April 24, 2008 – One of the nice things about my life is that there is almost a dog near me. When I write, they are all draped around me, under desks, on their bed, under a chair, all waiting to rush out when I get out and take a walk. Izzy and I are connected beyond my previous experience with dogs, a fusion of two souls. We are beyond words, or the expression of them. He is by my side almost always, in the car, in stores, at the doctor’s office, meeting with the Heavenly Hound, in Hospice visits, when I go out and do chores, walking in the woods, sleeping under my bed.
  Lenore is truly, a Warrior for Love, spreading smiles and affection everywhere with great zeal, irresistible eyes and a huge heart. Rose is my working partner, the heart and soul of Bedlam Farm, the glue and strength that keep the place running in so many ways. All great creatures, distinctly different, with different roles. I have to say they have all, thanks mostly to Lenore, come to love one another, and they eat and play and work side by side, without any friction or trouble, except when Lenore tries to steal everyone’s food and bones, and gets growled away.
  Every few months, I try and step out of myself a bit, and evaluate how I am doing with the dogs, focusing on work that needs to be done rather than my loving them, and praising their greatness. I highly recommend this. Does the dog make eye contact with me? Pay attention to me? Respond quickly and crisply to my commands? Eager to work with me? Good with people? Dogs? Streets? Calm in the house?
  I give myself a solid B now. I have work to do.
  Lenore is nine months old, and her progress has been wonderful in most ways. Her recall is a little spotty, her reaction time to commands is a bit slow, and she is still a bit too exploratory for me. I need to work on her wait, lie down and stay commands. I need to spend more time training her alone, as she has bonded powerfully to Rose and Izzy and sometimes watches them more than me.
  This is basic obedience, and you can’t really do enough of it. Will resume two or three times a day, for five minute periods, using food.
  Rose works solidly and competently. I need to work on her lie downs and stays, and she needs more calming training. Sometimes she gets so wound up, she doesn’t hear me. My fault.
 When Izzy gets excited, he also sometimes doesn’t hear me. More calming training and obedience for him, although there is little I can think of that Izzy needs improvement with.
  My dogs are fit and trim.  I always want to be able to see and feel their ribs.
  They get an hour to 90 minutes of aerobic running, ball-chasing, ATV rides in the woods, and work with animals. They each get a cup of food – Nutra, sometimes mixed in with Bill-Jack Reduced Fat food – twice a day. They get some sort of treat or bone in the evening. Rose works with sheep every day, Izzy three or four times a week. Lenore runs alongside the four-wheeler, chases balls (never inside the house) two or three times a day, walks three times a day, as do all my dogs.
  I am strong on dogs being crated, not only for my sake, but for theirs. These dogs lead intense and active lives, and they need to be calm, settle and learn how to do nothing. They are always in crates when I leave the house – I can’t remember when any furniture, clothing or food was taken or destroyed. (Because it has never happened, chewing my stuff or raiding the kitchen are not habits my dogs have gotten into. I don’t crank up dogs or talk baby-talk to them.)  Lenore comes by this naturally, but the border collies, who can easily be over-cranked and over-aroused, need this badly.
  The dogs are intensely socialized, and are reliable with people and dogs. Izzy was never around small children, and although he has never harmed one, I don’t feel completely at ease with him when they are around. He looks at them as if they were sheep sometimes.
  I need to continue to be patient and clear, sometimes a problem for me. I need to work with each dog alone more, hard to do. I need to think about training more, and remember that this is our language with dogs, and what keeps them healthy and safe in our world.
  Proper training is also, to me, a moral and spiritual responsibility. It is what makes relationships with dogs powerful and meaningful. It keeps them safe, healthy and alive.
  It means they could go to other homes if they had to do, and above all, not harm people or animals.
  I owe it to them, to understand that even a dog like Lenore, as loving as she is, is essentially a hunting and killing machine, and she needs to learn, every day of her life, how to live safely and comfortable in a world that is not natural and often hostile to her.
  So I give me a B. I’ve done a lot of work. I have a lot of work to do. This work is never done.