It's a dogs life: sheepdog training in Northamptonshire
Features editor Lily Canter spends the afternoon with two traditional county shepherds.
"All the time I have breath, I will have a dog. I can't imagine life without one."
Shepherd Val Powell may breed and train dogs for working, but it is clear from the look in her eye that this is a decision motivated by her heart rather than her head.
Together with husband Bob, she is a sheepdog fanatic who spends almost every waking moment with at least one dog by her side.
The couple, who currently own eight border collies, are shepherds on Thornby farms in Cold Ashby and care for a flock of 1,000 sheep which rises to 2,700 during lambing season.
Last month 60-year-old Val won the Henley Show sheepdog trial with her best four-legged friend Mint, whilst Bob came in second with his dependable dog Cap.
Shepherding is "in their blood" and dates back six generations in Bob's family, despite his father's best efforts to stop him going into it because there was no money to be made.
"It is not a job, it is a way of life," said Val, whose father was a shepherd.
She added: "I never really wanted to do anything else. But no one wants to work seven days a week these days and that is what shepherding is.
It will stop with us as our daughters are not interested."
The love and devotion to their dogs is a huge driving force for the Powells, who spend many hours a day rounding up the sheep to check them and treat them for diseases, and feed the lambs.
"The dogs can get a flock of sheep up in five minutes or less. However it is a dying art, " admitted Val.
Many farmers do not have the time to train sheepdogs and prefer to use quad bikes instead. And due to a lack of shepherds and trained sheepdogs, the animals can fetch up to 4,000 at auction and many farmers are reluctant to spend this amount of money on them.
But the Powells believe dogs are still the most effective way of rounding up the flock whilst also being able to jump in and pull out the sheep that need attention.
Val explained: "You can't herd them up in a corner and catch something with a quad bike. Once you jump off the quad bike they have all moved, but a dog can hold them there.
"Sheep know they can get by you but they can't get by a dog. I don't know how farmers do it without dogs.
"Quad bikes combined with dogs works well as you can get there quicker. We did use a quad bike but it got stolen."
Bob, aged 62, is also adamant that sheepdogs are a vital herding asset.
"If I only had 10 sheep I would have a dog," he said.
The Powell's hairy family is made up of five females (Isla, Mo, Dusk, Mint and Bess), who are all Val's dogs and three males (Chad, Cap and Wes), belonging to Bob. Although Wes is currently somewhat of a disappointment as he "don't do sheep".
Up to four dogs are used at one time to herd sheep, but depending on the job, one sheepdog may be sufficient.
They will work until around 12 years old and then officially retire although they often still take part in shepherding at a slower pace.
Val refuses to put down or giveaway her dogs once they retire, so there is always plenty of canine company at the farm.
Bob added:"We let them work while they want to. When they are retired they can do as much or little as they want to do."
Val readily admits that she breaks all of the 'rules' when it comes to her dogs, as they are not strictly treated like working dogs and are given some domestic luxuries.
She said: "Isla is retired so she lives indoors. Mine come inside in the evening for a couple of hours but they sleep outside in kennels. Bob's dogs don't come in. Mint comes on holiday with me. Where I go Mint goes."
Nearly all of the dogs have been bred by the Powells but again, choosing the puppies to keep and the ones to sell, is usually an emotional choice rather than a practical one.
Val has been known to choose a dog because it has endeared itself to her by being the first to wag its tale.
She admitted: "You should choose the best one for working (once they are older and this becomes clear). But I don't. As soon as it pops out I say 'that's the one I am going to have.' "
Training
It may all sound like a series of random whistles and shouts to the untrained ear but to a professional sheepdog they are precise commands letting them know exactly how to do their job.
Some shepherds, such as Bob Powell, choose the traditional whistling method of two little fingers, whilst others like his wife Val, use whistles made from ram's horn or plastic to control their dogs.
Training can begin at the age of six to 18 months, depending on the dog's ability, and it takes around half a year for them to learn all the skills of the trade.
"It is not something you can put in there," said Bob. "They either want to work or they don't.
"Some pick it up really quick and for some it takes longer for everything to fall into place."
The four basic commands are stopping, going, swinging left and swinging right, but there can be up to 30 variations within this. For example a command might be to 'swing left a bit faster' or to 'slow down but not stop'.
Most dogs are able to pick up the basic skills but only the best are able to refine them and take part in sheepdog trials which require very precise movements.
Each dog will have its own unique whistle for turning left and turning right. This allows the handler to work two dogs simultaneously, sending one left and one right.
The dogs can work anything from six to 12 hours a day, often in shifts, but working too long in hot weather can be fatal.
Border collies make up the vast majority of sheepdogs and have been bred over the years for their sharp brains.
Val said: "Over the last 200 years they have been bred and modified. There is a bit of pointer for steadiness and eye and I swear blind there have got greyhound in them."
Pointing out Dusk, who is intensely watching a flock of sheep as we talk, as if glued to the television, Val explained that some dogs take an immediate shine to the job.
"It is all Dusk lives for. She has no interest in you, only in sheep."
Trialling
Declaring that his dogs 'could do better' whilst watching a sheepdog trial for the first time, Bob Powell returned the following week and scooped up a best novice cup.
Now 25 years later Bob spends almost every weekend trialling but has met his match when it comes to his award winning wife Val.
She has represented England three times and been a judge at national and world trials, including a recent trip to Sweden.
Back in 1979 when Val started trialling she was the only woman on the scene and was often sniffed at by men.
But 30 years later it is a very different landscape and females can make up 50 per cent of the competitors particularly in the south east and east Anglia.
Val said: "There used to be prejudice against women but it has gone now. Only because we beat them!"
The trials themselves involve one sheepdog and around four to six sheep. The flock has to be fetched, moved around the field and then divided into two and penned.
There are marks for completing each task and also moving the sheep in precise straight lines.
When they are not working on the Thornby farm, the Powells spent most of their spare time competing in trials.
Val said: "We have a friendly rivalry. We don't fall out over it. At the Henley Show there was a big debate between us over who had won."
She added: "Bob thinks his dogs are the best but I know mine are."
Only some of their sheepdogs trial as it is a more refined skill than ordinary herding.
"It is one of the decisions they make themselves," said Bob.
Val added: "They have to love trialling. They have to go out to the post with a swagger. Some love doing it at home but don't like trials."
With shepherding a dying trade, there are now many 'hobbyists' on the sheepdog trial scene which is making it an increasingly popular sport particularly in Europe.
Anyone from builders to accountants are buying pieces of land and a few sheep to train their dogs on to compete.
At the international trials there are 27 countries involved yet there are very few shepherds taking part.
At a recent event out of 150 dogs, only eight were trialled by working shepherds.
A popular place to compete is Wales, with its large sheep population.
The Powells will soon be heading off to the cross the border and take on the Celts.
Bob said: "The last week in August we do 16 trials in one week. That is our holiday! You go to one, trial, load up and zoom over to another one.
"It is nice to go over and bet the Welsh occasionally. If you win in Wales you have had a good day."
But what is the trick to a successful trial?
"You have some sheep that have never seen a dog until a trial and that
can be exciting," said Val.
"It doesn't always go right because there is an element of sheep.
"Different breeds of sheep behave differently. The dog that wins most is the one that can handle different types of sheep.
"You need good sheep, and a good dog, and you have to be right on the day. The three things have to come together."
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