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Sheepdog Championships Are Back

Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation

The Soldier Hollow Classic Sheepdog Championship has brought competitors and their sheepdogs to the Heber Valley since 2003. The event takes place at Soldier Hollow Nordic Center, Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation spokesperson Melanie Welch explains the organizations role in the event.

“Mark Petersen, who started the event and has run it successfully for 15 years has kind of handed the event off to us as a foundation out at Soldier Hollow.” Welch continued, “He has been an integral part of planning this year’s event as well. We didn’t want to make any major changes. We really wanted to keep it true to what Mark’s vision was for the event.”

This year handlers and their dogs will be competing for a $20,000 purse.

“I believe we’ve got about 36, and don’t totally quote me on this, handlers and almost 60 dogs.” Welch said, “A lot of the handlers will run two different sheep dogs throughout the competition.”

Competitors direct their dogs using whistles and call from distances of up to 400 yards with the goal of moving a small flock of sheep through a course and into a pen. The competition begins Friday and concludes with the finals on Labor Day.

“For the three day of the trials it’s very similar and then the format is a little bit different for the championship. The competitions go throughout the day but also while you’re there it’s a festival format. So, we have a ton of other stuff going on in the background.” Welch explained, “You’ve got the competition going throughout the day but then we have various other demonstrations and shows and things taking place in the other areas of the festival.”

Welch says the event provides a vast array of activities for those who attend.

“The most popular, I would say, is the splash dog competition. It’s almost like a giant dock with a huge pool area. They have dogs compete in distance for that competition which is really fun. They do demonstrations with a bunch of wild wonders and other wild animals that they do.” Welch continued, “They do sheep shearing demonstrations and then we have ton of arts and crafts things like Navajo rug demonstrations and rug weaving and an international food court. So, there’s kind of a little bit for everybody.

That’s Melanie Welch of Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation. You can learn more about the sheepdog championships here.

KPCW reporter David Boyle covers all things in the Heber Valley as well as sports and breaking news.
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