The confident, forward style of a 6-year-old tricolor female Border Collie named “Lee” was the catalyst that helped her become the 2020- 2021 Purina Outstanding Field Trial Herding Dog. Bred, owned and handled by Beverly Lambert of Andover, Connecticut, Lee is the top winner in the U.S. Border Collie Handlers Association (USBCHA) herding field trials, a sport in which dogs are judged on their sheepherding skills.

“It was a truncated year in which there was not the usual number of trials due to COVID-19,” says Lambert,

a 40-year USBCHA competitor who handled Lee’s parents, “Joe” and “Nan,” members of the 2017 U.S. World Team. “Our biggest success was at the Bluegrass Classic in Lexington, Kentucky,

where Lee took third in the Finals. The rest of her points were earned at smaller trials.”

Nurturing Lee’s innate ability was not easy due to the scarcity of wide, open sheepherding pastures in the Northeast. After foundation training Lee in her five-acre starter pasture at home, Lambert began traveling the country to work her talented Border Collie at the ranches and farms of friends. “A good dog must be willing and able to work even when they cannot see or hear you,” she says. “I had to give Lee experiences to foster that.”

Although it took Lee four years to settle into a competent, trustworthy sheepherding partner, Lambert is pleased with the results. “Lee is a strong, aggressive dog who is hard to handle, but she really suits me. I enjoy running her,” she says. This year’s Purina Outstanding Herding Dog is fed Purina Pro Plan SPORT 30/20 Chicken & Rice Formula dog food