What looks like a duck (or sheep or cow) to you and me looks like work to Rory.

And Rory loves to work which in her case means herding just about anything that moves.

Rory, a 3-year-old Australian shepherd whose coloration is described as blue merle, started out as a pet for Mark Hodges, a physical education teacher at Sunflower School, and his wife, Dr. Anne Owen, a staff psychiatrist at the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Leavenworth. Today, Rory's recognized as a top-tier herding stockdog by the Australian Shepherd Club of America.

Rory, a 3-year-old Australian shepherd whose coloration is described as blue merle, started out as a pet for Mark Hodges, a physical education teacher at Sunflower School, and his wife, Dr. Anne Owen, a staff psychologist at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital in Leavenworth.

Today, Rory’s recognized as a top-tier herding stockdog by the Australian Shepherd Club of America. She has already reached the advanced levels of herding sheep, cattle and ducks, earning what’s known as a working trial championship before she was 2 years old a record for a female dog.

“Rory has been wonderful to have as a stockdog. She’s so calm and instinctual,” Hodges says.

“No matter where I happen to go, I can pretty much depend that she’ll bring (the livestock) back to me.”

	Roundup timeThe Sunflower Cup All-Breed Arena Stockdog Trial will be Saturday and Sunday at Ad Astra Farm, 510 N. 1200 Road.The schedule on both days is from 8 a.m. to 10:45 a.m., cattle trials; 10:45 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., sheep trials; and 11:15 a.m. to 2 p.m., duck trials.There is no admission charge for spectators. Sponsors are the Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas Australian Shepherd Club and the Australian Shepherd Club of America.For directions to the farm and additional information, visit www.adastrafarm.com or contact course director Mark Hodges at 832-2741.

This weekend, 40 to 50 expert herding dogs like Rory will participate in the Sunflower Cup All-Breed Arena Stockdog Trial, a first-time event that Hodges is organizing.

The trial, which is expected to attract dogs and their handlers from across the country, will be at Ad Astra Farms, a 23-acre property Hodges owns in Clinton Township.

The trial will be a competition for dogs and handlers to demonstrate their ability to control different kinds of stock cattle, sheep or ducks in an arena setting.

“The judges will be looking for the dog that can move the stock through a prescribed activity cleanly, with as little stress to the stock as possible,” Hodges says.

Rory advances a little too quickly on a duck at the rear of a flock. The duck demonstrates its anxiety by flapping its wings. In competition judges look for dogs and handlers to demonstrate their ability to control different kinds of stock cattle, sheep or ducks in an arena setting with as little stress to the stock as possible.

There will be trials for advanced, intermediate and novice dogs. Breeds represented at the trials will include bearded collies; border collies; Australian shepherds; kelpies; blue heelers; and Bouvier des Flandres (a French working dog).

Because he is course director, Hodges and his dogs Rory and Scout, another Australian shepherd will not participate. Not that they won’t want to. “Aussies” are always up for a little herding.

“They love jobs and tasks. They’ll move pigs, they’ll herd turkeys, they’ll do anything their owners want them to do, especially if it has to do with stock,” he says.

Hodges, who has been involved in stockdog competitions for the past 2 1/2 years, hopes to make the Sunflower Cup an annual affair. He’s already planning to have another stockdog competition called a ranch trial, in which dogs have 30 minutes to complete their task in September.