Yesterday was fabulous, young dogs having a go at the nursery trials, the sun finally breaking through on the breathtaking Welsh coastline. Fourteen month old dogs ran like experienced Open dogs...it was impressive to watch. Of course, there were a few wilder runs as youngsters got the bit in their mouths and came on too quick for the liking of the sheep. Trialing is so much more laid back, a spontaneous fun trial was put on at the end of the day to raise money for the air ambulance so we all got a chance to run our dogs as well and donate to charity at the same time. The dogs ran much better, both placing in the top three, starting to adjust to the crazy Welsh sheep. We still all needed a quick cat nap in the car mid-way through the day, but it feels like we are now finally over to UK time.
Today, we worked the dogs back in the huge field down by the beach. Unfortunately, we failed to realize there was an open gate near the end of the field, about 600+ yards away. I sent Craig for sheep we couldn't see, and he found them and picked them up nicely. They started coming down the field and suddenly dartly to the left. Craig caught them tidily, but for some reason we weren't able to get the sheep back to the middle of the field. Mary Lou, looking through the binoculars, suddenly said, "they're on the road!" Before I could panic, John calmly instructed me to bring the sheep down the road instead. Seriously? Things are so different over here. All the dogs had some great schooling, including Linda's young dog Grace, who started working really well and Dyna was absolutely brilliant.
Tomorrow, we take the ferry to Ireland, and I'll have a chance to upload some pictures!
I've played that "they're on the road!" game, so I can imagine your panic. But yes, very different in the UK. Hi to everyone and great to hear you're having so much fun!
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