I’m slowing Fate down, teaching her to walk up and stand, and face the sheep. Today, for the first time, she paused to give two of the ewes some eye, she held them in place. This trait is not developed in very young border collies, it takes awhile for it to develop and Fate is heading for seven months, slowing her down is allowing her to develop her other tools beyond speed – her authority, her eye, her stance.

It is time for her to circle the sheep less, walk up to them more deliberately, she is just sensing that she has power over them, up to now, she didn’t really grasp that. Her best progress now comes when Red is not in sight, so he is in the farmhouse after he gets his turn to work.

I think it shows up clearly on the video, about halfway through. You can see her slowing down on command, thus giving the eye a chance to develop. I am enjoying recording this progress, successes and mistakes. I am proud of us, we are hanging in there with one another. And as usual, a dog like Fate will make me a better human, I have no choice but to be patient and careful.

Fate usually works in a crowded pasture, as Red always has, there is usually a pony and two donkeys to work around. I love that, I call it farm herding. Farm dogs have to handle many things, a lot of them are different from the work of trial dogs. In fact, the nature of their work changes almost every day.  They are all quite at ease with one another now, as ought to happen with a farm dog. Check out the video, see a working dog use her eye for one of the first times. And also learn to lie down more crisply.