What are herding tests?

Both organizations, the American Kennel Club (AKC) and the American Herding Breed Association (AHBA), offer testing events that are entry level events for people who are new to the sport of herding. The biggest difference between trialing events and testing events is how they are are judge. During a trialing event, handlers complete against one another for points, whereas in a testing event you and your dog are looking to receive a pass / fail from the judge. There are no points earned at a testing event. One huge difference is that the judge can interact with you during your run.

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SPVHC offers four herding tests a year, two AKC testing events and two AHBA testing events. The two AKC test are Herding Test (HT), which is the easier test of the two. Pre-Trial Test (PT) is a step up from HT, this test adds more dynamic movement in a larger arena from the HT Test arena. The two AHBA tests are Junior Herding Dog (JHD), which is similar to AKC's PT. HTAD-1 adds in more trial like course with elements such as having to move sheep through a y-chute and pen your sheep. If you can complete an HTAD-1 test, you're ready to move on to trialing events.