Dogpro Plus Dowerin Arena 2023

Report and photos by Simon Wallace

The Dowerin arena event was held by the Northern Districts Sheepdog club, which was held at the Dowerin Field Days event.
The weather over the two days was bright and sunny with a little hint of spring.
Simon Emmett provided the sheep which were shorn hoggets and were ready to run. They proved to be a good test for the dogs. The dogs which were able to get a feel of the sheep had the best results. The sheep were very difficult to keep in the laneways between the obstacles but were happy to complete the obstacles once they got there.
A large number of show-goers stopped by to watch the event and get an explanation of what was happening on the ground.
The Novice event finished on a draw between Grant Cooke with Grassvalley Palmer and Peter Doherty with Ramulam Sixpence. The battle between the Kelpies and Border Collies was decided in the Improver event with Grant and Palmer taking out the win.

The Improver was won by Gibb McDonald and Ellie. Gibb arrived just in time to grab his whistle and get onto the ground and Ellie took control and had a great run.

The Open was taken out by Simon Leaning and Marionvale Andy. Simon and Andy had the first run of the day gaining 91 points and held the lead to the end of the event.

Novice
Judged by Neill Kristiansen

	Worker	Dog	Score 1	Score 2	Total
1	Grant Cooke	Grassvalley Palmer	78	29	107
2	Peter Doherty	Ramulam Sixpence (K)	78	X	78
3	Len Morton	McConnells Johnny	72	–	72
4	Terry Martino	Marionvale Bo (K)	68	–	68
5	Brett Smith	McConnells Sky	52	–	52
=6	Rose Cassidy	Badgingarra Zoe	49	–	49
=6	Peter Gorman	Badgingarra Missy	49	–	49
8	Steve Wallace	Rocky Roxie	48	–	48
9	Peter Doherty	Cork	43	–	43
10	Gordon Curtis	Binnaburra Marvin (K)	38	–	38

Improver
Judged by Gordon Curtis

	Worker	Dog	Total
1	Gibb McDonald	Ellie	76
2	Neil Kristiansen	Badgingarra Sir Ben	68
3	Neil Whyte	Gogetta Duchess (K)	45
4	Jenny Nolan	Nolans Bart	38
5	Peter Gorman	Badgingarra Missy	35
=6	Nan Lloyd	Kumbark Ace (K)	33
=6	Rose Cassidy	Nolans Shana	33
8	Grant Cooke	Grassvalley Palmer	29
9	Jan Cornish	Bellview Bailey	10

Open
Judged by Jenny Nolan

	Worker	Dog	Score
1	Simon Leaning	Marionvale Andy	91
2	Ivan Solomon	Perangery Trish	89
3	Grant Cooke	Grassvalley Bluey	88
4	Brett Smith	Cooks Jake	85
5	Brett Smith	Fleetwood Devil	76
6	Gordon Curtis	Binnaburra Marvin (K)	75
7	Gibb McDonald	Ellie	75
8	Gordon Curtis	Binnaburra Buzz (K)	65
9	Simon Leaning	Marionvale Chip (K)	62
10	Ivan Solomon	Rocky Fran	61
11	Rose Cassidy	Nolans Shana	58
12	Grant Cooke	Grassvalley Palmer	49