“Away.” That’s how a handler tells their dog to move to the right of the cattle they’re working.
“Come by.” That means go to the left of the cattle.
“Walk up.” Go straight toward them.
“Get out.” Move away.
“Lie down.” Well, that one’s self-explanatory.
These verbal commands were a common refrain Thursday morning in the National Western Complex’s stockyards. The shouts were occasionally interrupted by the chirps of whistles, an alternative way for handlers to send messages to their canine counterparts.
People and pooches from 13 states and Canada competed in Thursday’s cattle dog trial. A test of discipline, concentration and patience, the course challenged handlers and their dogs to move a trio of calves through seven different obstacles — between barrels, through gates and into and out of pens — in eight minutes or less. The clock doesn’t stop until the last calf’s tail passes through the last gate.
“The cattle dog trial is addictive,” handler Jan Wagner said after a run in which she and her 10-year-old border collie Zoe earn a perfect score in 6:19. “You always think you can do better. Then you get out there and it’s a whole different ballgame.”
Wagner, a doctor focused on interventional pain management, has been training cattle dogs for about 10 years. Her husband, Bob Wagner, president and CEO of veterinary biotechnology company Gene Check, has been at it for 12 years. The couple lives on a ranch outside Nunn in northern Weld County where they raise Charolais cattle. At the moment the ranch is home to 17 border collies including Zoe. When it’s time to move the cattle across the property’s rough terrain, the dogs spring into action.
“They’re ranch hands. They’re essential,” Jan said.
Bob is the cattle dog superintendent at for the National Western Stock Show, overseeing the competition with the help of three assistant superintendents, as well as participating. During a handler meeting Thursday morning, Bob laid out what he views as the events’ golden rule.
“Everybody should be happy at the dog trials because it’s supposed to be fun,” he shouted.
Liz Klenk Muehlheim and her family traveled more than 1,200 miles from their home in Bellville, Ohio, to compete in the stock show’s dog trials this year.
“National Western is one of the most prestigious shows. It’s just great to be out in the yards no matter the weather,” she said.
They brought three border collies with them: 7-year-old Leo, 5-year-old Nikki and 2-year-old Will. Will was set to compete in the top class, known as the “open” trials, and the nursery class for dogs no older than 3.
“We start them out at about 3 months of age, working with them to develop their instincts with sheep in a small pen,” Klenk Muehlheim said. “That’s to teach them directions and their stop and lie down commands and just get them to enjoy the experience of working with stock. They love it. It’s really an inbred instinct in these dogs.”
A doctor of internal medicine, Klenk Muehlheim was living in Cleveland 15 years ago when she adopted a border collie, Haley, from a rescue shelter. Knowing that the dog was bred for work, she started taking Haley to dog trial training sessions. It was through the cattle dog community that Klenk Muehlheim met her husband, George Muehlheim, who had a working farm where he used Australian shepherds to move sheep.
The couple’s daughter, 13-year-old Mikka Knapik, isn’t competing at National Western this year but plans to in 2021.
“I love watching the dogs and just love watching my parents kick but out there,” she said.
Fun may come first, but Bob Wagner points out that the National Western dog trials bring out serious competitors. The cattle events, which wrap up Sunday with final rounds in the stockyards, are sanctioned by the National Cattledog Association, which keeps track of dogs’ performance year round. Dogs competing this year included past national champions, including Zoe who Wagner is proud to say was the nursery class champion when he was her handler. There’s prize money and a belt buckle for the grand champion on the line.
The championship sheep moving trial is scheduled for 9 a.m. Sunday in the Stadium Arena.
George Muehlheim has been working with stock dogs for 20 years and loves coming to the National Western.
“This thing has done nothing but get better and better with the years,” he said. “The competition, the dogs, everything. You’re looking at some of the best in the world.”
