Autumn weekends are made for fun!

This past weekend was just about perfect.  The sun was shining, the temperature was in the 70s, and the leaves were starting to show their Autumnal colors.  It was one of those rare weekends that beckons you outside, and with Winter just around the corner, we enjoyed every minute.

On Saturday I drove North, to join our local collie club for one of our many fun events.  This time our club held a Farm Dog Certified test.  To earn this title (FDC), a dog has to pass the test twice, so we held a test in the morning with one judge and another in the afternoon with a different judge.  The FDC, or Farm Dog Certified title, is earned by passing a series of test elements.  Per the AKC - "The Farm Dog Certified test is designed to assess the overall conduct of a dog within a typical farm environment. The dog must demonstrate self-control when exposed to livestock and other unique sights, sounds and scents. The dog should exhibit confidence and a willingness to comply with instruction when confronted with a variety of situations. The Farm Dog Certification is not intended to confer herding capability, but rather a foundation of self-control and biddability beneficial to all working dogs."  All 12 of the elements of the test can be found on the AKC website.

After carefully reading through the test, I was pretty confident that Ryder could pass and earn his FDC.  So I signed him up for both the morning and afternoon tests, and of course Ryder did not disappoint me!  He is such a great dog, and he always does whatever I ask of him.  He walked right by the quacking ducks with no reaction when I told him "leave it."  He waited patiently while I fed the chickens.  He hopped up on the hay bales like he had been doing it all his life.  There were many other collies taking the test, and they all passed too, which isn't a surprise, as collies were bred to help with livestock.  But we also had a Great Dane, a sheltie, a Bernese Mountain Dog, a Wheaten Terrier and a Kelpie pass the the test too.  The club had a nice lunch for all the competitors, and the atmosphere was more like a picnic for dog lovers and their best friends.

This was a practice hay bale, not the one used in the test.

Ryder with his winnings!

To learn more about the Farm Dog Certified test, and to find out where it is being held next, you can click HERE.

On Sunday we grabbed a few of the collies, and we headed to our favorite hiking trails.  It was a beautiful day, and the collies were happy to pose for some pictures.

So that is how we spent this beautiful weekend, what did you guys do?