Counting Sheep
North America’s Best Sheepdogs Head to Alturas…
Alturas typically doesn’t see much foot traffic. But for one week this fall, this remote Modoc County town becomes the center of the sheepdog world.
The 2026 U.S. Border Collie Handlers Association’s National Sheepdog Finals run September 29 through October 4, bringing 150 of the top dog-and-handler teams from across the United States and Canada, more than $30,000 in prize money, and roughly 130 RVs parked on a beautiful alfalfa field about 12 miles outside of town.
Organizing the event, for the ninth time, is Geri Byrne, a Mariposa County supervisor who also serves as committee chairperson for the Finals. Her path to this role began in 1976 at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, where she got her first border collie, Meg. Byrne married right out of college, moved to Tulelake, and found herself on a family cattle ranch, using dogs to move cows. Then some friends arrived with their own dogs to help with sheepdog trials, and that was that.
“Their dogs were way better trained than ours,” Byrne says with a laugh. “And I simply got hooked.”
The National Sheepdog Finals are sanctioned by the United States Border Collie Handlers Association and co-sponsored by the American Border Collie Association. The event is the premier competition in North American sheepdog trialing and moves around the country from year to year. This will be the fourth time Alturas has hosted, and Byrne says there’s a reason it keeps coming back.
“Everybody loves coming to Alturas because everybody’s so friendly and helpful,” she says. The event fills hotels and restaurants, and the community warmly welcomes the influx of visitors. The ranch venue itself is a draw, set on open land, with generous owners who welcome the organized chaos that descends each fall.
Getting to the Finals isn’t easy. Teams must compete in sanctioned regional trials throughout the year, earning points to crack the top 150. The bar keeps rising. Last year, one competitor with 19 points still sat at the top of the waiting list. The competitor? Geri Byrne.
The competition takes place on a sprawling alfalfa field. In the preliminary round, each competitor starts with five sheep set out about 500 yards away. The dog, almost always a border collie, is sent out in a wide arc to gather the sheep and bring them back in a straight line through a series of gates. From there, the team drives the sheep away and across the field, then separates two from the other three before penning all five. Every element is scored. There’s a time limit, but no advantage to finishing quickly.
“It is poetry in motion to watch some of these dogs move the sheep around,” she says. “The handlers give whistle commands because the dogs can hear them from a long distance. You and your dog learn a whole language together: go left, go right, stop, walk up.”
What separates a good dog from a championship dog? According to Byrne, genetics and training, in that order. Border collies have been selectively bred for centuries to herd livestock. They exhibit what’s known as “eye,” the ability to hold sheep in place with nothing more than a fixed stare and planted feet. But raw instinct only goes so far. The best handlers spend years refining that relationship.
The sheep, for their part, don’t make it easy. The Finals use West Coast Rambouillet, a breed Byrne describes as feisty and unpredictable. All 800 sheep come from a single breeder to keep conditions consistent, so every team faces roughly the same challenge. Sourcing that many sheep has become one of the event’s major logistical hurdles, reflecting a broader shift in American agriculture.
The sport has an interesting profile these days. Fewer people raise sheep commercially than a generation ago, and many of today’s competitors are hobbyists, folks who keep sheep specifically to train their dogs, rather than the other way around. Byrne sees this as simply how things have evolved. The sport’s passion hasn’t diminished. If anything, it’s spread further.
Beyond the competition, Byrne has organized a full week of activities for spectators. There will be demonstrations of sheep shearing, spinning and weaving. Agriculture and dog-related vendors will be on hand. Educational speakers, experts in canine sports medicine and dog training, will help attendees understand what they’re seeing on the field. On Friday night, a country-western band will take the stage.
Raising roughly $100,000 to pull it off requires year-round fundraising, sponsorships and a volunteer army. But for Byrne, the reward is watching thousands of people discover what she discovered in 1976. Once you’ve seen a great sheepdog work, you can’t quite look away. •
U.S. Border Collie Handlers Association’s National Sheepdog Finals
September 29-October 4
www.usbcha-sheepdogfinals.com
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Al Olson loves culinary arts, adult beverages and hiking in the North State wilderness. You may find him soaking up the scenery at one of our area’s many state or national parks or sitting in a barstool sipping a cold locally brewed craft beer.
