A new challenge for Fate, some new decisions for me. Susie, Liam’s mother, has gotten increasingly belligerent and challenging to Fate, she does not recognize her as a herding dog, and Fate does not yet have the eye or the presence to get in Susie’s face and back her off. Susie would never dare to charge Red in the way she is charging Fate.

Fate is handling it very well, she holds her  ground and pays attention, but I want to be very careful and not let Susie spook the puppy or cause her to lose confidence. She will need all of it. One solution is to keep Red nearby, but I don’t want Fate to only with with Red, she needs to focus on the sheep, not the other dog. I stand close to her and support her, but I really want to keep her back from the flock until she is bigger and stronger and willing to give Susie a nip on the nose, which is what she needs.

So the trick is to keep working, to expose her to the sheep, but on her own terms for now, in big spaces where she can move freely. The good news is that she doesn’t run off, she stand her ground and will show her teeth if necessary. This is what we have to develop, slowly and carefully.