Red is hurting, he is limping badly on his left foreleg and is uncharacteristically still. Border collies almost never lie down if they don’t have to, and Red has been lying down all day the last day or so. He’s going to the vet in the morning, we have been giving him anti-inflammatories and joint medication.

Our vet, Suzanne Fariello, came by recently to watch him run, she suspects arthritis. Red is nine years old and has been running hard his whole life, from Northern Ireland to Virginia to here, border collies start wearing out around that age. I’ve been keeping him quiet, he comes out to the sheep every day but no running.

The rest of the day, he just lies by my feet.

He is not a happy dog right now, I’ll get him looked at, checked out and feeling better. His most intense working days might be over, we’ll see. If so, he has lots of great therapy work to do and a great and love-filled life.