Working Good In The Neighborhood

"Look what blew out of that tree!"

"I'm pretty sure it shouldn't be here..."

"...or at least looks like it would be fun to play with!"

"I'll get to work removing it."

"Wheeee!"

"Yipee!"

"What?  Time to go to work?"

"I'm on it!"

Meet Kate!  She's a very well trained nine year old Border Collie from Fetch Gate Farm who's been there, done that with sheep.  And sticks ;-).  She was a very successful trial dog who's ready to settle down a little and we are hoping our farm will be just the spot for her.

Other than a little trouble with being a little too, um, "friendly" with the cats, she's been great. She's very sweet, very friendly, hard working, obviously loves to play, gets along with Hank and Weaslie, been patient with our uneducated sheep, likes to ride in the car, good in the house...a perfect fit.

Kate and I spent this past weekend working at The Training Center.  They are getting ready for the Turkey Trot Dog Trial Thanksgiving weekend and we were to keep sheep moving along into the shearing trailer.  In the past I've done that with hands/hips/back/arms/legs...  I was interested to see how a good dog could help.

Since I don't have any experience with a trained working dog, I was concerned that I wouldn't be smart enough to tell her what I needed her to do and also that maybe she wouldn't listen to me even if I was.  You know the whole Will Rogers "If you think you're a person of some influence, try ordering someone else's dog around..."  Not to worry.  With some instruction from Vergil and Annmarie, we were up and running in no time.  

Kate moved sheep from the big pen into the little pen, from the little pen into the chute, stop and wait for the shearer to catch up, move more sheep into the chute, wait, more sheep into the chute, wait, more sheep from the bigger pen...  She did this for two long days and was sad there wasn't a third day. I was so proud of her.

There will definitely never be another Iris, but there is definitely room in our hearts for Kate.  We are all working hard to teach her the only thing she doesn't know (Leave those kitties alone, Miss Kate!) and I think it will all work out.  She's very smart and I bet a couple more scratches on her nose from Comby will make her even smarter ;-).