Judging and Training Clinics in Switzerland.

When I started out 16 years ago with my first sheepdog I never dreamed that I would travel all around the world because of them.  I was privileged and honored when Alberto Stern asked me if I would be available to judge their trial, in Switzerland, in April. This would be the Swiss handlers’ last chance to gain points to qualify for the Swiss team for the Continental Championship later this year.  It was also their first chance to gain some points for the team that will go the World Trial next year.

I flew from Cape Town to Johannesburg then to Zurich. From Zurich I had a short flight to Lugano.  Lugano is in the south of Switzerland not far from the Italian border. It was from the side window of this airplane that I had my first glimpse of the Swiss Alps. In one word it is massive; it felt like you could touch the snowed covered peaks below.  Alberto picked me up and we had an hours’ drive to the little town of Lostallo where he lives.  It was nice to see my friend again, the last time we saw each other was in the USA at Meeker last year.

Lostallo lies in a pretty valley surrounded by huge mountains. The trials field was not far from their house. I helped set up the course.  It had a nice 320m outrun with quite a big drive. I looked forward to judging it as it looked like a good challenging field.    The next morning we had a handlers meeting before the start of the trial. Communication was a problem if one could not speak Italian or Swiss German.  It’s a good thing Alberto could translate well.  After clearing up a few concerns from the handlers the trial started. I was glad I had put in two decent jackets; although it was spring it was cold in the mornings and at night.

The course was a shed of any two uncollared sheep, pen and a single.  The sheep ………well they were something else. The problem with sheep in Switzerland is that for a large part of the year the sheep are kept indoors. The sheep have no respect for or fear of people.  In general they did not work too badly on the out work and they were really forgiving sometimes.  Now and then handlers had problems with sheep challenging the dogs.  For me the main problem was in the shedding and singling. Before I say too much, I must say that we seldom work sheep of that type.  But I do think that the dogs were not involved enough in the shedding process.  Creating a gap with pressure from both the dog and the handler, i.e. from both sides of the sheep, must be easier than doing it on your own without your dog.

One thing that was really nice was that I did not know any of the handlers. For them the trial was very important because of the team selection for the Continental. Not knowing who needed points was a good thing because I could judge just what I saw without having something in the back of my mind.

In general the quality of dogs and the handlers was good.  I enjoyed the trial and it turned out to be really good day weather wise. The next day I had a few handlers for training. Again it was cold and a little wet, great for working dogs. The nice thing about helping other people is that I always learn a lot myself. Something I realized when working with some of these dogs is that one has to be careful not to try and train every dog in the same way. No two dogs are alike and you have to adapt to the dogs temperament. We had a lot of discussion on the finer points of handling and training and a lot referred back to the basics.  It was a really nice day and we all had a good dinner together with some red wine to warm us up.

The next day Alberto and I loaded some sheep and headed off to a friends’ farm about half an hour’s drive away.  I had about 8 people attending the clinic.  It was a big flat field, a really pretty place to work the dogs.  Again my good friend Alberto had to translate most of the time. We had an Australian Shepherd as well as a Kelpie at the clinic. One thing about most of the dogs attending is that they were really under good control. The biggest problem was that there was maybe too much control.  We worked a lot on balancing, getting the dogs to start feeling the sheep a bit more.  Poor Alberto had a lot of translating to do and I think the principals of balancing and how I wanted the dogs to start feeling pressure must have been repeated many times.  Interesting is that nobody starts in a small pen. Some dogs did not want to work in the pen in the beginning, but for me it is important to start there. You have full control over the situation and another important thing is that your dog learns to take sheep out of a corner and off the fence.                           These photo's were taken at the training clinic

I enjoyed the clinc very much. The people were great and I could see they really wanted to learn something.  It was a pity that I could not communicate well. I did German at school for one year and then I changed my subjects; I never thought I would need it one day.  I had two days left before I had to head home.

I joined Alberto on his daily duties as a veterinarian.  This was great as I had a chance to meet people and see how they lived.  It felt as if I were in another world in another time. Most people have what they call a “stable” where they keep the animals during the winter.  People live close to their animals. Most have only a few sheep, goats or cows.  On one trip we had to go and inseminate a cow on top of a mountain. Our means of transport was a small little cable car. It was so steep it almost went up vertically. The view on top was breathtaking. Only a few farmers live there. After inseminating the cow we went on foot to visit some of the stables. Alberto had a backpack on his back with all the necessary medicine.  Every time we met somebody they asked him to come and look at so and so.  It was an experience I will never forget. The view and the fresh air  were spectacular but I must say I think the weather could make life rather miserable

Alberto with all his gear ,ready to go on the mountain. View from the cable car with the little village below , it was really high.

Alberto tending to a problem, check out the bunk beds. Not a bad view from the stable

Alberto and his wife Elena went out of their way to make me feel welcome. Alberto also has a stable where he keeps some 40 ewes. It was very educational to see the way he works with his sheep. The dedication and pride he has in his sheep was clear. In his own words he said,”… it is like therapy’’  I look at my own situation and realize how privileged I am with what I have in terms of sheep and land to keep them.

Visiting Switzerland was great, but meeting the people there and seeing how they make their living was fantastic. Switzerland has a population of about 7 million people.  About 67% of the people speak Swiss German, 7% speak Italian and the rest speak French. It was amazing to sit in a conversation and listen to all three languages at once.  Another thing that was interesting is the fact that not too many people speak English.  It is a good thing that sheep and sheepdogs talk a universal language that is the same all over the world.

The morning before my departure from SA I heard about the volcanic ash that was causing problems over Scotland at that time.   Landing in Zurich all the flights on the bulletin board to the North of Europe were cancelled.  The next day they closed just about every airport in Europe. The day I was due to come back the airports had just opened again. Good timing for me.

To all my new friends

Tanti saluti, ciao