Cattle dog show draws top canine

The annual Wellfleet Fall Festival is quickly becoming much more than a place to gather for free watermelon, mud volleyball and great food. For the second straight year, the festival was the location for a sanctioned U.S. Border Collies Handlers Association cattle dog trial, which is a qualifier for the national event that takes place at the stock show in Denver after the first of the year. Wellfleet's Outback Stock Dog Association sponsored the event, which drew more than 40 dogs, including the top ranked dog in the nation. Small, but growing dramatically, the Outback sponsored event drew close to 200 spectators and it's a direction that Outback president Dennis McDaniel hopes to continue. "We called ourselves Outback because we are kind of out back of nowhere," he joked. "But this is something significant and is growing in popularity and growing fast." Border collies have been used for centuries to herd sheep and are extremely skilled at what they do. In the same fashion, the dogs are becoming more popular than ever for ranchers who are finding it harder and harder to find good old-fashioned cowboys. "This day and age, where can you find four or five cowboys at the drop of a hat?" asked McDaniel. "You can't. It's getting harder and harder to find cowboys and while it's not easy to admit, that age is almost over."...Telegraph