Ho Dog is definitely living up to our expectations - and beyond them as well.  Too bad his handler, me, can't show him off to what he's capable of.  But with his incredible heart, in spite of me, he keeps trying his best, which says a lot.  He finished his Open Sheep in his first two runs, at Nationals in Wisconsin, with difficult stock and a handler (again, me) who just never seemed to be doing the right things at the right time.  Many, MANY thanks to the stock handlers back there for all their hard work, especially on that frigid morning when we were the first dog out - temperature was 38 degrees and the wind was howling at about 20 mph.  And thanks to the judges, Bob Blount and Roger Stevens, for being so very kind to us in the scoring department.  He really is better than he showed you, believe me!  We're back in action now, after a two year layoff (school, then work for me), with Laura Noll of Glenrose Farms out in the wilds of Jamul.  He picked right up where he left off, he's lost not an iota of his intense drive, and hopefully by this coming spring, we'll be back in the trial arena to finish his WTCH.  Maybe by then, the duck requirement will have been dropped, which would make life ever so much easier for the dog who hates ducks with a passion.  And then again, maybe ducks aren't so bad after all.  He finished his Advanced Ducks with two outstanding scores, a second and a first place AND High in Trial at the 2006 Calapooia Classic in Sweet Home, Oregon!  Way to finish them ducks, Ho!

So we went into the ASC of Idaho Fall Harvest Festival stockdog trials needing only that one cattle leg to finish his WTCH.  The "cattle" were teeny dairy calves that had never seen dogs before!  But in spite of that handicap, Ho went out on his first run under Rick Hardin and altho he didn't manage to get them thru the centre chute, he did an excellent job on the rest of the course, one of the few Advanced dogs in the huge class to not lose them after the first obstacle back to the take pen.  He was a time tick out of the ribbons, but that lonely green ribbon meant way more to me than any other colour ribbon!  So with his WTCH now finished, he went out on Sunday (the calves were much worse on Sunday) on course B this time and did a fine job, the first Advanced dog to pen all three, earning another green ribbon as well as a fourth place finish to end his trialing career.  He's now officially retired from trialing and will just be a ranch dog and bed warmer.  We might try some agility and maybe finish up his AHBA titles, but then again, maybe not.

On the conformation front, well!  What can I say other than that?  Two times in the ring, both times at Nationals (Bakersfield and Wisconsin), in Bred By, with (again) a totally clueless and inept handler, and both times he made the cut!  In Bakersfield under Sheila Polk (Tri-Ivory) and again in Wisconsin under Terri Morgan (Calais/Carolina).  People love to watch this plain red dog move, because he flat out does.  Quietly, efficiently, no wasted motion, perfect coming, going and on the side.  Topline solid as a rock and motionless under gait.  Neck perfect length in proportion to his body.  Head, definitely masculine and in the old style, broad back skull in correction proportion to muzzle length.  Angulation front and rear as good as it gets.  Lovely, almond eyes with tons of expression.  Earset, when he wants it to be, can be Morgan's perfect drop or rose most of the time.  Perfect bite, all teeth except the left upper canine, which he broke a while back.  He is perhaps a bit long and leggy for the showring but perfect for ranch work, as he can flat out move when he needs to.  Thin coat, not a lot of it, but other than the summer bleachies, his colouring is that of a dark Irish Setter, deep coppery red with red-gold highlights (when he's clean).

There's not much I would change about Ho Dog.  Maybe an inch or two smaller and not so long in the body; and I still wish he wouldn't get so excited that he has to hit me in the back with all four feet at a dead run from time to time.  He also barks too much for my tastes; when he's excited, when he's happy, when he's frustrated, when he's not sure of something, the mouth goes off.  His grandmother is a talker, but it's not the barking type of talking; with him, it is the barking type, and it can get annoying.  But that's about it; the rest is just as I want it.  He IS the world's happiest dog; he never has a bad day, no matter what happened.  Can't argue with an attitude like that!