I am fascinated by the videos Karen Thompson is sending me of Kate, and grateful. It is a gift to get to know a puppy before it comes home.  It will help greatly in figuring out a training program. I am learning a lot of about this dog from Karen’s videos and am always struck by how comfortable and perceptive Karen is in her training and understanding of dogs. This is the third video and it tells me much about this dog we are getting and helps me get started thinking about training.

Fate is nine weeks old, she is a pure-bred border collie with unusual markings. It is clear she is a grounded, confident and curious dog, she will be a handful. Here is the newest video, fresh from New Kent, Virginia. Until yesterday, Fate had never been in a house, was never without her littler mates. Karen says she spent much of Tuesday evening in a crate for the first time, she handled it quite well.

She has had no problem adjusting to her crate. In the video, I can see she is very interested in food. We never give any of our dogs human food – ever. It is the quickest way to have an obnoxious pest in the house. Kibble twice a day and some bones and treats, that’s it for food.

Unfortunately, people outside of the house are not as disciplined. Red is offered treats and food everywhere he goes. when he came to me he was never interested in food beyond what we gave him, he is more interested now, although not a pest with us. I think he knows that wouldn’t fly.

Fate is going to bear watching, we have to have healthy and appropriate chew toys and bones for her as an alternative to shelves, furniture and our kitchen food. When we are not in the house she will be in a crate, at least for a few months. I can see Fate is bright, curiosity comes with intelligence and she is carefully exploring every nook and cranny of Karen’s kitchen.

She is also still figuring out the crate, Karen has put bones and treats in there, and Fate is taking them out, but she took her sweet time about going deep into the crate – about three minutes. I have some sweet smelling training treats, I will put them in the far back of the crate whenever Fate is out of the house, she will go in the crate to get them. I can see food will be a useful training tool for a dog like this.

I’ll leave the crate open until she goes in of  her own choosing and then I’ll make sure there is something for her to gnaw on there and then close the gate. The crate is never a punishment, always a safe and quiet place. There will always be something good in there. After awhile, that won’t be necessary.

This is a dog that is aware of everything, wants to know every story, will explore every corner. Maria and I watched the video. We see she will need work to do. Maria loves  her stocking feet.

This is an active and curious and mischievous animal, she will require vigilance, patience and imagination. Border collie chess. I am up for it, but I’m not cocky with this creature.  We are leaving for Virginia Saturday, will stay over with Karen Thompson on Sunday, coming home Monday with Fate. Red is coming.

I love training dogs, it is not about obedience for me, it is a spiritual experience, about communicating and showing an animal how to live safely and well in our world. You get out of it exactly what you put into it. We all get the dogs we need and deserve, one way or another.