I call her the “Demon Dog,” her blue eye suggests a fevered intensity which is very genuine. This is the look she gives me when she is ready to go and be with the sheep, which is not to say herd the sheep. She loves to work, which by her definition means racing madly around the sheep, following them, staring at them intensely, but never, under any circumstances, herd them or move them or make them do anything she doesn’t want to do.

I love this look, it says to me, “let’s go, Big Boy, there is madness in the air!” Fate is a wonderful dog, and I am so glad I didn’t try to make her into Red.