Outside of Snake River Correctional Institution, Recreation Specialist II Nate Bake and his wife Stephanie raise and train working Australian Shepherd dogs that compete in herding competitions around the US. Qualifying for the finals is an accumulation of points throughout the herding year. The 25 dogs with the highest total points in each stock – which include cattle, sheep, ducks, and geese – are invited to participate in the finals. This year, the event took place in Bryan, Texas. With much dedication and passion, both Bake and his wife qualified and entered seven of their Australian Shepherds in the nationals and finals, and they all did exceptionally well.
Zorro, Bake’s youngest dog, took second place in the world in the sheep herding competition for the Started Division and took fifth place in cattle.
Another of Bake’s dogs, Raiden, won the National Specialty last year for the Started Division but could not quite repeat that rank this year. However, he placed second in the advanced, Non-Champion Division while also finishing the last title to earn his working championship.
Stephanie ran her dog, Kiss, in both nationals and finals and did well. Kiss finished eighth place in the cattle finals, seventh in the ducks finals, and fourth in the sheep finals – all being world placings.
Congratulations Nate and Stephanie!
