Photo Alex McCuaig - A handler a his border collie guide the flock into a pen during the Cypress Hills Sheepdog Trials which took place over the weekend

By Alex McCuaig

Sheepdog trials

Fans flock to sheepdog trials

Jul 21, 2019 | 6:38 PM

More than 100 spectators flocked to Mildred Barry’s farm south of the city over the weekend to take in the Cypress Hills Sheepdog Trials over the weekend.

“It’s a top-notch event,” said competitor and sheep rancher Norm Sommer from Pleasantville, Saskatchewan. “Nice field, nice sheep.”

It’s the sheep that can really make a competition, said Sommer.

“They play a very important role,” he said. “Some places use sheep that have never seen a dog before.”

Event organizer, Christine Jobe, echoed the sentiment.

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“You can’t have a good show without good livestock. You want young healthy animals and they have to be treated right. They have to be feed right and they have to be worked right out in the field,” she said. “if you do all those things, your livestock will put on a good show for you.”

Jobe said events like the trials highlight that the relationship between human and dog is more than master and pet.

“They’re a partner. I have a job out there and they have a job out there.”

The next schedule sheepdog trial put on by Jobe’s Canine Solutions is scheduled for Oct. 5.