the dogs were trained to perform several routines; as a
rugby league team, or lining up 8 dogs and weaving one
dog through the line in reverse, or positioning the dogs
in a circle then taking one dog to gather some sheep and
herd them into the centre of the other dogs. Or running a
sheep dog trial but having each dog work the sheep along
as an individual and pass the sheep on to the next dog.
he exhibitions drew very large crowds.
Eventually Les decided to retire from exhibitions as he con-
sidered it was becoming very dificult to work with show
committees. A couple of years prior to going on the road
with the exhibitions Les started dabbling in sheep dog tri-
alling even though he didn’t have any sheep to train with.
All his dogs at this time had only seen cattle and compet-
ed in cattle dog tri-als. His answer to this problem was to
show the dog what sheep looked like prior to competing.
He had found the sport where he and his dogs would excel.
Les had the bug and travelled throughout Queensland and
New South Wales competing, forming friendships and win-
ning many titles. He became known amongst the triallers as
“Armie”. In 1973 he won the prestigious Australian National
Championship for the irst time with Al-phadale Scotty and
again in 1977 with Scotties daughter Alphadale Kim. Alphad-
ale Dick also won the maiden at the Nationals in that year.
During the 1970 - 80’s sheep dog tri-alling was very popular
and competitions were held at most agricultural shows. here
was also a stand alone circuit that included State Champion-
ships and prestigious events in lo-cal towns. Wool was an im-
portant commodity to rural Australia at this time and dogs
were an essential part of the industry.
Perfect Score
Alphadale King - NSW State championship
Alphadale Slim - Novice and Open QLD Sheep Dog Cham-
pionship in the same year.
Alphadale Sadie - QLD Novice Sheep Dog Champion at her
irst trial and then won ive consecutive Open trials. Accu-
mulated 19 wins 1989 to be QLD Sheep Dog Year.
Alphadale Ken - QLD Sheep Dog Year 1988
Windeyer Roy - Won his irst trial at 5 month of age. QLD
Sheep Dog Year 1987. Won twelve Open Cattle dog trials.
Alphadale Pearl - Won her irst trial at 12 months of age.
Sold to Greg Prince where she achieved two perfect scores of
100
Percival’s Toy - Won 4 open Sheep Dog Trials and QLD
Sheep Dog of the Year 1986 prior to being sold to Geof Gib-
son. Won many Cattle Dog Trials
Alphadale Josie - Australian Cattle dog Champion twice
Alphadale Shep - Owned by Neil Johnson, trialled by Les
and won many Cattle dog trials.
Alphadale Duncan - NSW Open Sheep Dog Champion 1985
and 1992. Achieved the per-fect score of 100 at the NSW
Sheep Dog Championships 1995.
Alphadale Banjo - many trial wins in sheep and cattle trials
Alphadale Chad - Open Sheep Dog Trial winner. Tied with
Alphadale Dan for 1998 NSW Open Cattle Dog.
Alphadale Tim - Open Sheep Dog Trial winner
Alphadale Kelly - Open Beef Week Cattle Dog Trial and
many other sheep and cattle tri-als.
Gibson’s Teena - Open Sheep Dog Trial winner for Allan
Smith. Les swapped Teena for Borderview Sport.http://www.stockdogs.com.au AWSDM 11