I saw a beautiful thing  this morning, I brought Fate into the sheep pasture and Maria and I watched while I sent Red out – “away to me,” the counter clockwise outrun, and Fate came along with him.Red seemed happy she was coming along, she was thrilled and kept up with him (mostly). This turns out to be a very good thing for all of us. Red herds the sheep as if Fate were no there, he gets his work in, she gets to work and wear herself out and train well (border collies will do anything to get to sheep, even lie down) and then Fate spends the rest of the day with Maria in her studio, walking with her in the woods, going into town to do chores.

There was the usual annoying busybody on Facebook (a few still e-mail, but social media is the favored forum for know-it-alls and armchair diagnosticians) suggesting that because I was working with Fate, she wouldn’t bond with Maria, and we would have to get another dog for that.

Honestly, I sometimes wonder what smartphone or computer screens due to people’s manners and common sense, there might be something to this radiating the brain phobia. I’ve had a bunch of border collies, and they do love those who bring them work, but they love a lot of other people as well. Fate follows Maria everywhere (so does Red, quite often) and loves to go to her studio all day.

It is, in fact, the healthiest thing for border collies to share the nature of their lives and work, it keeps them from being obsessive and addictive. It is pure joy to see Maria and Fate together, it lifts my heart. And I am crazy about Fate. There are two wonderful dogs in our family again, and what a gift it is to be able to give both of them full and balanced loves, just as Freud suggested, love and work.

Things are falling into place here, the farm has sprung back to life again after our draining winter. Fate has a joyous spirit, she and Red compliment one another so perfectly. Two wonderful pets who also love to work.