8 State Hurricane Kate

I’m pleased to announce that Bandit earned his first AKC Pre-Trial Test leg on cattle this morning at the ACDCA National Specialty.There were two trials, one on Thursday and one on Friday. On Thursday, only one dog qualified on cattle all day, and that was another PT run. We came close, but ran out of time before completing the course. The cattle were used to cutting horse trials and didn’t seem to be “dog broke”. On Friday, two other dogs moved up or scratched, and we ended up being the first dog in, first thing in the morning. I was pretty stiff and sore from chasing the cattle through ankle-deep mud on Thursday. Bandit and the cattle seemed to be somewhat slower too. Judge Terry Kenney was very helpful and somehow we pulled it off! It was fun to get a chance to work cattle at the national. We just started working with cattle at the end of June and this was our first time on cattle at any test or trial. After we completed our PT run, the next three dog/handler teams also qualified.

We received a very nice green rosette and will soon have copies of the photos that were taken with the judge. Bandit is most excited about his new rubber chicken that we got just after we left the arena. It’s much more exciting to him than the ribbon (which is hanging proudly on his crate)!

Here are some photos. We’re the first team (first page) at this link: http://www.ybrlabs.com/gallery/6146593_3yPV3#387007008_m3uPN 

Woohoo! Herding cattle sure can be fun!