People are flocking to watch Ceri Rundle’s interview on YouTube where she gives an insight into her background in dogs and how she gets the best from them when competing in sheepdog trials at the highest level.
Ceri was the first ever lady competitor in the Wales Team when she was interviewed at the Home International Championships final heats at Chatsworth in 1996.
In 1982 she was also the first ever woman to take part in BBC2’s One Man and His Dog series and says with her family background it was perhaps inevitable that she should follow in their footsteps…
Her Great-Grandmother was a shepherdess and her father H. Glyn Jones had an awe-inspiring pedigree, being a former International Supreme and Reserve Supreme Champion with his dog Gel and Reserve Supreme Champion with the famous homebred Bwlch Taff plus five times winner of the Brace Competition on One Man and His Dog with his dogs Gel and Bwlch Bracken.
In the interview Ceri says she first got started at about 8 years old and of course couldn’t have had a better teacher than her father!
Ceri highlights that “bonding with the dog”, “knowing the dog inside out” and “having a mutual respect between dog and handler” are critical elements to success in both everyday working sheep and high-level sheepdog trials.
Certainly seeing her compete with her Bwlch Hemp, who she describes as a big strong flashy dog and a loveable softy at home is a perfect illustration of her advice.
Towards the end of this rare interview Ceri mentions that it is quite unusual to have a sport where men and women can compete on level terms and her continuing success over the years since then has no doubt inspired many more women to follow her ground-breaking lead.
Not to be missed, with already over 1k viewers, see the full interview at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv6reGmq-3A