In the British Isles, where border collies were first bred, there is little land as compared to America, the border collies there often take the sheep out to pasture away from the farm, keep them safe and together and then bring them home in the afternoon or evening.

In America, there is plenty of land, the sheep often  have enough grazing work, the border collies work is different here, it more often involves trial work and farm work, the kind Red does here with me. We have a far pasture (it is not very far) but I have been working with Red to do what the Irish border collies often do (he is an Irish border collie) we bring the sheep out to the far pasture, he sits with them while they graze, and then, when they are gone or I call out “Bring Them In, Red,” he brings them back to the pole barn.

It is the thrill of a lifetime to see the joy of a working animal who has the work he or she was bred to do, I never tire of the drive in his run, the gleam in his eyes, the joy and purpose in his demeanor. Red is never happier than when he is working, except perhaps when he is in the lap of a woman who tells him how wonderful he is. He is, after all, Irish.