Heart of a herder

“These dogs are workaholics,” says Sandi Newton of Crystal Rose Cow Dog College in Red Bluff. Her Border Collie, C.R. “Sterling,” is consigned at the 70th Red Bluff Bull and Gelding Sale taking place Jan. 25-29 at the Tehama District Fair grounds. The annual stock dog sale is a popular event at the Bull and Gelding Sale, offering top quality, hard-working cattle dogs like Sterling to buyers from all over the country. Last year, dogs were purchased by people from as far away as Oklahoma and New York. Although the three-day stock dog competition is open to anyone, only the best may finish. According to Adam Owens, sale manager, the dogs are “sifted” by five judges, and if they don’t work well in any of the three events, they can be disallowed from the sale. To compete at Red Bluff, a dog must be aggressive enough to move cattle and smart enough to control them, explains Al Vieira of Diamond Stockdogs in Orland. “The instinct of these dogs is really something,” he says...more