A stock dog competition was just one of many events that took place at the Yorkton Exhibition Harvest Showdown over the past weekend.
A stock dog competition, also called a sheepdog trial, involves an owner, a dog and a small herd of sheep. The sport requires the dog to successfully herd the sheep around obstacles and into a specific gate. The owner directs their dog using vocal commands or whistles. The event is based on time and point accumulation.
There was a novice division and an advanced division at this year’s showdown.
Jared Epp was one of the competitors in the advanced division. Epp is from Dundurn, Sask. He and his dog, Bud, took home the top prize.
Epp said there’s a lot of training that goes into an event like this.
“The dogs we’re using are border collies, and they’re bred to want to hunt. Basically at home we give them a lot of exposure to stock to learn how to read them, where they want to put them,” he said.
“Then we develop a relationship with the dog where we can provide leadership and give them some directions.”
Bud is only three years old, but Epp has been training him since he was just a puppy. He works groups of 500 sheep normally.
Epp said he has around ten dogs of his own, and spends time training other people’s dogs. He said it’s not uncommon for him to spend up to six hours in a day training dogs.
Overall, he said he was content with how Bud performed in the competition.
“It feels great. I was really happy with how the dog worked. He handled his sheep well and his experience really showed off today,” said Epp. “And I’m very impressed with all the handling, everyone did a great job as well.”
