Scott Glen has been a professional stock dog handler and trainer for more than 25 years.
He was raised on a farm near Pincher Creek, Alta., where his family raised cattle and ranch dogs that weren’t expected to help with the work.
It wasn’t until he started raising sheep that he found his passion for training stock dogs.
“I went to a demonstration to learn how to sheer them and saw a fellow doing Border Collie demonstrations and I was hooked,” Glen said.
Since his start, he and his dogs have earned more than a dozen competitive titles, including six-time USBCHA National Champion, four-time Canadian Champion, Meeker Champion, Bluegrass Champion, Soldier Hollow gold and silver medalist, and a multi-year World Trial Competitor.
“Won my first National in 2004. I was the first Canadian to ever do that,” Glen said.
Recently, he competed in Ireland with his dog, Pip, against 240 dogs from around the world at the 2023 World Sheep Dog Trials, placing third in the finals.
“The worlds — that was probably the pinnacle of my career, because no North American has made it near as far as I did this year.”
Last week, Glen and his late dog, Alice, were both inducted into the American Border Collie Association Hall of Fame (ABCA).
Alice, nicknamed “The Queen,” is the most accomplished Border Collie in the history of trialing in North America, according to the ABCA.
“With any animal relationship, there’s some that just gel perfectly, and she was one of them for me,” said Glen. “She was my buddy and we understood one another, argued a little once in a while.”
This induction doesn’t mean retirement is near.
“I’m running, I think, as good as I ever have now,” Glen said, “probably better.”