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What do you bring with you to a sheepdog trial?


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On your cell phone, save the number of your emergency contact person under the name "ICE dog person's name." Around the country, first responders are being trained to look for this info in case of an accident. I learned this in my horse circles because being in an accident with horses is even more complicated than being in an accident with dogs. We save with "ICE horse person's name" so first responders know if there are horses in tow, who to call. Regular emergency contacts should just be saved with "ICE person's name" for In Case of Emergency.

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All good stuff mentioned above.

 

A few things that I did not see, and apologize if I overlooked them. I never go anywhere dog related for any length of time without both simple hand-held and large collapsible patio style umbrellas. Helps break wind, and some protection from sun and precipitation. Patio umbrellas can be secured with light lines and tent stakes. And for those, me included, who have developed CSS (can't see s**t) binoculars to see what is happening at the top.

 

Aside from tangible items, pack:

- ample sense of humor,

- several well embellished stories, and

- plenty of patience.

 

TEC

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It's great reading everyone's lists! Some of you guys are so incredibly prepared! :)

I've got a fairly good kit sorted out, but it's a work in progress. Let's see what I can remember, since my truck is currently semi-packed between trials ....

DOGS:
airline crates for travel

Laminated information cards with each dog's info & photo & emergency contact numbers, (which are carabiner-clipped to the door of each dog's crate)

big 1st aid kit

small 1st aid kit

Glycogen energy edge

water buckets

water jug

dog food for 1 day more than I plan to be gone

dog booties

motel doggie beds

motel dog blankets

old sheet to put on motel beds

dog towels

extra leashes and collars

tie-out cables

cool coat for hot weather

quilted coats for cold weather - (my guys are desert dogs and have gotten chilled to shivering when in damp, cold country)

shiny shade cloths & spring clips to fasten them to my truck

ramp for getting in the truck

ME:
overnight bag
hat, caps, coats, vests, fleeces, sweaters, gloves, boots

extra wool shirt that stays in the truck

extra warm gloves that stay in the truck

rain gear that stays in the truck

whistles

crook

bottled water

small blender

lunch/snack fixins

breakfast smoothie fixins

soft-side cooler

folding chair

sun screen

sunglasses

pepper spray

flash light

hand cleaner

EXTRAS Depending on Length/Nature of Trip:
popup canopy

x-pens with wire topper

more shade cloths

collapsible water jugs

plastic tarp(s)

tent, air mattress & sleeping bag

one-burner camp stove

wooden matches

*winter emergency travel kit - a small plastic bin of various things I might need if I were to go off the road and be stuck there over night.

I'm sure I'm forgetting things, but that's the big stuffs ... :)

~ Gloria

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On your cell phone, save the number of your emergency contact person under the name "ICE dog person's name." Around the country, first responders are being trained to look for this info in case of an accident. I learned this in my horse circles because being in an accident with horses is even more complicated than being in an accident with dogs. We save with "ICE horse person's name" so first responders know if there are horses in tow, who to call. Regular emergency contacts should just be saved with "ICE person's name" for In Case of Emergency.

Thank you!!! Great to know!

 

Donald, I sometimes have to do the list, too, and you've got a couple years on me.

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Along a similar vein, I have a second telephone number on my pet tags, marked as "emergency" - in most cases my retired parents home phone. I know there will always be someone able to answer, or call back shortly.

I trust someone to find a vet, or the police to have connections to one, but if I'm indisposed, someone who knows my wishes and can answer a phone nearly 24/7 is reassuring. Of course it's not how I'd like them to find out there's been a problem...

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Donald, I sometimes have to do the list, too, and you've got a couple years on me.

I've always had to do the lists, even when I was a young thing. There are far too many thoughts running around in my head to safely keep a list there.

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Speaking as a former EMT, we DO try to find out what to do with dogs, etc in an accident when the person is unconscious or unable to provide information. Human care comes first, but there's usually at least one dog person on the team who will look after dog care after the people are looked after. We also DO look through wallets and cell phones, especially now that people keep all sorts of info on their phones. Cell phone lock codes drive me crazy. I understand the need for them, but in an emergency, info stored behind a lock screen isn't going to get anyone anywhere. I believe I've seen an app that allows your lock screen to be a display of emergency contact info.

 

I once went so far as to take one very unhappy, very grumbly, very scared old dog home with me after an aid call. Poor dog was something of a mess, and I doubted she'd be any better in a kennel at the sheriff's office. She did not approve of my boys, who spent a night in their kennels, but when her owner returned the next day, he was extremely happy that his long-time companion animal had had a decent overnight on a soft bed.

 

So, yes, do include emergency contact info for animal care. Also, if you live in a rural place with a volunteer (or mostly volunteer) fire department, and you have the space and knowledge to care for and handle dogs, horses, or other large animals, consider giving the FD your name & contact info.

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Ben, I hadn't even THOUGHT about the fact that my ICE contact info (transferred from my old flip phone) wouldn't be accessible on my iPhone. I'm going to look for that app you mentioned...

 

And here I thought you were weighing in with your one essential item to pack for trials: baked goods!!!

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My phone has access to the ICE numbers even with the lock screen (that is, when the lock screen is on, there's a touch button labeled "emergency call" at the bottom of the screen that takes you to the ICE numbers).

 

Bogwoppit,

My collar plates all have a second number. Unfortunately my friend whose number it was has changed phones, so now I need to go get all new collars/plates. Fortunately they aren't too expensive. But I've always thought it made sense to have a second contact number for someone who knows me and my dogs and whom I trust to make care decisions for my dogs.

 

Ben,

I hadn't thougt about volunteering to be an animal caretaker for the local fire department. I'll have to see if they are interested.

 

J.

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Later iPhones come with a Health app preinstalled. If you fill it out, it bypasses the password screen if you touch the word Emergency located on the lower left of the screen. It brings up another screen with a phone keypad and the phrase *Medical ID, again on the lower left of the screen. Touching that brings up any info you've filled out in the Health app. I filled out a little of my standard emergency info, like the medications I am allergic to, my blood type, and my emergency contacts. After reading this thread, I just added "Please contact <my friend Julia, who is listed in the emergency contacts in a different field> regarding the care of any dogs with me if I am incapacitated." Thanks for the tip, Ben!

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Dear Competent Sheepdoggers,

 

For some years, I drove two teenagers to the Kingston Trial with the following deal: I'd pay for motel room(s) meals and walking around money and they didn't have to get up for my daybreak run, didn't have to sit with me, etc but while we were in Canada, they had to visit one "cultural" venue. We toured the locks, we drove to the Natural History museum, we toured the Canadian Parliament and finally, the only unvisited venue was the Art Gallery of Ontario (the Canadian National Gallery) in Toronto - only a 2 1/2 hour drive.

 

So as soon as June ran that morning, I popped both dogs into the wayback of the station wagon (behind the barrier) and since teenagers pee a lot, we visited the loo before I set off. Stopped for gas in Toronto in a rough part of the hood (I was buzzed into the convenience store), left the driver's door open at the pump. Noontime. Hot. Pulled into an underground parking spot downtown, sent a teenager back with the parking ticket to leave on the dash and she was gone a long time. Went to the AOG which was pretty wonderful, had a pub lunch and when I got in the car a kid looked into the wayback and said: "Luke's gone."

 

Although I peered into every corner big enough for a mouse, Luke was gone and a broad sunlit driveway led up into the heart of downtown Toronto. Luke wasn't in the garage.

 

Nothing much to do now. Was Luke downtown? In the hood? Dead? I'd have to come back but needed to arrange for the kids and June so I started back to Kingston. It was a silent drive for an hour until a kid got a call on her cellphone from Kingston via the States: Luke had never left the trial. When we left the car to pee, Luke figured I was going to run and inexplicably had forgotten him, the sheepdog, and squeezed through the barrier, out the car window and onto the trial ground where he helped somebody with their run. Captured, Luke chewed through Amanda's leash and helped a second handler with her run.

 

Thereafter, the last thing I do before I turn the ignition key - anytime the car has been stopped for gas, for lunch, for rest stop, for trial, for loading gear, for . . . is the "paranoid dog check". I was lucky once.

 

Donald McCaig

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