The true working dog serves human beings, or tries, even when the work is strange, or when it is uncomfortable, even when it is dangerous. The working dog, from the Labrador to the German Shepherd to the border collie, has been bred for thousands of years to work with human beings. It is a beautiful thing to see when these dogs get their chance to live their lives.

Red spent the first years of his life on a farm in Ireland, then to Virginia where he lived with Dr. Karen Thompson, one of the most respected border collie breeders and trainers in the eastern United States. Karen gave Red to me, and I will be eternally thankful for that. Red has never, to my knowledge been in a city or suburb. Monday night is yoga night, when I drove Maria to her yoga class in Glens Falls and shop for groceries and pet and animal supplies. Usually I walk around Glens Falls, sometimes I listen to my Ipod in the car or read a book or check my e-mail.

Today I decided to bring Red to the city for the first time. Red surprises me every day. I let him out of the car and he walked alongside of me as if he has done things a thousand times, even when he has never done them. He walked by people, busses, cars, trucks. He completely grasps my photography and when we past an empty warehouse I pointed to the ledge and he jumped up and waited until I took my photo. People walking by were surprised, and asked if he often jumped up onto ledges. Only when asked, I said.

We walked through the middle-class streets and industrial patches of Glens Falls for an hour, then I went shopping and Red waited in the car. He lay on the seat while I read waiting for Maria. We bonded in yet a new and different way. Izzy was like this in some ways. I remember taking him to New York City for the first time and he walked alongside me as if he had been born and raised there. The really great working dogs do not truly care what the work is. They just do it.

Red and I will visit the city again. I see that Red can go anywhere.