Olboa Yard 24th-25th Nov

Dogpro Plus

Mayanup Yard Trial

"Olboa"

24th - 25th November

Report by Jenny Whitelock

Photos by Karyn Buller

The Mayanup Yard Trial was held over the weekend of 24th and 25th of November at "Olboa", the property of Hayden and Shelby Harries near Dinninup in WA. There were only a handful of competitors which made for a comfortable "family occasion".

The weather was consistent over the 2 days however changed from one minute to the next during the days....one minute it was beautifully bright, hot and sunny with too much sun for short sleeves without sunscreen; and the next minute it was overcast with big fluffy grey clouds and a chilly breeze calling for extra layers of clothing. The trial conveniently wrapped up just as the clouds started to spring a leak. Presentation was held in the shearing shed before some members bolted for home to get sheep under cover for shearing the following day.

Thank you to Hayden and Shelby Harries for providing the venue, and the sheep, which were mixed age grumpy ewes 6 weeks off shears - big, healthy, solid girls with minds of their own. It was interesting to watch the quite obvious "bubble of personal space" around the girls when dogs were working the force into the drenching race. The dogs most likely to succeed with the exercise with least loss of points could hold the pressure of the outside perimeter of the bubble while still applying consistent gentle force around the arc of the bubble at the same time. Dogs who were in a hurry to load the force, too pushy and inclined to come in at any point on the bubble caused "blow-outs" at other points of the bubble which in turn caused the sheep to ping like popcorn, occasionally sending a loose cannonball over the back fence to the safety of friends in the let-out yards.

The Open class was run first to allow each competitor a full set of fresh sheep. The sheep were then re-used for the Novice class on the same day, and then for the Finals on the following day. There was a tie-break run for 1st place resulting in Allan Dunn running off against himself with TumutValley Roy and Dunn's Harley.

Hayden and Shelby hosted a barbecue on Saturday night, and more dogs were worked in tall tales around the campfire than in the yards during the day!

The allocation of points to competitors on completion of the Open Yard Final decided the 2018 Winner of WA Yard Dog of the Year. The most consistent performer in WA yards for 2018 was Allan Dunn with TumutValley Roy on 52 points. Runner Up was Tony Boyle with Boylee Sugar on 33.5 points.

Novice Yard judged by Shelby Harries of Dinninup.

(Shelby judged by Doreen Hansen of Kojonup & Karyn Buller of Darkan).

Scores out of 100.

1st. Rick Janitz. Badgingarra Izzy. 80 + 92 = 172.

2nd. Shelby Harries. Waterlea Tas. 74.5 + 81 = 155.5.

3rd. Allan Dunn. Yarralonga Ethol. 71 + 75 = 146. (Kelpie)

4th. Tony Boyle. Chillie. 79 + LS = 79. (Kelpie/Huntaway X)

5th. Allan Dunn. Valooka Buck. 68 + Ret = 68. (Kelpie)

Open Yard judged by Rick Janitz of Kojonup.

(Rick judged by Ken Atherton of Arthur River & Hayden Harries of Dinninup).

Final judged by Ken Atherton of Arthur River.

Scores out of 100.