This is another of those photos I never expected to take, Fate, Red and Gus working together to move the sheep from the pole barn into the side pasture.

I want to be clear about one thing – Gus is not a herding dog, he does not have the drive, stamina, power, speed or instincts of the border collies.

But he is very fast, and very confident, and he watches the border collies carefully. He wants to join in, to  do what they do, and whatever his intentions (anybody who tells you he knows the interior intentions of a dog is probably faking it), it is pretty amazing to see. I am sure enjoying sharing it.

Gus is not afraid of the sheep, and when they run towards him, he sits still and they move around him.

He seems to have grasped the border collie flanking moves, he goes to one side, Fate or Red go to the other. In this case, it was Red driving the sheep down the hill to the pasture, Fate sitting to the side, perhaps (hopefully) to keep them from bolting in that direction, Gus sat on the right and watched Red and so the sheep stayed right in the middle.

They ran down the hill and into the pasture, and then Fate and Gus joined in with Red and the three of them followed. I think Gus wants to be a working dog and is taking lessons from Red, a master, and Fate, a joyous chaser of sheep.

This is quite an eclectic group of dogs we have out here working on the farm, I’m thinking of trying this at our Open House on Columbus Day weekend. We thought Gus might be a circus dog, but he is definitely a farm dog.

I love seeing things I never expected to see and doing things I never expected to do. Dogs are like people in one way, they fill the space given them, and rise to the expectations of the people who love them. I love giving dogs the lives of dogs, even if it means a dog no bigger than a rabbit can work with border collies in a wide pasture.