In this post, I’ll walk you through how a double lift works, why it’s so challenging, and how my dog Bryn and I navigated the Western Canadian Finals course. I’ve also included a full video analysis of our run so you can see the breakdown step by step.

What Is a Double Lift?

The double lift is not your everyday trial and is often used as the "Finals" course for a big event. It requires:

🎯Two separate gathers: The dog must collect sheep from two different locations on the field usually set out at a minimum of 500 yards from the handler’s post For a proper double lift, 10 sheep in each packet are used with 5 of the 20 being collared or marked for the shed.

🎯Dog-Leg Fetches: The sheep are brought to the handler at an angle, not straight, hence the shape of a dog’s leg!

🎯Precision driving: Once gathered, the dog must guide the flock through a triangular shaped drive often over a total distance of about 440 yards.

🎯The International Shed: The 15 unmarked sheep must be sorted off from the 5 marked and the dog will then pen the 5 marked.

🎯Then pen: The final test of the course is to get the 5 marked sheep into a pen.

👉 Watch the full analysis below.

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