March 5, 2008: Scottish Nursery Finals
Not too much to report from the Scottish hills. The only thing of any note over the last week or so was a quick trip up to the Scottish Nursery Finals last weekend. These were held near Perth about 3 hours north of where we live. With the first run scheduled for 8am, it was an early start for the day - but we are used to that.

The weather on Friday had been disgusting! Torrential rain, some snow and a bitterly cold galeforce wind. It promised to be a very cold day. However, the sun decided to smile weakly on the event and it was almost bearable, except for the last hour when the temperatures plummeted and the wind came up. The catering truck did a roaring trade for bacon rolls in the morning and burgers at lunchtime. It seems that bacon rolls are a staple at trials although we can't fathom why anyone would want a dry, sometimes stale, white bread bun with a couple of pieces of overcooked bacon thrown in. Still, when in Rome...

The trial itself was well-organized and well-attended. People came from all over to watch this event. We met people from Sweden, Germany, America and further afield, and there was the odd Englishman (yes, man - and debatably odd) and a smattering of Irish people thrown in for good measure. Of course, the Scots turned out in droves to see who's running which dog this year. The trial field was super, albeit flat! The sheep - well, they can be best described as fast, flighty and generally uncooperative. Only about 4 packets of sheep behaved themselves and gave the dog a fighting chance. The rest humbled many a dog and handler. How some people made it all the way around the course, successfully negotiating obstacles, pen and shed was beyond imagination.

There are 9 nursery leagues in Scotland. The top 5 dogs from each league qualify to run in the nursery final. There is an individual and a team component to the event with each league vying for top honours. This year that honour went to our league - Dumfries and Kirkcudbright. Although our boys finished with 2 of the top 6 placings - Alastair Mundell was 2nd with Taff and his son, Boyd, was 6th with Vic - the top individual on the day was Alex McCuish with Garry from the Arran and Kintyre league. Our favourite dogs were Julie Hill's Bob and Duncan Robertson's Bill. Julie was particularly impressive in her handling skills as her 4 sheep split into 2 groups of 2 all the way around the course. With the sheep not wanting to stay together, she and Bob ran out of time at the pen. What we found most impressive was not only Julie's ability to read the sheep, but how quietly she commanded Bob. Of course Bob is well-schooled also.

This was our second trip to a Scottish Nursery final and in each of these two years the sheep have been fairly wild. Mental note: Avoid with a dog not fully trained!

Lambing has started in the glen. Yes, there is a lone lamb on the farm one down from us. Perhaps the tup we thought we had lost last year has been busy afterall.