t care what a dog looks like
or what breed it is, as long as they get the job done.
“Most of our members
had unregistered dogs when WSA began, but we have learned what can be done
to improve dogs with genetics, and most members now have purebred dogs.
Papers don’t make the dog, but selecting for traits like having more
confidence with cows, ease of handling, shorter hair coats and stamina can
usually be accomplished better with purebreds.”
Basically, there are two types of stock dogs: guardians and
herders.
Guardians are larger breeds that include Great Pyrenees, Akbash,
Maremma, Komondor, Kangal, Kuvasz, and Anatolian Shepherd.
Herding breeds include Border Collie; Australian Cattle Dog (aka
Queensland Heeler); Australian Shepherd; Belgian Malinoi, Tervuren and
Sheepdog; Bouviers des Flandres; Briard; Canaan Dog; Collie; English
Shepherd; German Shepherd; Kelpie; McNab, Cardigan and Pembroke Welsh
Corgis; Old English Sheepdog; and Puli.
There are many different ways of training and competing with
herding dogs, including stockdog trials, herding dog trials, cattle dog
trials and sheep dog trials. National organizations offering sponsorship
of these types of competition are the United States Border Collie
Handler’s Association, American Herding Breeds Association, the
Australian Shepherd Club of America, and more recently, the American
Kennel Club (which offers non-competitive herding certificates and
competitive herding titles using cattle, sheep, goats or ducks).
Stockdog trials are competitions where dog and handler gather,
drive, separate, pen and single-out sheep or cattle in a prescribed manner
in a limited amount of time over a natural ranch setting or arena course.
There are different levels of competition depending upon the training
level of handler and dog. Recent and Future Stock dog competitions
include: Blizzard Classic Stockdog Trials December 8, 2007 and January 12, 2008 CAM-PLEX
Barn 3 Bonnie Mitts at 307-358-3220 Mutton Punchers Timed Trial Dec. 9, 2007 and Jan. 13, 2008 Deelynn Garman, 307-283-2778 Brrr Bones Sheep Dog Trials December 29-30, 2007 Contact Don Couch, 208-455-5101 The National Cattledog Finals May 14-17, 2008 www.usbcha.com Best of the Sharon Norstog, 701-842-3460. Labar Sheep Dog Trials June 4–7, 2008 Barb Ross, 307-237-7017 Meeker Classic Sheepdog Championship
Trials September 3-7, 2008 Meeker, Ellen Nieslanik, 970-878-0080 National & Nursery Finals September 9, 2008 www.usbcha.com
One of the biggest and most fun competitions of the year is held
over Labor Day weekend in Kaycee, Wyoming — the Kaycee Sheep Industry
Festival and Kaycee Challenge Sheep Dog Trial. Fifty top Border Collies
from the
In addition to the sheepdog competition, the festival offers a
sheep wagon display, fiber festival, educational and cultural exhibits,
lamb cook-off, bagpiping, entertainment, food and art and craft vendors.
For more information, visit www.sheepfestival.com
and www.usbcha.com.
For more information about the Wyoming Stockdog Association, visit www.wyomingstockdog.com
or contact Lisa Cunningham at 307-738-2244
or lcunningham@rtconnect.net.
Copyright 2008 Rocky Mountain Rider. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Reproduction of any editorial material, artwork and photos is strictly forbidden without express written permission of the publisher. For information about reprint rights, please contact the editor; editor@rockymountainrider.com.
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