St. Anthony boy and his dog win nationwide stockdog competitors

ST. ANTHONY — Hayes Crapo and his dog, Ann, won top place in the Junior Handlers Class at the 2023 National Finals of the Mountain States Stockdog Association (MSSA) kept in Afton, Wyoming on June 19-24.

Hayes is 9 years of ages and took on 14 handlers from 8 various states. The Junior Handlers Class is the youngest out of 6 competitors classes in the nationwide finals. His mommy, Mandi Crapo, informed EastIdahoNews.com the Junior handlers are generally 5 to 9 years of ages, however groups are divided up more by the ability of the handler than age.

Hayes received his area at the nationwide finals by making points at competitors called “trials” throughout the year. These are competitors where each handler/dog group is granted points for moving a group of cows or sheep through a challenge course. Teams get approved for nationals when they make enough points. Hayes made points at the Idaho State Fair in 2015, Crapo said.

“I was super excited,” Hayes said of certifying. He had actually been completing in trials for a year or more, he informed EastIdahoNews.com.

Dog handling is a family affair for the Crapo family.

“My brother, he’s 12, he got me into it,” Hayes said.

“We use dogs a lot on the ranch,” Crapo said. “The kids got excited about giving their dogs commands and watching them do the work.”

Now, Hayes and his sibling Hagen go to trials with their daddy, Weston Crapo, and they all trial their own dogs.

Hayes’ and Ann’s success is a lot more unexpected, considered that they had actually just been training together for a couple of weeks prior to the finals.

“The dog he usually runs trials with broke her leg,” Crapo explained. Eventually, the leg needed to be cut off, which left Hayes in a difficult area. Both members of a group — dog and handler — need to be received the finals. He couldn’t train up a brand-new dog. Especially with the trial just a number of months away.

Although Hayes’ hurt partner is still part of the family, she wasn’t as much as managing competitors, not to mention working livestock on the cattle ranch. So, the Crapos purchased a brand-new cattle ranch dog. With Hayes in mind, they purchased Ann; she already had sufficient certifying points for nationals.

Ann came pre-trained, however that didn’t indicate Hayes would immediately take her to the nationwide competitors.

“(Ann) took a liking to Hayes,” Crapo kept in mind. “Some dogs won’t listen to more than one person. They’ll only listen to one — maybe two — people.” It was their capability to interact that was eventually the choosing element on collaborating.

With just 3 or 4 training sessions to prepare, he was truly anxious, Hayes said. “Because I really wanted to win.”

Junior groups deal with cows, Hayes said. The handler/dog groups collaborates to bring the cows through a makeshift livestock chute, then out a gate the handler opens. They began their trial with a “come-by” command, Hayes said.

“That sends them to the left and clear around the cows … and she brings them toward me,” he explained.

As you can see in the video above, the duo make it look simple.

Crapo said having kids who trial dogs is a little however distinct, however she likes that they can feel effective doing “other things” besides sports.

“I really like trialing,” Hayes said. “I like the friends that are there.”

Hayes won a belt buckle ant $100. He prepares to keep trialing dogs and completing. When asked if he might inform individuals something about trialing dogs, he responded to, “They’re really smart.”

The MSSA phases finals each year. This year’s occasion hosted rivals from 19 states and one Canadian province. Over 100 handlers showed the skills of over 200 dogs in this year’s competitors. Handlers and dogs completed for over $100,000 in reward money and awards.