News
2026
August
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After the thrill of competing at the Collie National and the huge task it was to get there and back, August has been a tiny bit quieter for the team. But we still have some adventures to report.
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Mid August I judged at the Australian Shepherd Club of Victoria Open Herding Trial. Unfortunately due to the restrictions in the area for Avian Flu the duck runs were cancelled. Mackie only had one run on Advanced sheep and I called it part way through. I think I confused him with a couple of commands and the sheep dug their little hooves into the deep mud refusing to play ball. Seb got to play stock dog again the next day and he throughly enjoyed that.
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On the 22nd Kimi and I went to the Geelong Dog Obedience Club's Triple Tricks Trial. In her first test she was a little distracted, but got a nice qualification of 56/60 and second place. No qualification in the second test as she got totally distracted for the final trick and simply couldn't see the cone she was supposed to go around in front of her. In the third and final test I got her refocused, the weather was a little bit nicer and she performed all six of her tricks beautifully, getting another qualification and a score of 58.5/60. With that Kimi has secured all the passes she needs to get her Tricks Dog Starters (TK.S) title, which will be added to her name.
July
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The 4th and 5th July was the Victorian Herding Trial at Chiltern. Mackie was entered and while he tried his little heart out, no Advanced passes were to be had.
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Seb attempted his Tracking Test 2 on 18th and he was faced with one heck of a track in the bush, something we haven't really trained in yet. He found both articles, but got stumped a few of times. I was able to restart him twice, but on the third time I called it. Unfortunately we were not far from our tracklayer, but he was done and I would prefer to walk away from a frustrating situation rather than push through just for a pass card. We'll get back out tracking in 2027.
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Finally the much anticipated 13th Collie National Show was the focus for all four dogs on the last weekend of the month. We made the big trip up to Sydney over a couple of days, arriving the night before Kimi was to compete in Tricks and Obedience. While it was a brand new experience for her, she did me proud and really seemd to enjoy herself. A qualification certificate in Starters Tricks, then qualifying and winning first place in Community Companion Dog Obedience, after a tie break run off. Over the next two days the dogs competed in their conformation classes. Kimi got some lovely comments and floated around the ring in her class. Seb was placed second in Intermediate Smooth Dog, Mackie was first in Veteran Dog 7-10 years and Zandee was fourth in Australian Bred Bitch. All of them got really nice critiques and it was pleasing to see that my opinion of my dogs was very closely aligned to the judges comments. It was a fantastic event, well represented by Roughs and Smooths, a great venue and a lot of very appreciative participants. Best of all, even being away for seven nights in four different homes, my dogs were so very well behaved and a pleasure to travel with.
June
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On the 13th and 14th Mackie and I went to the Dogs Victoria State Herding Trial. I was kept very busy judging both days and thankfully, despite a lot of rain being forecast, very little fell in Nyora. Mackie was entered in Intermediate B Course Ducks and Advanced A Course Sheep. I retired both runs, but was really quite pleased with some of his work in the sheep run, it just wasn't our day. On the Sunday he was entered in Intermediate A Course Ducks and we finally, FINALLY, managed to get that last pass for that title, even with some sticky work at the Z chute. In addition, Seb took on the role of stock dog in the yards for the B Course sheep runs and had a great time pushing sheep out for the pick up dog.
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On Wednesday 17th, Kimi, Seb and Zandee were all entered in the White Swiss Shepherd SprintDog™ trial. This was Zandee's first trial and after a little confusion in the first run, she brought home the second run confidently. All dogs received qualification certificates.
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Mackie had his first run in Advanced A Ducks on Sunday 21st. The first run he tried so very hard, but the ducks were adamant they couldn't see the entrance to the Y Chute and just weren't prepared to play the game. What a good boy for trying, it was very close at times. But we had success in the second run! Definitely some areas for improvement, but my word he did a lovely cross drive through the centre line panels, followed by a really nice pen too. The first pass is in his paw now.
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For something completely different Seb made his debut in the Tracking paddock in a Test 1. I haven't tracked a dog for easily 6 years, possibly longer, so this was a bit of a training check for us as much as anything. The Test 1 requires the dog to track a known tracklayer over 400m with two turns of less than 90°, making it a three leg track. After being a little overwhelmed at the start after travelling to the track in a strange car and meeting new people, Seb managed to settle down and find the track. The first leg was really very good. He found the first turn, but followed the scent into a gully and got a little bit muddled, tracking widely parallel to the true track. Thankfully towards the second turn he picked up a stronger lock on the track and found his tracklayer who had his BBQ chicken and cheese waiting for him as a reward. He got a pass with a grading of Good.
May
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Seb was Dog Challenge and received his first CACIB Certificate at the Dogs Victoria Bulla Amenities FCI CACIB Show - a few more of these to follow up now.
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All four dogs were shown at the Collie Club of Victoria Championship Show. Every one of them made the placings in their classes, but no big awards. I was very happy with their results given the quality of the entries.
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The very next day I was up early and straight back to KCC Park with Kimi and Seb, where they got their final points and SprintDog™ qualification passes required for their Novice SprintDog titles, at the Geelong Obedience Dog Club trial. They put in their fastest times yet, with Seb averaging 40kmph and Kimi hot on his heels with 38kmph.
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Mackie was again entered in Advanced A Course sheep at the Victorian Herding Association trial at Nyora, but with three retirements and one NQ we didn't progress towards the title. However I was using the trial more as a training event, as Mackie tends to be somewhat cheeky under trial conditions and his herding deteriorates from the quality he offers in training. So I feel I had some great wins, catching that unwanted behaviour and improving his mindset in general. I was happy and he left the paddock always with a training win under his belt and a smiley dog.
April
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Seb and Kimi attended their first official SprintDog™ trial, both receiving qualification passes.
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Mackie took part in his first Advanced A Course sheep trial, to gauge his training progress. Well he surprised me with a really nice pass, but also giving us plenty of homework to improve future performances
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Seb and Kimi got their second SprintDog™ qualification passes at the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel trial.
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Seb and I took part in the Tracking Dog Club of Victoria's Annual Workshop and discovered he may actually have some talent for tracking - let the training begin.
March
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Seb and Kimi attended the Afghan Club of Victoria SprintDog™ Fun Day, to try their paw at this relatively new dog sport. They loved it, so plans for them to start their Novice SprintDog title.
February
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Great results for Kimi under Mr Hidemi Takahashi (Japan) at the Lyndhurst Canine Country Club Championship Show, picking up a large Best of Breed win, Intermediate In Group and shortlisted and run for Best In Group.
January
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It was a very quiet start to the year, mostly focused treatment, recovery and rehab for Mackie. In early December he somehow managed to suffer a bone avulsion in one toe and a joint displacement of another on a hind paw. He was cleared to started building up his workload in late March, after the bone chip reattached.