The USBCHA National Sheepdog Finals are going on through Sunday (the 18th) in Carbondale CO. These are the best of the best of both dogs and handlers when it comes to Working Border Collies in North America and watching them in action is simply amazing.

This year they are once again doing a live Webcast and you can view one hour for free (additional time is available at a cost). If you've got some free time to watch, you won't be disappointed!

Sheepdog Finals Webcast

Great event Mara, thanks for posting that!!

I did the hour thing and got to watch Suzy Applegate and Buzz. That dog was incredible! One of the commentator remarks was “It’s just like walking through the bedroom in your house… absolutely no stress on these sheep.” And you could sure tell.

Don Helsley and Tag, who got disqualified – not sure why. The commentator didn’t even seem to understand that one – at least it wasn’t explained at the point I got to watch to.

And then Ron Enzeroff and Dusty were just starting when my hour was up.

Very fun to watch. Boy… talk about terminology. I thought they were talking a whole different language at one point.

Awesome! Those are some very cool Border Collies. Got to appreciate the complexity of the job they were bred to do.

Hey CJ - just thought you might like to know that Suzy and Buzz came in third overall - pretty impressive. FWIW, They were the Nursery Champions for 2008 (nursery = dogs up to 3 y/o)

The winning team was Alasdair MacRae and Star. This is the third time this team has won - they won back to back years in 2006/2007. A pretty impressive feat as the venue and type of sheep change from year to year as the trial is held in different parts of the country. This was also 10 y/o Star's last trial - she's a retired gal now What a great way to end a stellar career!

Thanks for the update Mara!! I just knew that was a special pup (not to mention some fantastic handling). He was incredible to watch.

It was interesting where she lost quite a few points. It was separating the collared sheep.

And this seemed to have very little to do with the dog throughout most of it but had Buzz caught one from bolting I'll bet she'd of won the whole thing.

Separating the sheep is called "shedding". It's pretty tough because the instinct of the sheep is to flock together and not get separated. And the dog's natural instinct is to hold them together in a flock - not letting any get away. With shedding, the dog needs to cut out the collared sheep, keep the groups separate, then work just one group. the idea behind this is that a dog needs to be able to separate certain sheep out of a flock as needed - ewes with lambs, sheep that need medical attention, separating the flock for breeding, etc.

A good handler knows how to set up the dog for success and help the dog with the shed, but it's still an incredible challenge. Especially with the western range sheep - the only creatures they're used to are coyotes looking for something to eat.

Not completing a shed doesn't DQ a team, but the shed is worth over 10% of the points.

I'd look for Suzy and Buzz to be back again for the next couple of years at least - great handler with a really nice dog who is in his prime. They finished just three points short of second place, but a whopping 74 points below the winner.

Here is a link to the results - http://www.sheepdogfinalsblog.com/results