Troy, or Roy as we call him, has been one of Angie's main work and trial dogs. He is a tremendous worker on the hill, always enthusiastic and reliable. He is terrific over difficult terrain working sheep quietly but purposefully. He has a tremendous outrun, although he didn't start off that way. As a young dog, Roy would go out for sheep but at a walking pace. Once we found his 'enthusiasm' trigger, Roy was instantly transformed into a strong and very reliable outrunner. He can outrun any distance. The natural talent was there and we just had to make it fun for him.

Roy takes a bit of handling as you have to have the right balance of firmness, fairness and praise, but get that right and he can be a dream to handle. He has an excellent stop on him and will lie down and stand on command. He is a strong driver, tremendous shedder and has a solid look back on him.

Roy has a tremendous temperament and is bomb proof with children and other dogs. He loves to be out working and just hanging out with people. He does not, however, like working with other dogs and he hates being the helper when training younger dogs!

Roy started competing in nursery trials in late 2007 and stepped up to Open competition in March 2008. He won his first trial in August 2008 (Novice National) and he qualified for and ran in the 2008 Welsh National.

Roy was sold in late 2008 but came back to us 4 months later when he was 'diagnosed' as having bad hips. After consulting an orthopaedic specialist, who disagreed with this assessment, Roy was slowly and carefully brought back to full fitness and his training polished to rid himself of some bad habits he seemed to have acquired while on his overseas sojourn! In May 2009 Roy competed in the Ettrick trials in Scotland, earning 7 placings, including two very good second placings. In addition to competing in the trials, Roy worked hard at setting out sheep everyday for 10 days. This rigorous 10 days dispelled any worries we had about the soundness of the dog. Roy went on to win or place in another 8 trials in 2009, but his finest performance for the year would have to have been his 92 point run in Scotland for second place, 3 points behind Bobby Dalziel and Joe. He finished the year in tip-top shape and at home, he was almost faultless in his training.

To date, Roy has had 26 top six placings in Open trials, and other placings in Novice and Nursery Trials. He is arguably one of the most accomplished trial dogs off his sire, Laddie.

Because we can only run two dogs in most trials, Roy did not get full opportunities in 2009 to trial as often as he - or we - might like. In January 2010, we found Roy a new home in the North of England where he will be the main Open trial dog for his new owner, Jill. It was very hard saying 'so long' to Roy but we wish Jill and Roy all the best success and hope to see them again soon on the training and trial fields.

DOB: 04 October 2005
DNA CEA Normal
BVA hip score = 15
Roy's trial results can be found here.
Click here to view Roy's pedigree.