The world’s canine elite have assembled for an action-packed four days at the World Sheepdog Trials in the Highlands.
The event, which is part of the Homecoming Scotland 2014, is taking place at Fearn Farm, near Tain, from tomorrow until Saturday.
An opening parade and civic reception will take place tonight at 7pm in Tain, with the town’s pipe band leading the teams and their dogs through Scotland’s oldest Royal Burgh.
This is the first time the event has been staged in Scotland and it has attracted some 240 competitors from 25 nations.
It is held every three years and was last held in Cumbria in 2011.
South Africa and Spain will be competing for the first time this year and there will be dogs travelling form as far away as New Zealand.
The event is being organised by the International Sheep Dog Society and its Scottish members.
Several thousand spectators are expected to make their way to Tain for the event.
The qualification trials take place tomorrow and Thursday, between 8am and 5pm, in three different fields, when dogs will run with five sheep and take on challenges including outrun, lift, fetch, drive, shed, pen and single.
The seven best dogs from each of the six qualifying trials then qualify for the semi-final, which takes place on the Friday from 8am.
The top 16 competitors from the semi-final go through to the final, which takes place on the Saturday in field number one.
This time, the dog faces 20 sheep, split into two groups of 10 and gathered in opposing corners.
The dog has to take on two outruns, lifts and fetches then gather the sheep for the drive.
Further skill comes into play when the dog then has to separate five collared sheep from the others and put them into a pen.
Complementing the field action will be evenings packed with traditional music and locally sourced food, including Cockburn’s haggis and a Portmahomack hog roast.
There will also be trade and craft stalls and a vintage display with commentary charting the evolution of local farming methods and the Highland way of life from 1850 to 1950.
There will also be Art pf Sheepdog Training – a demonstration of how our intelligent Border collie sheep dogs are trained.