We have a new training regiment for fate, and for working with Red. When we start our lessons, Red and Fate come into the pasture together. Red gets the sheep, brings them in, Fate follows behind. Then I bring Red inside of the house so Fate cannot see him at all, and I work with Fate alone. I don’t want her to get fixated on Red and depend on him. I think that was beginning to happen.

We had a frightening moment this afternoon, some friends came to see Fate and Red work, Chloe the pony came running into the pasture to graze and Fate, who was tearing across the pasture, ran right under the pony’s legs, she got rolled over several times and flipped onto her back.

I couldn’t tell if Chloe, who is very heavy, stepped on her or accidentally kicked her. But there were no marks on Fate, I touched and probed her all over, she was not sensitive or sore. I got right back to work with her, if I didn’t make a big deal out of it, then she might not either. And she didn’t. We walked over to Chloe and I had her lie down next to the pony, which she did without hesitation or fear. She is pure border collie, tough and resilient.

Maria was watching with our friends, and I think her heart jumped a bit.

Fate got up and shook herself off, looked at me, then at Chloe, who seemed completely unaware that anything had occurred, and then ran around to get ahead of the sheep and hold them in place. She was not sore or injured in any way that was apparent, and while it was unnerving to see, it was also healthy.

She did some excellent herding, so I think it was an important lesson for her.

This is life on a farm, of course, border collie work is not simple work, and is not always pretty. I saw Rose and the other dogs get butted, kicked, rolled over and the real herding dogs handle it and figure it out.

Fate needs to understand that she needs to pay attention to what is going on., and I want to keep Chloe further away from the gate, it gets busy and confusing around there sometimes.

Fate is doing well with “come bye” and “away,” she makes progress every day, it is a joy to see her instincts begin to come up. I need to work on getting her to walk directly behind the sheep. Her lie downs are excellent, she is keeping a good distance from the sheep and is beginning to move them and get around them and turn them.

I’m careful with Fate, she is young and not yet strong enough to really intimidate the sheep. We work two or three times a day in short bursts with focused goals.  I am pleased at how much I’ve learned in the past few years, working with Rose and Izzy and Red. There are always things to learn, but I think I know border collies well now and the lessons are going well for me, and I think for her. The herding work has really grounded her, found a release and focus for her energy.

She continues to grow and develop, her instincts continue to emerge and shine. It has been a joy for me, and I am lucky to have two such great dogs to live and work with. Karen Thompson is an angel, she has brought great riches to my life, and she sure knows how to breed the most wonderful dogs. What a great friend she has been to me, to us, to her dogs.

I see that Fate could also be a therapy dog, she is wild about people  except for some  jumping on new comers when she gets excited, she is affectionate and trustworthy. We’ll see. I think  Red is very happy to have her around, he seems quite easy with her, and I get the sense he is quite proud of her, he is such a good and generous soul.