Olympics for Beardies and Their Friends

Last weekend, Bryna and I drove north to Bangor, Pennsylvania and the Raspberry Ridge Sheep Farm and B&B. There we met our buddies Karen Norteman and Susan Platt (both humans, both on BDL), and Duncan, Cadence, Sally, and Pippen (beardie, beardie, half beardie, and part puli, respectively). We got a gigantic room for all 8 of us.

Some of you may remember that Bryna and I gave this place multiple thumbs and paws up as having the best sheep trial facilities we had ever seen, after we got our second HT leg there in July (during Hurricane Bertha). That is still true, even with the vast experience we have accumulated in the succeeding 4 months. But now the place has another distinction: site of the 1996 Sheep Farm Olympics, held on Nov. 10, 1996. More about that in a moment.

On Saturday, I began the morning with a herding lesson from Carolyn Wilki-Holmgren. We worked on a very interesting exercise, to help Bryna stay out farther from the sheep, which is a problem we have been having. Carolyn put 6 fairly light sheep in a very small square pen (about 15 ft x 15 ft?). All three of us stayed outside of the pen, where I left Bryna on a down-stay, while I went round to the other side. The sheep were light enough to want to come to my side of the pen. Then I moved off balance, and called Bryna up. The goal was to continue with the 2 of us circling, and getting Bryna to stop on balance, at what would be about 12-15 ft from the sheep. This was a most interesting exercise. She was beginning to get the concept, I think, but a couple of parts of the lower fence allowed her to break into the pen 2x, and we had to get her out again, the little stinker. Carolyn is a very, very positive teacher, which I liked quite a bit. I wonder if I can get my teacher to make one of these pens? Hmmm....

We 8 went hiking in the nearby Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area that afternoon. All of us piled into my '93 Saturn station wagon. Carolyn yelled at us on the way out that if we needed to really fill up, she could loan us some sheep to take along. (We didn't have enough flexileads for them.) I was considering asking Saturn if they wanted us to help them film a commercial? Anyhow, it was cold, and a bit damp, but beautiful. There were views of the Delaware River, and the dogs loved it. Unfortunately, Pippen enjoyed it too much. She found some nice, unidentified perfume to roll in and I gather the dogs found her quite charming. However, 3 of us did not, and Susan had her make a very long stop at an icy stream on the way back, and borrowed my Medi-Clean shampoo when we returned to the Farm.

That evening, by pre-arrangement, we persuaded Carolyn and Mitch to let us take over their kitchen, as we 3 made a dinner for us and our hosts. We had brie baked in puff pastry on apple slices, broiled salmon dijonnaise, a gorgeous salad, fresh bread, and chocolate souffle, with suitable wines at each course. Carolyn and Mitch said that we could come back and mess up their kitchen any time we wanted to.

The next day was the highlight of the stay: the Beardies and Buddies Farm Olympics. We were joined by Harry--an OES x beardie, who was 18 months old. Carolyn and 2 helpers put together these events:

Sheep bowling -- dogs run the sheep through a chute on the side of the A Course pen. Contestant who causes the sheep to knock over the 2 plastic milk bottles first wins. This was a hoot. Bryna and I drew the post position number so we started first. I think we ran those sheep through the chute 20 times, and were still working on the second bottle. Finally, I got one sheep between me and the bottle, and I shoved her with my knee, into the bottle. Sally did a great job, and got the fastest time -- though I think those sheep liked Sally best. Harry had a great time on his 1st exposure to sheep, as his family (Sharon and David) expected. It was during this that I really made my case that Pippen is part puli. Her hair looks right, and she herded those sheep, and bounced around like a puli. She also enjoyed the poopsicles. (Is there a theme here, Pippen?)
Haunted Barn Braunschweiger Snarf -- human and dog enter a darkened barn, and pass through a door. There is a piercing scream, and a light suddenly shines on a plate with bits of braunschweiger. First dog to eat all of the braunschweiger wins. Here Duncan showed his best efforts. Normally a bit shy, nothing would keep Duncan from his swift snarfing.
Hot Dog Tracking -- little circles on hay-field stubble marked the location of bits of hot dog, every 2 feet on a 50 ft track. Dog had to find all of the hot dogs (with help), and eat them. Then at the last circle was a stuffed toy lamb, and there the dog had to eat the bit of hot dog concealed under the lamb. First dog to eat everything won. Duncan was a bit off the mark on this one, which we did after a lunch break. But Sally showed her stuff, and won the day.
Tennis Ball Retrieve-athon. In the same hayfield, Carolyn hit the tennis ball, and the dog and/or human had to go get it. First one to cross the finish line with tennis ball in mouth or hand won. Bryna and I knew that this was not our strongest event, so we stayed on lead as she dashed out with me, where I picked up the tennis ball and raced back with it. We should have awarded Susan some style points for carrying the ball in her mouth for Pippen, at least briefly, but Harry, a great retriever, won the day with an excellent time. Bryna and I had to have a run-off with Pippen and Susan for 2nd place. So we boogied on out there and got our 2nd.
Obedience Slalom. Back in the barn, Carolyn and her 2 helpers set up a course of hay bales. We had to do off-lead "heeling" (defined here as staying within 6 ft of handler), and when we came to spots in the course marked "D", the dog had to do a 3 sec down (all the way, elbows on the ground), and on spots marked "S", a 3 second sit. Fastest one to get to the finish line and do a 3 second sit, won. This is where Sweet Pea's training paid off. Besides, hot dog bribes were still working in spite of what she had already eaten. She and Cadence (CD, I think, right?) really showed their stuff on this one. Sally did a wonderful job and got a 2nd with her fast sits. >(Did I mention that the "stewards" were keeping a regular scoreboard, just like a herding or obedience trial during all of this? The tension was mounting. So was all of the whooping, hollering, and cheering.)
Hay Bale Jump-athon. Still in the barn, the hay bales were moved around so that single ones across the course were to placed to jump over, and double ones to jump onto, and do a down, or some other stable stop. (As all of this was explained, young Harry's family quickly began to try to explain to him the intricate concepts of "up" and "over." As a crash course, it still needed some work.) Bryna adored this, since Up and Over are games we have played since she was a young thing, and she viewed them as rewards, rather than tasks. However, she is so in the habit of being on my left that when we got to the last 3 jumps, next to the wall, where she had to be on my right, she was very concerned, barked at me, and kept circling. Nonetheless, while comical, it was good enough for a first, though it was fun to see that Cadence also had the same problem with those 3 jumps, and tried to inform Karen of her mistake, just as Bryna had.

All of the dogs had a great time, and every dog took a first or second in something, as I recall. The competition was not what you would call cutthroat, but as we left the barn I was surprised to hear that despite our poor performance on tennis balls, Bryna had won! So Carolyn told us to go back to the house for the awards ceremony. As we inquired about whether there would be stands for the top 3 finishers, Karen noted that we needed to sing Bryna's national anthem, but what should it be? On reflection, we decided that "Scotland the Brave" was the right choice, so we all sang that, wordlessly, as we went back to the house. To our collective astonishment, we all got ribbons ("Raspberry Ridge Farm Olympics, 1st Place", etc.). We were pooped, and some of us slept in crates or cars while the 3 bipeds went out to dinner.

The next day we had a herding lesson (very interesting, a special exercise working on a long line for us, to really work on increasing that distance), had a wonderful big bounce in the pen, and went home. I understand from Karen and Susan, that their 4, like Bryna, barely moved at all on the way home.

We all want to go back again.

Lynne & Bryna