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Old English Sheepdog Club of America Centennial Celebration Week:
19 – 25 September 2005
Herding, Agility and Obedience
by Linda Zimmerman
photos by Ruth Reeve |
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Herding:
Chris Davis judged the Herding Trial. This was the only one of the three events that was open to other (herding) breeds
and an OES – Susan Rassas’ Higgins - went High in Trial. One OES showed in Junior Herding Dog but was excused for being a
bit out of control. 14 OES showed in the Herding Instinct test and 13 passed. Sue Rassas of Arizona did a Herding
Demonstration for the spectators.
AHBA Herding Trial/High In Trial results
Herding Trial Arena Dog I
H&H Shasta Hannah "Shasta"
owner Susan Rassas & Gary Lindroos score 70 3rd place
Herding Trial Arena Dog II
H&H GW Higgins "Higgins"
owner Susan Rassas & Gary Lindroos score 88 High In Trial
Agility:
It all began in England. Agility made its debut as a demonstration sport in the UK at Crufts in 1978. Today it is the
fastest growing dog sport in the USA. The agility competition held in conjunction with the OESCA National Specialty and
Centennial Celebration is evidence of the growing number of OES participating in agility.
Each year there are more entries at the OESCA National Specialty agility competition. The dogs and handlers improve and
the teamwork is a joy to watch. The spectators watching cheered everyone on with enthusiasm and applauded every team's effort.
The actual setting could not have been lovelier. Conveniently located just a short distance from the host hotel, the agility
courses were set in a lovely grassy field with plenty of room to spread out. The spectators could watch in comfort from the
shade of several trees surrounding the field. The day was unseasonably warm and very humid. I'm sure the dogs would have
preferred the weather a bit cooler.
The judge, Mr. Blair Kelly, very graciously allowed some exhibitors who had more than one dog running in the same class
level a couple of extra minutes to catch their breath before running the course again with their next dog. The action was
fast and the dogs were entertaining. Some of the OES barked and spun as they competed. Others completed the course in a
more workmanlike manner. But all (handlers and dogs included) had a great time. All walks of life came together to enjoy
this year's agility trial. A dog trainer, an agility judge, an office manager, and a small business owner were among those
competing this year. Competitors came from as far away as California, Arizona, and Wisconsin, as well as nearby states, to
compete. An obviously pregnant young woman named Melissa ran smartly around the course with her dog Panda and won first
place in her class, which completed Panda’s second agility title! The talented husband and wife team of Jeff and Janet
Trombo competed with their two dogs and were among those to successfully qualify in both classes Volunteers (both
participants and spectators) stepped up enthusiastically to perform the various tasks such as re-setting the course
equipment, timing the runs, scoring, etc. Linda Roeschmann, Agility Trial Chair, managed the huge task of transporting
all the agility equipment to the site in her big black truck in addition to coordinating the entire event. Linda R. was
ably assisted by Kristine Loland, did a splendid job of managing the many tasks involved in tabulating the scores plus
all of the required record keeping. Chris Gaburri provided the software and laptop required to keep everything running
efficiently.
A record setting 18 dogs entered for a total of 32 runs in the Agility. This resulted in the highest qualification rate
in the history of OESCA-sponsored agility, with a total of 8 qualifiers. Some of the dogs that did not qualify had very
good runs as well, but had the misfortune of knocking down one bar or having a similar mishap occur to knock them out
of those qualifying this day.
The High-In-Trial Agility award went to Marjorie Trebino with Bear, one of three dogs exhibited by Marjorie. Ch.
Londonaire's Rare Bear, VCD2 AX HSA OAP is owned, trained and shown by Marjorie Trebino. Bear is one of the most versatile
dogs in the breed today. The VCD2 title after his name indicates the second level of AKC's Versatility Awards, an award
that requires high-level excellence in multiple performance venues. Bear is nine years old.
Obedience
Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2005
This year we were fortunate to have two obedience trials at the National Specialty & Centennial. Judge Edward F. Gillespie
presided over the competition on Tuesday. The large and lovely space used for the obedience ring (the main ring) was set
amid all the grooming set ups and could be easily seen by all the OES breed exhibitors as they arrived on site and began
setting up their grooming areas.
The upper classes, Utility and Open, provided moments of brilliance peppered, unfortunately, with tiny bobbles. None of
the upper level class dogs successfully completed all of the exercises. For instance, one Open B dog scored well on all
but one of the individual exercises, and would otherwise have had an excellent score. The Novice dogs acquitted themselves
well and most received qualifying scores. Even the Sub-Novice class was hotly contested: the two dogs shown were scoring
“neck and neck” until the “long sit” exercise. In the end, Ch. Legacy Life’s A Party, “Brooke” (owned, trained and handled
by the author) won first place. Brooke was being shown in obedience competition for her very first time. The Veteran
Class was fun to watch as the "old timers" strutted their stuff and showed the "youngsters" how it should be done.
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