Fast, agile, determined and smart, working ranch dogs Tate and Jean demonstrated that a well-trained border collie can be a valuable ranch hand — and they proved the point in entertaining style in front of a Routt County Fair audience.

The two top-notch border collies gained the admiration of the audience during a skills demonstration Wednesday evening at the county fair led by Hayden-area rancher and dog trainer Jeff Meyers. A self-dubbed “border collie snob,” Meyers said one well-trained stock dog could fill the role of up to three ranch hands when gathering cattle.

“It’s labor-saving for the price of a bowl of dog food,” joked Meyers, a national finals stock dog competitor. “They don’t ask for a day off, and they get mad if you give them a day off.”

Meyers showed the audience the practiced skills of his black and white canine speedsters, who gathered and herded three ornery heifers around the rodeo arena, including maneuvering the cattle through a fence weave and into a small pen. The simulation of ranch work showed how the working dogs can be directed in “two languages” — by voice command or by herding whistle signals, Meyers explained.

“I hope you get the feel of what a trained working dog can do,” Meyers said. “I hope you grasp the idea that having a dog you can command in a remote way can save you a lot of time and effort around the ranch.”

Meyers and his wife, Erika Murphy, utilize 6-year-old Tate — whom they raised from a puppy — and Jean, 3, at their cattle operation at Coyote Creek Ranch south of Hayden. They also train other young working dogs to help families use dogs in ranching operations.

Meyers said he can train a well-bred young dog, whether it is expensive from a breeder or sometimes adopted from a shelter, in two months to become a useful working companion for a $1,200 fee.

If a dog owner spends the first eight to 10 months bonding with their dog, “bring them to me for 60 days, I will give them back a dog that will really, really help them, not just in time and money but in labor.”

Murphy said the couple use border collies primarily because of the breed’s instinctive behavior.

“They are wanting to balance and fetch, which is part of their heritage,” Murphy said. “It’s the idea of being on the opposite side of the stock.”

The Routt County handler and his dogs demonstrated how an experienced trainer can develop a border collie’s natural directional instincts to “balance,” or to herd livestock while positioning itself opposite the human herder. The dog trainers say they encourage their students to think in terms of clockwise and counterclockwise, rather than right or left, so the handlers and dogs are always in sync.

“Balance is the basis of all other training,” Meyers said. “Once we wake that instinct up in the dog, then everything else we do sort of builds on that.”

As Meyers quickly circled around the three heifers, border collie Jean instinctively moved too, staying opposite of her handler and keeping the cattle close.

“This is a very gifted little dog,” Meyers said of Jean during the demonstration. “If the sheep go the wrong way, she’s already there. That speed and agility is a great weapon for ranch work … this dog is so quick, that she will often mesmerize the sheep.”

Meyers and his two dogs qualified for the Mountain States Stockdog Association 2025 National Finals conducted in June in Afton, Wyoming, competing in the national finals for the second consecutive year. The national competition included more than 300 dogs from 30 states and Canada and is the largest stock dog event of its kind in North America, Murphy said.

The Routt County team competed in open and nursery classes for both arena and field divisions during the weeklong, multi-event trial. Their best finish was in the Open Arena Round 1, where Jean came in fifth in the class of 85 dogs.

Up next for the ranching couple is the 7th Annual Routt County Cattlemen’s Classic Stockdog Trial scheduled for Sept. 13-14 in Steamboat Springs. The couple organizes the family-friendly event with the help of a trial organizing committee and volunteers from the Routt County cattlemen and cattlewomen groups, 4-H and FFA. Admission is free, but donations are encouraged to benefit FFA and 4-H programs in Routt County.

“We have some of the best dogs and handlers who come from all over the country,” Murphy said.

Murphy said the local trial will feature 55 dogs and their handlers to move cattle through the rodeo arena courses in under six minutes in the four classes of open, intermediate, novice and nursery. The trial dogs are largely border collies with some Australian kelpies and McNabs. The trail judge is Milner rancher and dog trainer Jody Camilletti.

The event is set for 8 a.m.-3 p.m. each day at Romick Rodeo Arena at Howelsen Rodeo Grounds with official information at Nationalcattledog.com/trial-calendar/routt-county-cattlemens-association.