PRST STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID OMAHA, NE PERMIT NO. 36
Section
A
Volume VIII, Issue 4
April 2014
Curtis Travis used his love of cattledogs to begin a trial competition of his own on his rural Creston operation. The 2013 version of the event featured competitors from the Midwest, Canada and Tennessee. Photos submitted
Hounding the herd
Western Iowa cattle producer finds valuable tools in four legged friends
by Greg Forbes Sometimes, practicality and convenience is best accomplished with four legs. That’s the method Curtis Travis has adopted on his rural Creston cattle operation. As Griff, Travis’s adult male border collie, darts around the lots, pens and pastures, sorting calves and moving hundreds of heads of cattle, Travis remembers a time when the herding process was not as swift. “We used to use guys to get cattle in and out of the pen, but with one dog, you can do what it’d take five or six men to do in half the time,” he commented. Travis most frequently works Griff in his 600 head backgrounding feedlot but finds uses for his dog in almost every aspect of the cattle operation. “I use them for sorting, getting cattle out of pens, moving from one paddock to another or help if I have any (cattle) that get out,” he said. Travis’s venture into cattledogs began nearly six years ago after a freak accident killed a Catahoula dog he used as a helper around the operation. Seeking a more suitable dog for his needs, Travis began researching breeds and contacting breeders throughout the Midwest. He eventually made contact with Dan Korf, a breeder near the Colorado-Nebraska border.
Creston area cattle producer Curtis Travis finds help managing the herd in Griff, his border collie cattledog. Travis has recently incorporated a second border collie, Rex, into his operation.
“He told me what I wanted to hear,” said Travis. “So I went there and bought it.” That connection led him to Bob Johnson, a border collie breeder and trainer in nearby Tingley from whom Travis learned the tricks of the cattledog trade. “I went over there and started taking lessons from him and I fell in love with it,” he said, adding that he’s refined his skills by attending cattledog trials. “That has shown me different ways of using my dog, watching other han-
dlers. The best thing is watching someone else.” As Griff grew in maturity and talent, Travis noticed a major benefit from his four-legged field hand. “Dogs tend to put less stress on the calves,” he stated. “They tend to move better because of that.” Travis continued that dogs also prove to be a time and travel saver. DOGS, Page 3A