8 State Hurricane Kate

I’m excited to announce that Bandit earned his ASCA started cattle herding title yesterday (pending ASCA approval). He moved the cattle around the course nicely and seemed pleased that I’m finally catching on! 😉 He earned his first cattle title in style, taking FIRST PLACE (a first for us)! I’m very proud of him. We had a great time! Our instructor (who took 2nd) and an ASCA judge (who took 4th) were also entered, so we had some stiff competition.

It’s so much fun to see Bandit do what he was bred to do. He was the only Australian Cattle Dog among a crowd of Australian Shepherds. I’m thankful that the ASCA crowd welcomes us since this is our only opportunity to trial on cattle in our area. Bandit will soon be officially known as Hillhaven Bolt Outofthe Blue CD HSAs RA CGC… and ASCA STDc (pending ASCA approval)! Thanks to Gene who got us started on cattle and Kim who has put in many hours training us (me!).

Bandit is my first herding dog and the only dog I’ve worked with on cattle. We got our first chance to work cattle about a year ago when I finally discovered places near our home where we could train. Bandit has always had a bit too much push for sheep. When I first saw him work cattle I realized that this push is just what he needs to move cows—to do what he was bred to do. He heads, he heels, he moves ‘em on out. He is a fantastic dog!

Wow, we won a blue ribbon! We’ve never won a blue ribbon in any venue before.

Bandit was very pleased with his cattle run on Friday. He sure looked happy and he did his mama proud!