By KATRINA BRANDON
TRAVELLING from here, there and everywhere, people attended the Berryden Sheepdog Trials at Boolarra Reserve last month.
According to Sean O’Leary, the South Gippsland Working Dog Group vice president, about 90 dogs competed at the trials, the furthest coming from New South Wales.
All the working dog competitors gave the course their best shots through hot and windy conditions.
Each dog had to bring a small group of sheep to its owner, go around him or her, then up the course, through two lots of panelled obstacles (a gap and a race), up a ramp, and into a pen within a 15-minute timeframe. The dogs also had to keep the sheep (once bringing them to their handlers) at a nine-metre distance from the obstacles or the handler.
People on the sidelines were constantly on the edge of their seats, seeing who could make it and who got the sheep that just wanted to run.
“The sheep make a big difference and the set-up. They have set it up really well. They have set it up nicely for the stock and dog. It is nice to have challenges, but I think it is a challenge in itself as a sport rather than making it harder,” Welshpool handler Chris Davies said.
“It’s fantastic to watch the dogs work and for the public. Some people have no idea it goes on. I know when I started because I wasn’t off a farm or anything. I thought it was just for farmers to do it. Good for people to socialise and have a hobby. It’s good for the dogs. Gives them something to do.”
Ms Davies entered four dogs in the competition, entering the Open and Improver classes on the first day of the trial. Novice and Encouragement classes were held on the Saturday, and finals on the Sunday.
Ms Davies told the Express she had been going to the trials for 10 years.
“I do about seven or eight a year,” she said.
“I look after my mum now, so I can’t attend as many. She has come to a few. She is 86.
“We just get a motel now instead of just roughing it. It’s nice, she enjoyed it. She came to the Supreme, which was in September. That was a big one.
Over the years, Ms Davies said she used to travel four to five hours for a trial and that, while she wouldn’t always get the outcome she wanted, she always enjoyed the day out. She also said that during her time, each dog taught her something different.
“They reckon by the time the dog leaves the handler and goes down, the sheep have worked the dog out, whether it is soft or hard, whether they are going to be able to move it,” Ms Davies explained.
“From puppies, when they are little, eight weeks and 12-weeks-old, they just have to do something, get around. You just don’t know which one out of a whole litter. In one litter, you can have one as hard as hell and not listen.”
Even Mr O’Leary explained that in the years he has spent with his dogs, he never expected how clever they could be or how much their instincts could just click into action.
Over the weekend, most people preferred border collies. Others were Australian kelpies, Koolies, and shepherds.
This is the second year the Berryden Working Sheepdog Trials have been held in Boolarra, with a similar event in Korumburra.
