Skier75
New member
We went to the Deerfiled fair last weekend, and of course, had to watch my favorite, the pig scramble!!!
I have been to fairs where it was considered inhumane to chase a pig, so they had, instead, pig races. They would place 4 pigs in a starting gate. The pigs owners, generally children, would be sitting in a chair an the other side of the ring, with a twinkie or a cheese doodle, whatever. The first pig to take a bite from his owner's hand would win the race. I could care less which pig won the race. Here is what I waiting for!!! When the race is over, there are now 4 pigs that have to be caught and put back in their pens!!!! Just as good as a pig scramble!
I have also been to pig scrambles, that in order to minimize the trauma to a pig, as soon as a child grabbed the rear leg, an adult would pick up the pig for them and they had secured the pig. The chase was fun to watch, but it would end quickly.
Now, at the Deerfield fair, they have a good one! Up to 10 people, kids adults, whatever, by age group, would be in the ring. And there would be enough pigs in there so everyone could get a pig! They give them 3 minutes to score a pig. Now here is what they do. They give each contestant a burlap bag. Not only do they have to catch the pig, they have to get it in a burlap bag to claim the pig!!!!! So now, picture this. You have a bunch of kids chasing a bunch of pigs. They have to catch em and then wrestle em into a burlap bag!!!!! Now that is what I call a good pig scramble! If a child almost had the pig in the bag when the 10 second countdown began, they would count slowly to allow her to get the pig in the bag, to the cheers of the crowd!
Of course I would pet as many animals as I could at the fair. Horses, sheep, ducks chickens, cows. They all need to be petted. And of course there is the fried dough and french fries.....
We also went to see a police dog demonstration, where someone would wear a bite suit and they would show how anwhat the dogs do. I am impressed!
And then there was a sheep dog demonstration. 5 border collies, a dozen sheep and 6 ducks. All in a large pen, and a small pen in the middle. And a race way with a ramp. He had his dogs corral the sheep in the pen, guide the ducks thru the raceway and over the ramp. These dogs were something else. He'd call them by name and tell them what to do, and that's what the dogs did, without barking. All by eye contact and chasing the ducks or sheep. Never indiscriminately chasing them.
What was really surprising was he told one dog to get in the small pen. That is so the sheep won't charge into the pen when corraled by the other dog, but come to a quick stop when they got in the small pen. The dogs would open and close the gate. The sheep are gregarious and tend to want to stay together, so it was fairly easy to corral them. Then he told a dog "two sheep out". Well if that dog ddidn't get only two sheep out of the pen and close the door!!!
Then for comparison, the trainer had 7 people come in and try to corral the sheep and do the things these trained dogs do. It took forever. You had to get behind the sheep and chase them, and they were quick to circle around you. But they weren't quick enough for the border collies. What an advantage to have sheep dogs.
Then he said you have to "turn the dogs off", or they will corral the sheep all night, and in the morning, you will have 50 sheep on your back porch. He blew the whistle and suddenly, these very business like dogs turned into puppies, just waiting for the frisbee to be thrown.
Amazing! Just another day at the fair.
I have been to fairs where it was considered inhumane to chase a pig, so they had, instead, pig races. They would place 4 pigs in a starting gate. The pigs owners, generally children, would be sitting in a chair an the other side of the ring, with a twinkie or a cheese doodle, whatever. The first pig to take a bite from his owner's hand would win the race. I could care less which pig won the race. Here is what I waiting for!!! When the race is over, there are now 4 pigs that have to be caught and put back in their pens!!!! Just as good as a pig scramble!
I have also been to pig scrambles, that in order to minimize the trauma to a pig, as soon as a child grabbed the rear leg, an adult would pick up the pig for them and they had secured the pig. The chase was fun to watch, but it would end quickly.
Now, at the Deerfield fair, they have a good one! Up to 10 people, kids adults, whatever, by age group, would be in the ring. And there would be enough pigs in there so everyone could get a pig! They give them 3 minutes to score a pig. Now here is what they do. They give each contestant a burlap bag. Not only do they have to catch the pig, they have to get it in a burlap bag to claim the pig!!!!! So now, picture this. You have a bunch of kids chasing a bunch of pigs. They have to catch em and then wrestle em into a burlap bag!!!!! Now that is what I call a good pig scramble! If a child almost had the pig in the bag when the 10 second countdown began, they would count slowly to allow her to get the pig in the bag, to the cheers of the crowd!
Of course I would pet as many animals as I could at the fair. Horses, sheep, ducks chickens, cows. They all need to be petted. And of course there is the fried dough and french fries.....
We also went to see a police dog demonstration, where someone would wear a bite suit and they would show how anwhat the dogs do. I am impressed!
And then there was a sheep dog demonstration. 5 border collies, a dozen sheep and 6 ducks. All in a large pen, and a small pen in the middle. And a race way with a ramp. He had his dogs corral the sheep in the pen, guide the ducks thru the raceway and over the ramp. These dogs were something else. He'd call them by name and tell them what to do, and that's what the dogs did, without barking. All by eye contact and chasing the ducks or sheep. Never indiscriminately chasing them.
What was really surprising was he told one dog to get in the small pen. That is so the sheep won't charge into the pen when corraled by the other dog, but come to a quick stop when they got in the small pen. The dogs would open and close the gate. The sheep are gregarious and tend to want to stay together, so it was fairly easy to corral them. Then he told a dog "two sheep out". Well if that dog ddidn't get only two sheep out of the pen and close the door!!!
Then for comparison, the trainer had 7 people come in and try to corral the sheep and do the things these trained dogs do. It took forever. You had to get behind the sheep and chase them, and they were quick to circle around you. But they weren't quick enough for the border collies. What an advantage to have sheep dogs.
Then he said you have to "turn the dogs off", or they will corral the sheep all night, and in the morning, you will have 50 sheep on your back porch. He blew the whistle and suddenly, these very business like dogs turned into puppies, just waiting for the frisbee to be thrown.
Amazing! Just another day at the fair.
