Rancher Katariina Sutphin has raised several generations of border collie ranch dogs at Crowley Ranch in Malheur County.
“As the years went by I had more and more dogs, so I didn’t have to hire too many riders with me. The dogs pretty much do all the work here now,” she said.
Noticing the agility and obedience in her breed, she started taking them to stockdog trials and competitions about 10 years ago. But her attendance was sporadic – until Elwood came along.
Now, she has a national champion.
When Elwood was 12 weeks old, he ran across the fields to chase cattle and followed them through the sagebrush into a little canyon. Sutphin said she was worried that the cattle would turn around and “possibly charge this little ‘too brave for his own good’ pup” so she brought him back home and restricted him to the yard.
But that didn’t keep him out of danger. A couple of hours later, when a young bull came into the yard, Elwood ran after him and chased him away.
“After this, he lost his puppy privileges of staying loose in the yard, especially when there would be cattle close by,” Sutphin said. “But I decided he is a keeper for sure and needed to find the best possible trainer for him.”
Sutphin had heard of Californian trainer Brian Jacobs as one of the best trainers and handlers in the country and contacted him about training Elwood. He accepted and started training Elwood for stock dog competitions at the age of seven months.
“I try to keep my expectations low so I don’t get too disappointed,” Sutphin said.
But Elwood manages to surprise her and exceed her expectations. When Jacobs took him to his first competition in Utah earlier this year, she expected him to perform well.
He ended up winning the open class trials on both days and finished second place in the nursery trials.
Since then, Elwood has competed and won several trials across the country, including the Mountain States Stockdog Association National Finals in Wyoming where he was named the national champion in the open cattle trials.
“I want my dogs to be intense with livestock, like nothing else matters to them,” Sutphin said.
“But they also have to be very obedient and see you as a handler and teammate. And that’s what Elwood is. He’s super obedient, and he’s also fast. He’s one of the fastest dogs I have seen.”
Sutphin thinks that Elwood is now “too valuable” to come back as a ranch dog and plans to continue his career as a competitor. Her next goal is to go through handler training herself so she can start competing in trials with Elwood.
When talking about the world of trials and competitions, she said, “It’s sort of a small world. They all know each other, they all support each other. It’s just very enjoyable to be with these other people who understand each other and also have very good dogs.”
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