Karen sent me this photo of Fate today, and also a video and photos showing her mixing with the other dogs at Karen’s farm. She is social and playful, Red is going to have his hands full. So are we. Fate has a lot of personality, her tail goes back and forth like a Lab, and she is exploring every inch of her new universe. She is getting crate work, name recognition and socializing, Karen is building a platform on which Maria and I can work.

Seeing these photos and videos has been so important to us, we can learn so much about her and prepare for her. She likes chew toys, she moves them around, she wants to know where she is, she soaks up the smells and stories. I believe this is the kind of dog that will be so much fun to train, love and enthusiasm all around.

We are leaving for Virginia  Saturday afternoon, staying with a friend in Bucks County, then heading to Virgina Sunday morning. We are ready for Fate, I’ve ordered toys, Fromm’s puppy food, some hard puppy chew  bones, crates are set up in the house and Maria’s studio.

I can already see she is a publicity hound, she loves the camera, she loves attention. A good place for a dog like that to be. Housebreaking will be the first order, then eye contact, recall, recall, recall. When you get a dog to pay attention to you, you are halfway there. Maria will do the feeding and walking, so that the two of them will bond. Border collies love whosoever brings them to work.