Truck & Trailer For Sale

1987 Mack CS300 - 162,088 original miles

engine- 538 cu. in, 215 hp at 2300 rmp

(largest engine available for that model of truck)

Transmission - Allison MT643 4 speed automatic with low gear lock, also ability to downshift for engine breaking (no Jakebrake)

Rear end - eaton 4.62 ratio

tires - 11 r22.5 front tires have 10,000 miles

Rear tires are over 50%



1988 Tracer - Slant load

9 H capable with side and rear ramps- Midtack divider removable and can be set from 4 horse up to 9 horse

Tri-axle - 10,000 lb axles with oil bath hubs

Air over Hydraulic Brakes

8.25/15 tires (lowboy tube tires)

10 foot living quarter - cold water sink, AC, cabinets

cowboy shower with toilet in mid-tack utilizing portable black water tank

Hog Dog

Before I could get the coffee pot going this morning the phone rings, it's Wayne on his way to work, "Baby pigs loose along the road". So, I throw on my shoes, grabbed Jake, some light metal grate and my camera, jumped in the truck heading south about 4 miles. As I come over a hill I see a pink blob in the middle of my lane, a car is coming toward me, the driver flashing his lights to get my attention. As I pull up the man in the car, a nice spanking new Audi states "Pigs in the road!"


Right to work I go, first sending Jake to move them to the side of the road with the help of the Audi man and his friend and then to get the grate to set up a quick pen to ease the baby pigs into.

Poor little buggers just huddle together not knowing what to do, luckily Jake is patient and calm and everyone including Jake apply just enough pressure to move them toward the pen with out panicing them. As this is happening I'm able to get close enough to leg one, took it to the truck and grabbed the camera.

I ended up legging a couple more, mangaged to get bit by another, yes the little buggers bite, good thing their needle teeth have been clipped.








A few minutes later the 5 little pigs were all huddled in the back of my truck

I sent Jake in to move the pigs to the tailgate so that I could get them moved to the barn. Problem is...they are not dog broke and don't understand that they need to move from Jake. Along the road with traffic coming past was not the place to let the dog try to break the piglets, they could end up panicking and running blind.

In an effort to get the pigs to understand that they should move off of Jake he alternates between light nose nips and bumping the pigs with the side of his nose. Jake very rarely heels, he has developed his own method of getting stock to understand that they need to move off of his presence.

Soon he has the pigs moving away from him freely but not in a panic.

Safe and sound in our barn

2011 USBCHA National Cattledog Finals

We would like to thank everyone that worked so hard to make the 2011 National Cattledog Finals possible, especially Bob Johnson, Greg Sharp of Corner Solutions and all of the set out riders that Wayne rode with on Thursday and Friday making the event one of the most memorable one for Wayne. Many people volunteered their time, more then one handler expressed their gratitude and that this event was the best National Finals that they had ever attended.


2011 USBCHA National

Cattledog Nursery Champion
Jerry Davis owner/handler of Juanita being congratulated by

Greg Sharp of Corner Solutions, Inc.



Wayne and Jake had a great showing, they qualified for the Double Lift Finals which was held on Sunday and ended up placing 12th. Wayne had a few glitches, no fault of Jake's that held him out of the top 10, including a loss of communication with Jake during the first fetch leg. Jake, unable to hear Wayne's commands and not knowing where Wayne wanted the cattle proceeded to drive them right toward Wayne taking them through a drive panel instead of cross driving them to the proper fetch panel. They eventually made their way to the OK Corral where Wayne was assessed a penality for a rule infraction.

We arrived home late Sunday evening, early Monday morning Wayne and Jake were out working on their whistles, Wayne realizes that something that he could have worked on prevented him from not only placing higher but also prevented him from winning, I don't think that he will let it happen again.

Jake showed that he knew what he was doing when it comes to controlling cattle, I don't think there was any point that he lost control of his charges. He also showed that a dog can make cattle move without upsetting them or bitting heels. We have allowed Jake to develop his technique of accelerating cattle via addressing the front end, either by accelerating toward the cows eye or bitting a front foot. Though his cows never broke into a trot, they did go and he was able to maintain constent control over their direction.


Now we prepare for our Stock Dog Training and Low Stress Livestock Handling clinic presented by Marc Christopher. Marc has been instrumental in Jake's success this past weekend, without his advice and guidance I believe we would still be floundering around in the novice ranks. For the heck of it I went through results from past National Finals, only one other Iowa handler (Jeff Mundorf with Luke) has placed as high or higher then Wayne and Jake at the National Cattledog Finals.

Some of the members of the set out crew

Jake lifting the cattle off the salt block

Jake taking them through the Y-Chute

They walk right on through

Next was lining them up for the Key Hole, the tan steer was thinking about not moving over.

Here's a close up of what Jake had to say about it.

Jake has moved him over, way over and now is holding them in the mouth of the Key Hole

If I could turn back time....

I can't help but wonder how different things would be if I had sent Ricky home with Marc back in September rather then waiting until January. I feel like we are about 2 months behind where we could/should be, this has cost us from the standpoint of getting qualified for Nursery Finals. No Finals for Ricky this year, I will be there pulling for Wayne and Jake. This past weekend was our last chance, we fell short, just short. We were down in Clinton Missouri at a judged field trial.


Ricky did a good job, but he and I were still hashing out some issues. Larry Moore summed it up, "he just needs more obedience, when you say lie down he needs to lie down". It was also noted by many that he is way ahead of many 1 1/2 year old dogs, we were knocking on the door in the open division, things just have not quite gelled together yet, but I'm certain they will and sooner then later. It was a pretty tough weekend on everyone, only 2 open handlers/dogs out of over 20 entries were even able to get the cattle around the handlers post during the first Open class.


Ricky and myself ran three times, twice in Open and once in Nursery. In our first open class we had an exceptionally tough draw and snow, two cows that wanted to go one way and a third that had her own agenda always wanting to go her own way. When I walked off the field Bob Johnson came to me to say that it wasn't Ricky, that set would have needed 3 dogs to get them where they didn't want to go. I don't know about that, IMO, Ricky just wasn't strong enough mostly due to lack of seasoning.


As I stood at the post unable to help my dog I was wishing that I had Jake, I would have liked to see if Jake could have turned that set into believers, but based on the lack of success off many other good dogs odds are he would have failed also. Our next run was Nursery, this time sleet but a better cattle, with the exception of the high headed heifer that took the set out dog back to the holding pens twice before I ever sent Ricky.


The cow was managable, but Ricky got on the muscle with her after we made the turn at the post, things started to come together on the drive when she went to leave on him, rather then holding the head he fell in and went to work on her heels, I elected to not tolerate that behaivor and walked Ricky down and used Ricky to move the cattle to the exhaust demanding proper behaivor from him. Patience on his part was what I needed he wanted to use bite instead. Looking back on the run, I am also to blame for lacking patience, at one point Ricky had gone around to the head and had her stopped, but I didn't give him enough time to let her settle before asking for a flank in an attempt to hold my cross drive line, when he let go she broke, he blew up.


This time I was met by Larry Moore as I walked off the field saying that I should have stayed at the post and waited it out, he felt that Ricky was getting it worked out and that we would have had a chance at winning the Nursery even with the blow up. It's always a tough call when things begin to go wrong, wait and see or get your butt trucking down the field to get things sorted out yourself going into damage control. I stand by my decision, I would rather that my dog didn't know that he can do it the way he wants to on the trial field. Our last run was Open, this time rain and a really nice set of cows.


Unfortunately I may have handled the run in a poor fashion, either that or I did the best I could with a young dog being precented with a situation that required a more seasoned dog. I also wanted to make sure the Ricky did what I asked, following Larry's advice. As I was walking out toward the post I noted that the judge, scribe and score sheet runner were having a discussion, at the same time the cattle were being set out onto the field. I patiently waited for the judge to ok me to run as the cattle drifted to the left side of the field settling in a place that put them dead center inbetween the drive panels and the fetch gates.


This meant that either I needed to have the set out reset the cattle, which may really upset the now quiet cows; or take the cattle where they stood and after the lift have Ricky flank around and set a new line to the fetch gates. He would have to drive the cattle right toward the draw and then I would need to flank him again to get the cattle turned in time to make the panels. The line was going to have to take the cattle parrallel to the fetch gates, with a hard dogleg to get us back on course to the handlers post.


If I had been running Jake I know it would have been a piece of cake, I can position and reposition him quick and easy, almost like handling a remote controlled car. Ricky on the other hand, I need to take my time and let him settle inbetween commands, if I don't he get's tense and leans on the cattle and I didn't want a repeat of my Nursery run.


I elected to take the cattle where they stood, Ricky outran nice, lifted them straight to me, and he was bringing them, I had a moment of panic as I thought that there was no way he was going to take a flank to get the line changed...it took me two flank commands before I saw him come around so that we could set the new line, I made him stop a moment and the cattle were off toward the draw. Trying to balance patience with control while the cattle are heading where they want to go is tough, especially for Ricky, he's alot like Jake "They are getting away, I gotta stop them!!!" I didn't want Ricky to kick into a flank and stop or turn them early so I made him walk up a bit holding the drive before flanking him for the turn.


Unfortunately it was a few strides to late, the turn was made but just past the fetch panels. Ricky proceeded to bring the cattle on toward me and we began to work the turn of the post. We had a bobble or two on the turn before Ricky was off taking them to the first drive panel. The first leg of the drive went fairly well, so did the turn but I could'nt quite get Ricky back into the right place to hold the cattle away from the draw to make our cross drive panels, nor did I try hard. It would have meant that I would have to rush Ricky and I wanted to keep things calm and quiet.


Next up was the trailer, only two handler/dogs has successfully loaded the cattle in the trailer prior to our run, all day. We had plenty of time, we had to regroup once as one of the cows that gave Ricky a hard time on the handlers post turn tried him again, but we prevailed, the cows stepped up onto the trailer and in, course complete. At that point I didn't care how we scored or where we placed, I was just overjoyed with completeing a course without having the wheels fall off. My dog stopped when I asked, flanked when I asked, the cattle pretty much went where they were suppose to in a controlled fashion and as far as I was concerned we won.


Ends up...that I think we were 1 point short. We can use a top 20% open placing to qualify for Nursery Finals, I think we needed to place 4th**. We did, but tied for 4th, the tie breaker was the combined score of the outwork (outrun, lift and fetch), we lost the tie breaker. If we had preserved just one more point Ricky would have been qualified for Nursery Finals.

**Upon review of the score sheets we would have needed to place 3rd, 4 points short...

Looking back at the run I can't help but wonder if I should have had the cattle reset, but that may have upset the cattle. If I had flanked him a little sooner vs. making sure he settled before asking for the turn on the fetch panels the cows would have made the panels, but Ricky might have blown up. If I had tried a little harder to get Ricky to hold the line to the cross drive panels or I even could have had a better line from the cross drive to the trailer, but at that point I was just happy to be heading to the trailer and was in the "Let's just get this done" mode.


Originally I had planned on coming home after my runs on Saturday but bad travel weather convinced me that I was better off spending the evening at Applebee's with some other handlers and back to the motel. Since I was staying over I went ahead and entered Ricky in the Open Sunday morning. Thinking back I really was not thinking about it being one more chance to qualify, I was looking at it as one more chance to season my dog, would he be hard to handle like Saturday morning or would he pick up where we left off, each run on Saturday got better.


Sunday morning Ricky had the best run of the weekend, there were parts of the fetch and drive that I don't think we could have made any better, it was like I was running a little nearly fined tuned machine, Ricky and I were finally getting together. We had a little glitch on the cross drive, but we got through and I think we made the panels. I tried to set a better line to the trailer holding the cattle away from the draw and also a pile of hay, but the cattle got to the hay and Ricky had to convince them to move on, now we need the heel bite... We got up to the trailer, lined them up they started in but one cow said no and went to run through Ricky, Ricky got her stopped, lined things back up just in time to run out of time.


We just were not meant to go to the Nursery Finals this year, but that's ok we still have next year and the summer trialing season is yet to begin. I can't wait for this coming weekend, we will be at the Indiana Horse Fair competing in a 10 dog trial. My fingers are crossed that Ricky and myself will pick up right were we left off on Sunday.


When I came home last night we dropped Ricky's pups into the pen with the lambs for the first time. They are 8 weeks old this weekend, every one of them went to work, very willing to move the sheep but also able to go to the head and stop the sheep. We didn't see and ounce of fear or over sensitivity, one little pup looks like he is going to be a heel hellion just like his daddy.

If I didn't trial

I wouldn't have to work so hard on learning how to whistle

I wouldn't be waking up at 4am thinking about the path of my dogs outrun pondering what it is that I'm not seeing that others do.

I wouldn't have to slip and fall out in the greasy pens at chore tim while walking down Ricky for slicing a flank or disobeying a command.

I wouldn't have to challenge myself to understand what correct work should look like both from the view of the dog and the livestock.

I wouldn't have to look to myself and my dog for issues with the livestock but could rather say "That's ok Ricky, your good, I would have bit that dang nasty ewe too."

I wouldn't have a higher standard of work to strive for and would be able to accept whatever my dog is willing to offer.

I wouldn't be blessed with the loyal companion that is sitting at my feet right now, gazing at me with admiration waiting for the next task that he can turn himself inside out trying to do as I ask and work together with me to accomplish.

A Quick Update

Last evening Number 6 finally mustered the courage to get over the wall!!!

Last evening I let all the pups and Dixie out and we went for a walk out into one of the small pastures. All the pups were great, following along, going out and investigating the new environment but staying aware of where I was.

I've said it from the time they were less then a week old, this litter is different then any other that we have raised. Typically on the first outing there will be a few pups that would prefer to stay in the kennel or one or two that go off doing their own thing totally oblivious at to where I am, not this crew.

It was entertaining watching them struggle up one of the remaining snow piles, about a 4 foot climb with ledges to fall off. Number 3 jumped off a top ledge just because he wanted to get to the bottom, he's kinda fearless little bugger. 1-4 all buzzed around, up and down easily, number 5 sat at the bottom and screamed for a minute or two before setting his mind to the task of climbing up so that he could be by me. Number 6 did a good job but you could see she was a bit uncertain of her footing and was low and slinky to the ground.

Wayne joined us just to watch and take it all in, he also sees that this litter is a little different then previous that we have raised, but maybe we are looking at them for a different angle compared to how we looked at previous litters. Another thing we have noticed is the both Dixie and Ricky are different with the pups then any of the other dams have been or Jake. Jake really does not like puppies, Ricky takes them in stride, he lets them play around his feet, head him, heel him a bit and corrects them effectively but not over the top for getting to personal. Dixie has been physical with them since they were under a week old. We were worried when we heard a growl and screech from the whelping room as Dix tuned on a little 3 day old pup. She also would leave them and not go running when someone cried, she had them on a strict feeding schedule and would only feed them at set times. She would go in and clean them, but not allow them to nurse.

When I feed Dixie I don't worry about seperating out the pups, the pups go to join her, she raises a lip and they all slide stop a hault lined up side by side and patiently wait for Dixie to authorize them to eat. If they are around a food bowl they move off when told to but will eat comfortably if allowed, they understand that no means no. I have a feeling that Dixie is going to make my job a lot easier come training time.

Over dinner we discussed what his thoughts were, he is pretty much in agreement, Ricky Junior is the best and number 6 is the bottom running a close race with number 5. We both agree that if someone was to drive in today and pick a pup to take home they would more then likely pick one of those two bottom pups if Junior was unavailable.

On a different note, Ricky has worked his way back into the house for a brief stay. On Saturday while working cattle he was stepped on and lost some hide over the top of his foot. I've been keeping and eye on it. After using him to tag and sort ewes and lambs last evening I decided to play it safe and leave him here in the house after cleaning it up last night, his entire foot is sore but not to the degree of showing it while working. He has claimed the leather sofa that I picked up for free as his domain, actually chasing Bea off of it last evening after dinner, house dog again....atleast for a few days.

If I was to venture a guess - 6 week puppy evaluations

The pups turned 6 weeks old this past weekend (Dixie x Ricky). We have elected to not let any of the pups of this litter go home until we have had a chance to evaluate them, which includes their introduction to livestock. I'm guessing they will be hanging around here until they are about 16 weeks old or when they show me something that I just flat out don't like, which ever comes first.

Over the last 4 weeks I've been making little mental notes as to who is showing strengths and weaknesses and if the pups mature out of their weaknesses or if the weakness keeps raising it's head in other places. As it stands, if I had to make my picks today, here is the order and why:




















Ricky Junior, he's my number one pick. This little guy has been the most outgoing pup of the bunch, but not brash. He is a thinker, when given a correction you can see the wheels turn, "hmm, what caused that?"

Today as I was coming up from the barns I realized that we had an escape, actually 4. Junior was one of the four, once he spotted me he started out right for me and proceeded to follow me around the house as I located a new brick to cover the escape route. This was his first time loose in the yard, he took it in stride.
















My number 2 pick is this little female, she was the slowest to mature, almost acting a bit premature, but once she caught up there has been no looking back. She is bold and almost brash and fearless.

It will be interesting to see if she holds onto her number 2 position, I'm a touch concerned as to how trainable she is. She takes a correction well, but I've not been able to tell if she is learning anything from it.

She was one of my 4 escapees, she also came to meet me.

















My Number 3 Pick is this Tri-colored male with the blaze. Originally I had him down at the bottom of the pick list, he showed signs of sensitivity and didn't want to be touched. But, over the last couple of weeks I've seen him solid up and handle things well. I really expected him to be scattery to noise and motion, but he is proving me wrong, so far.

He was another one of my escapees, though he slid back into the kennel when the other two came to greet me, the sensitivity is part of him.















Here is number 4, this pup is pretty easy going but not as outgoing as the other two. If there is a bussel in the kennel you will see her find a safe corner and watch from afar. She really does not seem to be scared, but more of the "I don't want to get into trouble" type.

She was the 4th of the Jail Break Gang, but she too retreated back under the fence when she saw me coming.














This one is unexpected, number 5, I actually had this male tagged as a good one early on but an interesting development has brought by thinking into question, it's the same issue that has the number 6 pup in her place, in addition to a gut feeling that I have that he is going to be excitable. He's shown me a couple of over the top reactively excited moments, that type of dog can be hard to train, they get excited and can't take direction, but if you make them contain themselves they can't react. Time will tell...

The biggest issue I have with number 5 is that he is not willing to try hard when he wants something but would prefer to sit behind what ever is in his way and scream about it. We have a 10 inch lip at the doorway to our kennel building, the other 4 struggle over it to get outside, both he and number 6 stand with their feet on the ledge screaming and biting at the ledge, heck, even with Dixie nursing the other 4 just outside right in front of them. Today he finally showed enough determination to conquer that wall.

Onto number 6....

















Number 6 is a large tri-color female that I know most would consider her the female pick of the litter. She is outgoing and handles things pretty well. But, if she feels too much pressure she goes into a little frantic spin and she also has an issue with adversity. I don't think many would even see it, but I tend to test the pups and look for either desirable or undesirable reaction.

She still hasn't clawed her way over the kennel ledge, and I'm not going to help her. Today I watched as number 2 jumped back into the kennel building to get a drink, number 6 was tickled to see her, number 2 came barreling back up and over, number 6 screamed, "Help me, I can't get out"


I could see where many would have helped her over the wall, but I wanted to see how long it took before she builds the resolve herself or if her helplessness is a part of her. I've not been desensitizing these pups, with the exception of number 3, he needed to accept being touched. Otherwise, I've been watching to see how they handle adversity on their own. So that I can learn see how it translates to future stock work and training.

This past weekend we took their sire Ricky and Toby, an uncle to dog break cattle. Ricky went right to work, it was tough going, the mud was elbow deep in places. Ricky has never worked in such poor conditions nor for such a long time, but he kept ticking. Toby, well that was a different story, he sniffed poop, tried to stay on dry land. Even went so far as digging in his front feet refusing to step into the mud, his unwillingness to deal with the adversity prevented him from being useful. No courage or heart, he's lucky that Wayne is in his corner, I'm done with him.


It will be interesting to read over this post in another month or so and then again further into the future to see if what I believe to be positive or adverse traits stay with them or if they change with maturity. It will also be interesting to see how if effects their interaction with livestock. The level of stock drive may have a strong influence on their desire to push through, but I also wonder is as the work get more difficult and less fun if those traits I'm seeing now will raise their head.

We will start leash breaking in another week or so, that usually tells me a bit about train ability, how badly they want what they want and if they are easily distracted from something that peaks their interest.