Herd dog champion says ‘it’s all I do’
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 17/08/2024 (542 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
MINNEDOSA — Its eyes are empty. It’s crawling. It’s not a playful dog, it’s a predator.
Sheep cannot be blamed for running away from this beast. Left and right around barrels, through obstacles and across finish lines — they don’t get the same kind of dopey, affectionate smile from dogs that we do.
But even while it’s scary for the sheep, no harm is done in the sport of herding. That is, unless you consider injured egos.
Campbell Forsyth stands with his dog Mac at the Minnedosa Agricultral Grounds. The two competed at the 2024 Show and Sale on Friday, going for the fastest time and highest accuracy herding sheep through barrels and into a pen. (Connor McDowell/Brandon Sun)
“In this business, there’s nothing more humbling than those things right there,” Campbell Forsyth says as he points to a dog on the course in Minnedosa. “You can be riding high and they’ll bring you down so fast you don’t know what your name is.”
Forsyth has trained dogs for 30 years. He was a cattle rancher with a 600-head herd and needed help to steer the thousand-pound animals around his property. Dogs made it easier to live life.
“They were a tool. The dogs started out as a tool.”
But things changed.
“In ’95 I lost my hand in a farming accident. So then I really got into the dogs heavier. It was like going out on a Saturday night and going to a dance.”
Retired, Forsyth travels from his home in Eriksdale to wherever the challenge leads. He was in Minnedosa on Friday for the 2024 Show and Sale.
“This is all I do now. We put the miles on. I wore out probably three of my wife’s cars over the years.”
His loved ones rest in lawn chairs next to him, and his grandson races over to share a toy truck with a rubber football smooshed in the trunk.
“There’s a lot of love. We have a great stock dog family.”
He competes in the top division, “open.” And he guesstimates his trophy rack has about 40 belt buckles — each a reward from winning a competition.
While he’s not as young as he used to be, he said age is hardly a factor in livestock herding.
“You got a guy like me, who’s 70, competing against a 20-year-old. I can kick his ass … sometimes. You couldn’t have that if we were at a ballpark.”
And the sport lives on through his kin. Kaelene Forsyth, his daughter, said she’s addicted to the sport. She started with her dad many years ago and had tied for first place at a major event by the time she was 14.
His grandson, a toddler, is too young to herd sheep and cattle yet. But there’s no doubt he’ll see more of it as he grows up.
» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com
» X: ConnorsCupful