So we have a mild sheep emergency on the farm for Red to try and handle early Monday morning. Darryl Kuehne, the Vermont farmer whose sheep are across the street in the big meadow called to say he just sold three of them and needs to come Monday morning and get them out of the meadow. This would be a bit complex without a dog, but Red is arriving Sunday night.

So we’ll try and do it with him Monday. The sheep are not dog-broke and Red and I have never worked together so it will be exciting. The plan is for me to send Red off on one of his spectacular outruns (he may end up in Vermont) and then to walk them up to the corner of the pasture where Darryl and I will be waiting with crooks and halters. I’ll put Red in a lie-down  and stay to hold the sheep in the corner while we find the ones we need and move them into the trailer. A large part of my training philosophy is to never set a dog up for failure, only for success so there will be no pressure or yelling.

From the videos Karen has sent me, I understand the commands he is used to. He doesn’t need a lede. I’ll put him on my left side, give him a “come bye” command and he should head out and get around the sheep – is is keen and strong. When I want him to turn, I’ll say “there,” and he’ll turn in, then “walk up” and he’ll walk them up to me. That’s the plan. Sheepherding rarely follows the plan as we don’t know quite how the sheep will react to Red. They might be obedient or they might panic. I brought Frieda out to the pasture on a leash and they were  calm around her, about as good a test as you can think of.

Glad to have Red here. The big goal for me is not ribbons, but fun. I want him to feel occupied and successful every day of his life. Mandy is heading South to Virginia. Red will be here tomorrow night.