I don’t really know how to define Fate as a sheep dog, I have not seen another dog quite like her. She has tons of instinct, and astonishing speed and endurance. She loves to be around sheep, she always wants to be with them. But she has little or no interest in herding them or moving them.

As for the sheep, they do not recognize Fate as a herding dog in any way. They don’t lock eyes with her, move when she approaches, or watch her closely while she hangs around. Border collies herd with the “eye stalk,” a predatory instinct that frightens the sheep and gets them to move.

Fate doesn’t seem to have an “eye stalk,” she is never serious around the sheep, like Red, or tough with them when they blow her off or chase her away, which they often do. She has no fear around them, she seems to see them as a marker for her joyous tearing around in circles around them. She does, to her credit, often keep them together that way, but there is no real purpose to it or direction that I can see.

She and Red work beautifully together, he moves the sheep and quells any rebellion or disrespect, Fate is the Happy Herder. She loves to be out there doing her thing.