Another good lesson this morning with Fate, something I now do every morning after the farm chores. We are having a problem as the sheep are bunching up in a corner or by the gate and standing their ground. I don’t want fate to get into a head-butting contest with sheep, she is too small and too young. And she needs for the sheep to move if she is going to learn how to run and go around them.

So I brought Red in and parked him by the gate. Fate balances off of Red, as he came in from the “away” side, she went to the left. She is beginning to grasp the “come bye” command, I can move Red and she will move also, and I can label her movements with a word or two. She sat calmly by the sheep in a “lie down” while I had Red get up and move them back. I could not ask for more than that.

Red is happy to share the herding work, he is calm and helpful. I see she is learning by watching him. Sometimes I will work with him, sometimes without him. Fate is amazing in the pasture, she is calm, she lies down when asked ( mostly), she keeps her distance from the sheep, she doesn’t tear into the middle of the block, scattering them. I’m very happy with our first week and a half of lessons.