NOTES FOR THE BENEFIT OF JUDGES & THE EDUCATION OF COMPETITORS

The object of a Trial Course is to test the ability of a dog to manage sheep properly under the differing circumstances that may be encountered in every day work.
Hence the various tests such as Gathering, Driving, Shedding, Singling and Penning are all tasks which may be necessary as the shepherd goes on his daily round.

These notes are prepared for guidance and education. They are not designed as hard and fast rules that must be strictly obeyed on all occasions, but they are the considered opinion of a number of well-known competitors and judges.

OUTRUN
The dog must be positioned close to the competitor and must be sent out on either side. He should not be too straight or too wide and in going out the dog should not require nor should he receive any commands.
Commands given should be penalised, as indicated later.
The command by whistle is to be regarded as the same as a spoken command. If a dog crosses the course, a minimum of 50% of the total points for the Outrun is to be deducted and in addition, points must be deducted for commands.

Crossing the course usually means a dog starting his outrun on say the left and finishing his outrun from the right.
Most judges deduct fifteen to nineteen points for this.
Some judges consider a dog to have ‘crossed the course’ if he comes in across a line from the handler to the sheep even if he returns to gather from the side that he was sent on. This is not the usual.

The perfect Outrun should be completed without any commands and judges should deduct points for every command given and the loss of points will depend upon the judge’s view of the seriousness of the mistakes.
The dog should not stop and should not cut in. It is obviously more serious if a dog stops on his Outrun than if he goes on after being re-directed and judges should mark accordingly.
A good Outrun should be in the shape of one side of a pear with the blunt end of the pear at the far end of the field near the sheep. The dog should finish far enough away from the sheep so as not to disturb them. Where the Outrun ends, will vary with the actual position of the sheep. If the sheep have left their appointed place at the post, the Outrun should end at the point where the dog is facing them in order to bring the sheep in a direct line to the first obstacle. In effect, this means that if the sheep have left the post, the dog is to finish his Outrun facing the heads of the sheep. This might necessitate the dog stopping on the side of his Outrun if the sheep happened to be coming to meet him, and conversely could mean him going a long way past the post if the sheep were going away from the post in the same direction as he running.
If the sheep remain at the post, the Outrun will end when the dog is behind them and in line with his master. He must always finish facing them in order to be in a position to fetch them direct to the first obstacle.
Sensible judges will allow a dog to go substantially wider that the perfect ‘pear shape’ without much if any loss of points. However when the dog is going so wide as not appearing to be going for his sheep he will be heavily penalised.
A dog missing his sheep and passing them off on the Outrun is obviously a very serious fault and will be heavily penalised. A dog needing a couple of commands on a thousand yard outrun is not as serious as a dog needing the same number of commands on a shorter outrun.
Everybody agrees that when a dog properly responds to a command the penalty would not be as great as if he did not answer.
Yet we have often seen at Internationals, a dog that received 30 commands losing ten or 12 points and a dog that received two commands and responded to them losing one point per command!

LIFT
At the end of the Outrun, whether the dog has come to a full stop or merely slowed down, his approach should be smooth, cautious and steady and the main feature of the ‘lift’ is an ability to take control in a firm and quiet manner without disturbing the sheep. He should not rush in and thus startle the sheep and he should not lie back and require numerous commands before getting his sheep on the move.
Points are also deducted on the lift if the dog does not lift on the right line to the handler.

FETCH
The sheep must be brought at a steady pace and in a straight line from the place of lifting to the first obstacle, and thereafter in a straight line to the competitor. The dog should not hurry or over-flank his sheep (this means that he should not go too far on either side thereby turning his sheep across the course and giving a zig-zag movement). He should require few, if any, commands, and where the sheep are inclined to stray from the true line, the dog’s ability is judged by his control of them and his immediate answer to all commands.
The trend in more recent times is towards not penalising for constant commanding on the fetch or drive if the sheep are coming on the right line and at a proper pace.
If the gates are missing, or if the sheep are off-line, the penalty must reflect all the circumstances, and in particular the amount of fault attributable to the dog and/or the competitor. Both can be the subjects of penalties. If the sheep are docile and mistakes are made, then the penalty should be more severe than where the sheep are awkward and thereby contribute to diversions which the dog is unable to avoid.
There is a trend in judging to concentrate on the sheep being in line and most points are lost for the sheep being ‘off line’ rather than any other fault.
If a gate is missed there should be a minimum deduction of half a point per sheep, but judges must take into consideration all the relevant circumstances contributing to the missing of the gate and adjust deductions accordingly.
The sheep should be passed behind the competitor as close to the post as practical and the whole work should be done in a steady and smooth manner.
Where five sheep are being shepherded, very few, if any judges, now take off the minimum half point per sheep. Nearly all judges will deduct five or six points for a minimum miss with five sheep. The half point per sheep still usually applies where there are ten or twenty sheep as in the supreme.

DRIVING
The ‘Drive’ takes place in a triangular direction and can be run either from left to right or right to left according to the course and the decision of the Trials Committee. The first leg of the triangle starts immediately the sheep have passed behind the competitor and the sheep are required to go in a straight line for 150 yards (or 200 yards at the International) to the first set of gates.
Having got the sheep through the gates they should be turned immediately on to a direct line across the course to the second set of gates. When through these gates they should be turned as neatly as possible on to a straight line to the shedding ring. It is important that the last leg of the triangle should be in a straight line to the shedding ring that is usually situated to make this also the most direct line.
The dog should have obvious ability to drive steadily without excessive commands.
Reasonable turns at the post and at both gates are expected. Good handling in difficult situation will be taken into consideration by the judge. As in the ‘Fetch’, the gates are guides to the alignment of the sheep.
Throughout the ‘Drive’ the sheep should be kept moving gently-excessive bursts of seed and subsequent stopping is not desirable and should be penalised. If a gate is missed there should be a minimum deduction of half a point per sheep, but judges must take into consideration all the relevant circumstances to the missing gate and adjust deductions accordingly. The competitor must not leave the post until the sheep are actually in the shedding ring.
The Sheep stopping to graze every ten of fifteen yards is normally very heavily penalised. No practical farmer would consider this to be proper work at home. Likewise allowing the sheep to spread out will be heavily penalised.

SHEDDING
Shedding necessitates negotiation of the sheep within the ring by the competitor and dog to the best position for effecting the deliberate shed by the dog of two specified sheep. Having got the sheep suitable positioned, the dog should come in and take off the required sheep and once having taken them off he must have them under control before the ‘Shed’ can be deemed satisfactory. The important aspect here is to test the dog’s ability to shed or separate the two unmarked sheep from the rest of the flock.
The dog must be in full control of the two shed sheep, otherwise the ‘Shed’ will not be deemed satisfactory and should be penalised. The ideal ‘Shed’ occurs when the dog comes towards the competitor when commanded by him, eg; cuts off his sheep which are to be shed and holds them away from the rest.
The ‘Shed’ is complete when the dog has come in when commanded by the competitor and is control of his two sheep. It is not necessary for the dog to come right through to the competitor. On completion of the ’Shed’ the competitor should bring his sheep together in a practical and workmanlike manner.
The perfect shed is where a dog comes on command on his sheep and cuts off in a decisive, yet controlled manner. However points are not normally deducted for a handler making a small gap provided the dog comes through positively and takes command of his sheep.

PENNING
There is no rule about bringing the two sheep to the remaining three or vice-versa. The ‘pen’ will be 8ft x 9ft with a gate to which is secured a rope 6ft long. On completion of shedding, the competitor must proceed to the ‘pen’ leaving his dog to bring the sheep to the ‘pen’. The competitor is forbidden to assist the dog to drive the sheep to the pen. The competitor will stand at the gate holding the rope and must not let go of the rope. It is for the dog only to work the sheep into the pen. The competitor will close the gate. After releasing the sheep, the competitor will close and fasten the gate and shall be penalised for failure to fasten the gate.
All these points must be marked and each failure to pen shall be the subject of a penalty deduction.
It is becoming unusual for a handler to be penalised for assisting his dog too much at the pen, but the rules clearly state that the dog should pen the sheep. In Australia, it is strictly forbidden for a handler to, in anyway help to turn the sheep into the pen.

SINGLE
The competitor will proceed to the shedding ring leaving the dog to bring the sheep from the pen to the ring. One of two marked sheep will be shed off within the ring and thereafter ‘worn’ (inside or outside the ring) to the judges’ satisfaction. Competitors are forbidden to assist the dog in driving off or attempting to drive off the single any distance or by forcing it on the dog.
Far too many competitors are seen cutting off the sheep whilst the dog lies back acting as an almost disinterested spectator. This should be heavily penalised. The greatest help the competitor can give his dog is by getting out of the way and allowing his dog room to prove his ability to take off and wear a single sheep.
It is essential that the dog should be able to keep the ‘single’ sheep away from the remainder and the judges should not express their satisfaction until the dog has been thoroughly tested and they are satisfied that he has proved his ability to do this. Here again, the behaviour of the sheep should be considered by the judges when deciding whether the ‘single’ has been effectively completed or not.
When all is said and done about judging it is still a personal view of one person but all judges should try to ensure that weakness or rashness in the dog is heavily penalised so as to ensure that the next generation will be as privileged to work the wonderful dogs that we are privileged to work with.
The I.S.D.S. usually places the four judges together to consult if they so wish. In a perfect world where each judge does so independently, there is nothing wrong with this. But if one judge makes a wild call and persuades the others to go along the fault is multiplied by four.