The Canadian Border Collie Association sponsors an annual Championship sheep dog trial. This trial switches between eastern and western Canada annually.
The CBCA Championships cannot be held in conjunction with any other championship. They can be held independently or in association with a trial of stature, providing it is not a championship.
To be eligible to run in the Double Lift final, dogs must be registered with the CBCA and handlers must be members. This year the deadline for applications is June 1 2024
Please note that all dogs being registered must be microchipped or uniquely tattooed.
The qualifying runs are usually sanctioned by the USBCHA and is an Open or Nursery trial. However, the Double Lift final (Championship) is only open to CBCA members with CBCA-registered dogs, Nursery Championship included.
CBCA Championships Entry Requirements
Members in good standing can enter their CBCA-registered dogs to compete at that championship trial. Membership and/or registration deadline is June 1 of the current year.
The trial consists of:
A Nursery class – two runs with the highest combined score becoming Nursery Champion.
An Open class - normally two qualifying runs and the top dogs of the qualifying rounds will go on to the Double Lift Final, which will determine the CBCA Champion.
Travel Grant
The board has instituted a travel grant to help one handler from one region to participate at the Championships at the other region.
CBCA Travel Stipend
At a meeting on October 4, 2021, the Board considered revising the amount, number and selection process for the annual travel stipend.
The purpose of the stipend is to encourage handlers to travel to and compete at the Championships held in the other region. When the Championships are held in the east, a draw would be held at the AGM in the west the year before to select a handler from that region to assist with the cost of travelling east, and vice versa when the Championships are held in the west. One handler has been given the stipend each year; three names are selected to ensure one can go. The amount has been one award of $600.
The Board has voted to increase the stipend to $800 and to allow two members each year to be awarded that amount, for the years 2022 and 2023. This will be revisited for 2024 and following.
The following rules will apply:
To be eligible, members must be paid up members of the CBCA in the year of the draw and the year the money is received.
By participating in the draw, the member asserts that he or she has a reasonable prospect of being able to compete at the Championship it is intended to support.
The draw will take place at the Annual General Meeting the year before the award, unless the Board directs otherwise.
Participants are not limited to those in attendance at the AGM. In the written Notice of the AGM the Secretary will include an invitation to all eligible members to participate. The Secretary will take names and add them to the pool when drawn.
Members cannot accept stipend funds twice in subsequent draws in their region (i.e. if a member from the east accepts funds in 2022, that member is not eligible for the stipend in 2024).
At the AGM in 2021 three names were drawn under the old system. Two stipends will be awarded as a result of these changes. If the three names drawn do not generate two members able to travel, a further draw will be held to add additional names.
Tara Dier, Secretary
October 5, 2021
High-Point Home-Raised Sheepdog at the CBCA Championships Award
This buckle is a celebration of the life of Del’mar Turk, CBCA 122900, who taught me more in his life than I was ever able to teach him.
The following is the criteria that we advocate to earn the buckle:
The dog must be CBCA registered and be competing in the CBCA Championships
The dog must have either been bred by the owner/handler or purchased before the pup was six (6) months old
The dog must have been raised and trained by the owner/handler exclusively
The winner of the buckle will be: the high-point home-raised dog in the double lift finals of the CBCA Championship
Should there be no home-raised dog in the double lift finals, the buckle will go to the high-point home-raised dog competing in the CBCA Championships Qualifying trials (not the high accumulated points but the home raised dog who scores the highest score in the qualifying trials)
The presentation of the buckle will be done by either ourselves should we be present at the trial or by a person appointed by us
This will be an annual award and RMS Border Collies will supply the buckle each year