(Above: Fate loves to run alongside Red when he does his outruns around the sheep.)

I’ve been writing about dogs a long time, and I know when the natives are getting curious, even restless. I am getting a lot of polite questions about why Fate is not going to be trained to herd sheep,  since she has so much instinct and drive. (I see people are wary of offering me advice, but are legitimately interested.) I think they are fair questions, they deserve some answers.

First off, we don’t need two herding dogs here, this is Red’s turf and terrain and he handles it beautifully. We only have seven sheep, I don’t think I need to subject them to two dogs and twice as much herding. Herding is not fun for the sheep, it is fun for people and sometimes, for dogs, depending on the people.

Secondly, Fate is a family dog, but is Maria’s dog already in much the same way Red is mostly my dog, but also a family dog. Red follows me everywhere, Fate follows Maria everywhere. Maria is becoming her work, just as Red’s is me (and sheep too).  All day, as Maria goes into her studio, Fate sits alongside of her as good working dogs do, and is silent and quiet while she works – an astonishing thing to see in a young border collie puppy with so much energy.

She is walked in the morning, then two or three more times during the day – we have lots of trails and woods around. She chases the ball, runs after Red and plays with him, and is exhausted by dusk, which is saying something with this dog.

Thirdly, it is very difficult to train a border collie well to herd sheep. Lots of people – I was one of them – like to get border collies and do a lot of chatter about stockdogs and herding, but it takes a long time, and a tremendous amount of know how and energy to teach a border collie how to herd sheep properly. I often go to homes and some farms where crazy, over-hyped and poorly trained border collies are herding chickens, goats, anything that moves, the dogs are often out of control with no recalls or commands that work.

They are not cute, just very often emotionalized and sometimes encouraged to be nuts.

So why get another border collie?

Because it is a wonderful choice for us, plenty of room for them to run and explore. Border collies do not have to have sheep to be content, they do have to have activity and proper training, or they will make life miserable for the people who get them impulsively. Fate’s energy is being re-directed, which is important. If we took her out to sheep every day, that would be difficult for her, but border collies can learn agility or frisbees or therapy work or hiking and be just as engaged and healthy – sometimes more so. Izzy loved his therapy work, he had little interest in chasing sheep around in the hot sun.

The truth is, it is very easy to make a border collie crazy, it is very difficult to show them how to be sane and focused. Red is a wonderful dog, in part because he was mostly trained when he came to me, and by professionals. The work I did with him was important but minor. The people who bred and trained Red know what they were doing.

I’ve trained several border collies well – Rose was a triumph – and I am learning a lot about it, but Maria is an artist, she doesn’t write about dogs or other animals for a living, she doesn’t want to go through the very grueling and painstaking process of training a border collie to herd sheep. Very few people do, and even fewer do it well. It takes a long time, a staggering amount of patience, and often quite a bit of money.

We are on a good track with Fate. Maria and Fate have already bonded, they take long walks in the woods, tire each other out.  She loves to ride in the car, has already been to a dozen places, she loves people and handles noise and crowds. Fate comes into Maria’s studio and chews bones or sleeps by her feet, this is an immeasurable gift to Maria, a companion – and sometimes, inspiration –  in her long hours in the studio. And Fate gets all the exercise and attention and stimulation she needs and more.

Maria is perfect for border collie training – she is clear, patient and determined.

Fate’s life would be thrown off balance if she started working sheep, she would focus on little else, sit by the door waiting to work, her prey drive would be jacked up, she might well get hyper and aroused. And Maria’s life would surely be thrown off balance, she loves making art and I believe Fate has already sensed this – just as Red is so quiet and close when I write.

So that’s the answer. Fate doesn’t need sheep to be happy and healthy, Maria doesn’t need sheepherding to have the life she wants with a dog. It is absolutely true that people with nothing for them to do ought not think about border collies, they most often regret it. But their work does not have to be sheep. There just has to be work.

Over the next few months, if Fate isn’t brought to sheep, she will establish other patterns of behavior, but it will be balanced. In six months, she will not be much interested. You can turn a border collie into an addict in a minute, that’s not my idea of good training. Fate is the right dog for us, we both love her. I think border collies are the most messed-up dog of any breed I know, I have messed up a couple myself. That will not happen with Fate.