Sheepdog Demonstrations

Katahdin Sheep

The Sheepdog Demonstrations at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival are always a crowd favorite. Festival audiences are amazed by the talent, skill, and ability of the handlers and their dogs. Come watch as they demonstrate their skills working in partnership to maneuver the sheep around the arena and through the obstacles.

Joining us again this year as a featured performer is Carla King from Davidsonville, Maryland. Carla began her career with sheepdogs about thirty years ago, when she got her first Border Collie, a lovely dog named Pride. Carla and Pride quickly became a wonderful team, and they soon became quite successful at sheepdog trials. Over the years, Carla has had continued success with Pride’s numerous successors, and she has competed in most of the major sheepdog trials in the USA. When they are not trialing, Carla and her dogs keep busy at home managing a large flock of sheep. We are very pleased to have Carla performing in the demonstrations at the festival.

Also performing in the demonstrations again this year is A J Hesketh-Tutton. A J was born in Winchester, England, where she learned about sheep and sheepdogs on her family’s farm. She now lives in West Friendship, Maryland with her Border Collies. A J also has a large flock of Katahdin sheep, where she and her dogs get daily practice doing chores and training for trials. We are truly appreciative of A J’s participation in the festival demonstrations.

For many years, Nancy Cox Starkey of Mt. Airy, Maryland, provided the commentary for the Sheepdog Demonstrations at the Festival. But again this year, she will be performing with her dogs in the demonstrations. Nancy has had Border Collies most of her adult life, and with the help of her dogs, Nancy manages a large flock of Bluefaced Leicester sheep. Additionally, Nancy competes with her dogs in sheepdog trials and provides sheepdog demonstrations at other festivals and events.

Sheepdog Demonstration from the 2021 Virtual Festival

2023 Featured Breed: Jacob

Learn more about the Jacob breed and talk to JSBA members in the Breed Display Barn (Barn 7-8 on the map) while you are at the Festival.

Schedule of Events

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Note from the festival office - Fleece Show & Sale checks (premiums and fleece sale proceeds) have all been delivered to the post office. Auction checks and checks for Sheep Show premiums have all been written and signed and are in the process of being stuffed into envelopes (fingers crossed that I don't run out of envelopes before Staples delivers more on Monday). Factoid - those three categories generated a total of 300 checks, which is a stack almost 2" high. Waiting for payment information from the Skein & Garment committee so I can write checks for their special prizes. Ditto for payments to the Sheep-to-Shawl teams. ... See MoreSee Less
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In case you missed our earlier announcement, we are now accepting orders for a second printing of large tote bags and moss green t-shirts at www.sheepman.com/product-category/maryland-sheep-wool-festival-online/. Orders will be accepted through COB on Wednesday, May 24th. After that time, the order will go to the printer. They have given us a turn around time of around 2 weeks to have the items printed. Once we have the shirts in hand, we will start shipping to fulfill the orders. Your credit card will not be charged until your order ships. Note: The "guesstimated" shipping fee that is computer generated by the online sales platform at the time of your order tends to run high. You will likely notice the actual charge when your order is shipped is considerably less. Store pickup at the Sheepman Supply showroom in Frederick, MD is also possible; put "store pick up" in special instructions when you check out and you won't be charged the shipping. #mdsw #mdsw2023 #festivalgear #celebrating50years ... See MoreSee Less
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Due to the overwhelming popularity of our 50th anniversary items, we are now accepting orders for a second printing of select items at www.sheepman.com/product-category/maryland-sheep-wool-festival-online/. The order period will run until COB on Wednesday, May 24, at which time we will send the order off to the screen printing company. The delivery time will run 2-4 weeks from that point. These second printing items are limited to the large boat tote bag and a short-sleeve t-shirt in Moss green. The shirts are a ComfortWash by Hanes garment-dyed t-shirts in 5.5 ounce, 100% ring-spun cotton and standard unisex sizing, sizes S to 3X. All sales on this second printing will be final (no returns or exchanges). There is also a small quantity of already-printed items available on a first-come, first- served basis until supplies are exhausted:Short-sleeve t-shirt in “Indigo Blue” – Small (16), Medium (14), Large (8), XL (6), 2X (4), 4X (4), 5X (2)Hooded long-sleeve t-shirt in “Saltwater” – Small (6), Medium (4), Large (4), XL (8)Large boat tote bags (8) – these are the same mentioned above“Peacock” blue backpack (13)“Red Rock” beach wash shoulder tote (6)Large posters (12)Small posters (7)These are the same items that were available online prior to the festival and were also sold at the festival. Pickup at Sheepman Supply in Frederick, MD is available. Put “Store Pick Up” in special instructions when you check out and you won’t be charged the shipping. Thank you for your patience while we worked out these details.#mdsw #mdsw2023 #celebrating50years #festivalgear ... See MoreSee Less
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