Bunclody

Some months ago, while still in the states, I learned the 2017 Irish National Sheep Dog Trials were to be held in August. So naturally I booked us a room and we traveled a few hours south to Bunclody where they were being held.  The drive was lovely as we wound our way through the Wicklow Mountains.  We drove through lots of little towns; Tullamore (fast becoming one of my favorites), Stradbally, Ballickmoyler, Carlow (will love to investigate this town more at another time - they had at least 5 Asian restaurants. Athlone only has 3) I just love the names of these towns, I'm sure I don't pronounce them all correctly, but it's fun coming up with our own versions.  Like the town of Leixlip - I call that Lillyput.  

Bunclody is not a very large town, in fact it's population is around 2,000.  They have a nice little downtown, park area, where the dog trials were held, and the beautiful River Slaney running around the town.  To me, it would make more sense to hold the trials in a larger, more central town such as Athlone – the competitors came from all over Ireland and we would have been able to attend all three days, instead of just the one day.  Maybe I should have suggested that to them. 😉

It’s very similar to the competitions we’ve attended for years at home, one dog, one handler and 5 sheep, same gates, around the handler, split off one sheep from the herd and then get them all into the pen – with time limits.  Pretty much the same course and rules, but they’ve got the added competition of teams.  Now this was fascinating to watch the herder call to both dogs consecutively. Having to keep an eye on both was tricky – a couple of times the dogs just wanted to do their job and not wait for the other dog’s turn. They have more sheep to herd as well, since once they get 5 split off they put them in a pen with no gate

– the dog must sit there and guard them, not allow any out.  Then the herder concentrates on the second dog and balance of sheep to get them into the other pen with gate.  The first team we watched did an excellent job, however the second team – not so good.  Once the herder got the sheep into the pen without the gate, the dog, after a few minutes, decided he was done and literally left the course by

He Quit! Up and over the fence he went.

jumping over the fence.  The judge had to go onto the field to let the herder know he was disqualified.  I’ve never seen a dog just quit.  There was a group of men behind us critiquing every dog and handler.  I so enjoyed sitting and listening to the accents and their laughter.

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