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Sheepdog Trials Explained

Sheepdog trialling is a competitive sport that, by improving the farmer's or shepherd's dog, hopes to secure the better management of farm stock. Throughout this country and abroad sheepdogs work many different breeds of sheep and cattle.

The dogs

The dogs used originate from the Scottish Borders, and are known as 'Border Collies'. The majority are pure bred and are registered with the International Sheepdog Society, and their ancestry can be traced back many generations using the stud books.

The trials course

The trials course is arranged to simulate some of the many tasks that a dog has to perform during the course of his daily work. The relationship between the dog and handler should be a partnership, with the dog using its own brain but also taking advice from the handler.

Each dog has to run over the course and starts with a standard number of points. The judge will deduct points for what he considers to be rashness, slackness, deviation from line, missing obstacles or over assistance or unnecessary commands from the handler. The dog is not actually awarded points for good work, rather it loses them for less than perfection. The course comprises a number of components, detailed below.

1. Outrun

   The first phase of the work is known as the 'outrun'. The handler stands at a post, with the dog close by, and sends it off, either to the right, or the left to run out to get behind the sheep. The handler may use one command to set the dog off, and a second command to stop the dog behind the packet of sheep. Further commands during the outrun are penalised. The ideal outrun is pear shaped - the dog runs wider as it approaches the sheep. The handler must stay within a step or two of the post for the first phases of the trial.

2. Lift

   The second phase is the 'lift', when the dog approaches the sheep in a firm and steady manner, causing them to move away towards the handler.

3. Fetch

   The third phase is the 'fetch' which may be 400 yards or more. Here the sheep are brought in a steady, controlled manner towards and through the fetch gate and on towards the handler. They are taken round behind around behind the handler, as close as possible, to start the next phase, the 'drive'.

4. Drive

   The drive is usually over a triangular course, through two gates, then back to a circular area in front of the handler called the shedding ring. The drive may start to the left or right of the handler, as previously decided by the course director. During this phase the dog should keep the sheep together, moving steadily from gate to gate following as straight a line as possible. There may be additional obstacles between the gates, such as trees, gullies, streams, or bridges and these represent the natural hazards encountered in the dog's daily work. If any obstacle or gate is missed no re-entry is allowed.

5. Shedding

   The drive ends when the sheep enter the shedding ring and the handler is allowed to leave the post to commence the 'shed'. On the home farm, one or two of our neighbours sheep may have strayed into our flock, or we may wish to separate out some of the sheep for special attention, without taking them all back to the yards, and the shed simulates the act of separation. The sheep to be shed off are often marked with wide collars, and the shepherd and dog have to act as a team to perform the shed within the marked ring. Over assistance on the part of the handler will be penalised, as will the dog's inability to control sheep.

6. Penning

   After the shed, to the judges satisfaction, the sheep are re-united and the handler moves to the pen. He, or she holds on to the rope on the gate, and may not let it go until the sheep have been penned, and the trial ends. Again, over assistance is penalised.

When a dog first competes it may do so in the nursery novice class. The course is simplified and the competition less severe. The dog may stay in the nursery class until it has won two nursery trials.

The next rung of the ladder is the open novice class, in which it may stay until it has won two novice trials. It then becomes an open competitor and maybe a future champion - who knows!