I have been putting up a lot of photos of Fate’s herding training lately, but that is only half of her story in her new life. Fate was meant to be Maria’s dog as much or more as mine, and we didn’t expect to be teaching her sheepherding. But it would have been almost cruel not to.

But the other good news is that Fate and Maria have bonded powerfully and have formed a very beautiful connection, more I think, than either of us could have imagined. Fate is an awful sweet creature, she loves people just as much as she loves to work with sheep. Border collies do not have to be one-dimensional, and Fate is note, any more than Red is.

We do our herding lessons in the morning, then I go to my study with Red, Maria takes Fate into her studio – it lifts the heart to see this dog bounding after her. Fate spends the day with Maria, Maria works on her art, goes for walks in the woods with her new dog, the two of them always seem to be laughing and smiling at one another.

This lifts my hear more than anything, this is what I hoped for and wished for. I was worried that Fate would choose one thing or another – many of the legions of know-it-alls out there assured me that would happen. But Karen Thompson – yes, she is my dog guru in a sense, I admit it – reminded me that this was up to us, not the dog. That’s the thing about training, the human has to take responsibility, not cede it to the dog.

Fate spends an hour or so a day with the sheep, about 15 hours a day with Maria and she loves both, she runs to the studio and looks for Maria constantly when they are separated. Fate and I are doing well also, but it is working out in a lovely way, Red remains my dog and companion, I couldn’t ask for more, and Maria is getting the dog she has always wanted and then some. She is no slouch at training either.