By as early as 1877 the Bala trials were attracting over 2000 spectators (Moore, 1929), and from 1976 to 1999 the BBC produced the television series One Man and his Dog, which brought the sport of sheepdog trials to a mass, and mainly urban, audience. Such was the popularity of the show that at one time it attracted 7.8 million viewers (Palmer, 1983). From its demise as a regular series to 2013 the show continued as a series of annual specials before becoming part of the BBC’s Countryfile programme in 2013. A similar programme entitled A Dog’s Show ran on New Zealand television from 1977 until 1992 (Jukes, 2003). Why did people watch these programmes? Was it to see the skills of man and dog or to admire the beauty of the idealized rural landscape? The answer is ‘probably a bit of both’ but the result was that in addition to giving urbanites a glimpse into an aspect of rural life the programme helped to place the sheepdog (also known as the Border Collie) as an iconic emblem of this life and the rural landscape.
The televising of sheepdog trials split opinion, with the purists suggesting that in constructing the trials to meet the requirements of television the integrity of the sport was lost as it became pure entertainment. In other words, they were concerned about the loss of the authenticity of the sport and its dislocation from its roots. While not necessarily disclaiming this, the other side of the debate saw it as a sacrifice worth making to bring an aspect of the rural way of life to an urban population and in the process to bridge the gap between rural and urban dwellers (Drabble, 1989). Today, the sport continues to be a popular one with a loyal fan base and a committed group of participants, though it is best described as a niche sport.
Irrespective of the merits of sheepdog trials it is worth noting the following quotation from Jones (1892: 76), who was writing not long after the creation of the first trials: ‘the freedom from the infliction of distress or pain or death upon any of the animals engaged in the operations – a condition too seldom characteristic of the sports and pastimes in which people take pleasure’. When put into the context of blood sports (as discussed in Chapter 3), which were diverse in nature and still popular in 1800s Britain, Jones’ statement about sheepdog trials can be seen as arguably a major step forward in terms of the rights and welfare of animals (particularly of dogs and sheep in this instance).
Today, the sheepdog is not only used in the herding of sheep for farming and sport but also as a tourist attraction. Across the rural landscape of the UK, where the use of sheepdogs has a long history, operators are now offering tourists the opportunity to see demonstrations of the abilities of these animals and their handlers. In this way not only the dogs but also the shepherds are being reinvented, transforming them from agricultural workers to tourism industry employees. For example, one farm in Inverness-shire, Scotland, offers sheepdog demonstrations with a ‘true native highland shepherd’, speaking of an authentic experience for the tourist. This operator, like the sled dog operators discussed later in this section, recognizes the potential to tap into the appeal of puppies by not only putting on demonstrations but offering the opportunity for visitors to meet ‘friendly Collie pups’. In this way also the nature of the animal is being changed, turning it into an attraction and focal point for the affections of visitors and away from its role as an agrarian working animal. These pups for petting, an activity also offered in at least some of the farms in the UK that have opened their gates to tourists, are representative not of the traditional notions of the agrarian working dog but of the dog as part of the family, as a pet. Visitors to the countryside are now also enticed to learn how to become a sheepdog handler, as farms offer the opportunity to learn the skills that have been associated with shepherding. Such an example, known as the Lake District Sheepdog Experience, exists in the Lake District of the UK where the operator provides the dogs, and the experience is open to everyone, from pure novices upwards (Anonymous, 2013a).
Another company, called Shepherds Walks, offers – unsurprisingly – walking holidays, in rural Northumbria (UK). As shown in Fig. 2.1, the company plays on the notion of the shepherd as the knowledgeable country person, depicting the operator of the walks with the tools of the shepherd: his crook and his Border Collie, which by default must be a sheepdog, irrespective of the lack of sheep in the picture. The notion that tourists who undertake an experience with this company are gaining an authentic one is underlined on the company’s website by the knowledge that when the company was set up by the owner in 1999 he was then ‘a full time Hill Shepherd’ (Shepherds Walks, 2013). In this instance neither the ‘shepherd’ nor the ‘sheepdog’ are really what they are depicted as being. They are not agrarian workers out of a romantic idyll; rather they are operators in the tourism industry, not herding sheep but herding tourists instead, while at the same time feeding off the imagery of both shepherd and dog as quintessentially rural and experts/masters of the rural landscape.
Fig. 2.1. Shepherds Walks tourism promotional imagery (2008). (Photo courtesy of Shepherds Walks, UK.)
The movement from working dog to sports dog can also be seen in the emergence of field trials as a way of training and encouraging the breeding of gun dogs (Brown, 1934). The first of these took place in the UK in 1865, with the Kennel Club becoming involved from 1873 onwards (Moore, 1929). The logic behind such trials is obviously akin to that behind sheepdog trials and has been seen as beneficial to the quality of gun dogs by various proponents (Scales, 2000). While largely agreeing with this view, Alington (1929) cautioned that, although the field trials enhanced some aspects of the gun dog, they, have at best done little for and at worst been detrimental to the dog’s nose or game-finding ability. This, Alington argues, is due to the breeding of dogs for trial purposes that has emphasized not chasing animals, and hence means the dogs have little interest in sniffing or hunting out prey.
The popularity of field trials as a sport has increased markedly over the last 150 years. In the UK, for example, Kennel Club records indicate that in 1900 the number of trials held under the auspices of this organization was 11 and by 1950 had grown to 92. The number continued to expand, with 583 trials occurring in 2000–2001 and 655 in 2010–2011. How many of the participants are engaging in the trials purely for the sake of the trials as a sport and how many are participating in order to hone the skills of both dog and human for the hunting season is, unfortunately, unclear.
With the emergence of sled dog racing the sled dog has also witnessed a movement from working to sport dog. The first organized racing event is said to have occurred under the auspices of the Nome Kennel Club in Alaska in 1908 (Hood, 1996). The reasons for the origin of these races are arguably multiple and interwoven. One, in common with that associated with field and sheepdog trials, was the desire among enthusiasts and owners of sled dogs to ensure the quality of the breed (Garst, 1948). In addition, it may be suggested that the racing of sled dogs emerged from competition between different individuals working sled dog teams on the same routes. Finally, it is important to recognize that the desire to preserve a way of life as a part of the heritage of the early explorers of Alaska and the northern regions of Canada has, and continues, to play a significant role in the establishment and continuation of sled dog racing as a sport. Indeed, within the context of the Yukon Quest (discussed below) it is claimed that this event: ‘embodies all of