July 14, 2011:

I'm back digging holes! Perhaps not on the scale for which I have become well-known but hole digging is back on the agenda. We were bringing in the lambs the other day to treat a couple with horn problems and the smallest (and fastest) lamb in the flock ran straight into a straining post for a gate and knocked it flat. The post was old and rotten so it flattened quite easily, and without injuring the lamb. The rams, seeing the gate post down and the gate open, promptly made their escape to the greener pastures of the hill. They stayed their a couple of days before I could summon up the energy to dig a new hole, place a new post and secure the field again. Holes have also been dug for my new seating bench...hint, hint, Kelvin!

I've been out running every other day at 5.30am. Oh boy that hour is not pretty when you burn the candle at both ends. My body is complaining! I have had to abandon out and back running routes...my legs are getting too old and stiff to make the U-turn required! The other day I ran up to the local church and back, which isn't very far (!), but at least I could turn around in the church parking lot...it was a wide turn. Thankfully there are lots of circular routes in the forest for the dogs and I to enjoy. On non-running days all the dogs have enjoyed long walks in the forest. The weather: glorious!

I was reading with (a little) interest in the latest ISN magazine the article entitled "Treadmills - good or bad?" It starts by saying "Sometimes there comes about in the working collie world an issue that creates much feeling for both sides...." Really? I've never heard mention of treadmills, not once, in my, albiet short, time in the sheepdog world. I really am out of the loop! Who would have thought it was such an emotive and divisive subject?!

I do know two people who use treadmills for their dogs and both of these people also diligently walk their dogs or run them alongside a quad bike, and train them with utmost care and attention, not to mention maintain what I would consider best practices for health and welfare. Are they really abusing their dogs to "satisfy the ambitions of an exacting master"? That seems a pretty harsh indictment!

Anyway, I got to thinking about this article this morning as the dogs and I pottered down a foresty road bleary eyed, knees and ankles aching, tongues hanging out. Would I use a treadmill to exercise my dogs? With the Brechfa forest right on my doorstep, I have not given any thought to a treadmill. But am I against the use of treadmills to exercise dogs?, I wondered. My morning run was almost finished before I had gathered my thoughts on that. No, I won't be getting a treadmill anytime soon...I enjoy my communion with nature first thing in the morning - no matter how many aches and pains, puffs and wheezes. And, when I run with my dogs I often think of the saying "For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.”

....and I most certainly am not going to comdemn those who use a treadmill as a supplementary activity for their working dogs (ie. real farm work, training etc). It's better than seeing working dogs languish in their kennels for days on end. Now that's mind blowing!

No wonder I come home from runs exhausted. Perhaps I need less mental exercise when running.

Now onto other things....yes, we hit the trial field on Saturday at the Mynyddislwyn trial. Love this trial! Love the field. Always a very friendly atmosphere and the competition HOT! Volunteers awesome. No chocolate cake but the tea was good. The sheep are always superbly conditioned. But oh brother they were TRICKY - touchy and devils to shed. I can report that the sheep humbled us all in the shedding ring. Just when you think you're starting to get the hang of shedding, the Mynyddislwyn sheep knock you back to ground zero. And that's probably a good thing. I bet I am not the only person out practising shedding this week! If the sheep hadn't already done you in the first leg of the drive, thanks to them pulling very hard to the exhaust, they made up for it when shedding and penning.

I ran Meg and my youngster, Penny. Meg had a good start but pilot error saw a missed drive gate and I slipped a couple of sheep at the cross drive gate just for good measure. Our shedding was not very good, the pen wasn't pretty and the single was completed with 3 seconds to spare. All and all, not anything to be confident about! But we eeked out 6th place on a day full of errors. This was the first run Meg had had in 3 weeks as she had been off with a shoulder injury. Penny had almost the completely opposite run to Meg. Her start was not so good, she missed the drive gate (again pilot error), caught the cross drive and then proceeded to give a class performance in shedding and penning. Youthful exhurberance (Penny's, not mine) caught us out with the single when two sheep split and Penny came through uninvited! Brat! After regrouping, she took a nice single and completed the course with 5 minutes to spare. If only I had Meg's start on Penny's run or Penny's finish on Meg's run....!! Not to be. Kelvin has a fantastic start with Blade and a tremendous drive, but all came unstuck in the shedding ring. They finally got shed but no pen and single saw them out of the money. A real shame for such a fine run - perhaps the best run of Blade's life. Bee had a good run too with Kelvin but no pen and single saw the same fate as Blade's. All in all, a (very) humbling day!!!! We'll be back out for more punishment somewhere this week, that's for sure.

That's enough writing for one week!