Cattledog Finals. The event was held in my hometown of Leeton Missouri. It was a four-day event that started Thursday May 2 to Sunday May 5. There were 65 dogs there that ran. The handlers had to whistle or voice to the dog the commands. 
What the dogs did was bring three head of cattle up the field and run them through multiply obstacles. The dogs were judged on how many obstacles they completed and how many cattle they got to go through the obstacle.
This was my official first job as my own business. On Friday, I got there at 7 am to put up my backdrop, canopy, and trailer. What I was not expecting that morning was snow. It snowed all day but I didn’t pack up and leave. That was the day the Nursery dogs ran. Nursery dogs are 3 years old and younger. The handlers are starting the dogs at a young age to learn how to herd these cattle. The top 10 dogs with the best scores got to continue to Sunday for the finals
On Saturday, it was a little nicer day but it was still cloudy and cold. Saturday was the second round of the open dogs. These dogs had already run on Thursday in the first round but ran a second round on Saturday. 
There were still obstacles that the dog had to get the cattle through just like nursery, but these dogs were 4 and older in age. Of course the obstacles were harder since these dogs were older with more experience. At the end of the day the judges combined the scores of the two days and the top 20 got to continue to the finals on Sunday.
Sunday was the finals day and it was cloudy and sunny. These were the top dogs of the nation. The nurseries were first to run with the open dogs after that. It was a great experience to go through not only to learn more about my photography but also the great things the handlers do with these dogs. The event will be held in Leeton again for the next 2 years. If you can, try to make it next year to the National Cattledog Finals.
Photographic Farm Girl 