[0]Have you ever seen a sheep dog at work? The deftness with which a dog, typically a Border Collie or Australian Shepherd, can herd sheep under the direction of its dog handler has long been recognized as one of the best examples of the working relationship between humans and dogs. We have one of those dog/handler teams living here in Dunstable.

Maria Amodei of Dunstable and her lead border collie, Cato, are one of 24 dog/handler teams representing the USA at the World Sheep Dog Trials [1] in Wales this September. They will be competing with 240 other sheep dogs and handlers from 23 different countries, including the Czech Republic, South Africa, Brazil, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Finland, Italy, Canada, France, New Zealand, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, Netherlands, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and the USA!. Maria will be leaving for Wales on September 2nd to watch the International Competition, which is limited to dog/handler teams from England , Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. Maria will also be taking her number two dog, Rhyme, to the competition.

If you want to know more about Maria and her dogs, check out the article published in Dunstable Commons in 2005: Maria Amodei, Sheep Dog Handler [1]

To see some of other dogs in the competition, check out these photos [2] .