Fate was spayed – serious abdominal surgery –  48 hours ago, but nobody seems to have notified her. She spit up her pain pills soon after she got home, and demolished her soft cone in minutes, that was that. Recovery over. She rocketed out of her crate this morning, pushed open the back screen door and was digging a hole near the gate when I cornered her.

She has not bothered her stitches – she is too busy wreaking havoc in the house, flipping her toys up in the air, chasing after Red. I brought her into the pasture this morning with Red to keep her from driving me completely insane, but no running her herding. She lay still with Red watching the sheep, and then calmed down a bit when I took them both out.

One of the sweetest moments in the life of any border collie owner is when the vet says “I want you to keep the dog absolutely still for about 11 days, just a couple of leash walks for very short distances.” The border collie puppy owner can then laugh, which is nice after surgery. No way, I said, no way.

Fate is a gift, she cheers us and inspires us, she is not wasting a moment in recovery or feeling sorry for herself. If anything, she has more energy than before. I just took her to Battenkill Books where I had books to sign and she rushed up to everyone in sight, jumping up, quivering, eating garbage off the floor, trying to grab stuffed animals. The monster is back, she was groggy for about two hours.

The scolds and alarmists on Facebook are out in force, warning me that her stitches will burst, her internal organs will rupture, her stomach will swell on the fifth day, she is in grave danger from my cavalier attitude about things. She should not even be outside, I am told. Nuts to that. We are watching Fate closely, one of us is with her all day, I think she’ll get through it fine. I think she already has. I just hope she doesn’t get her paws on any power tools.

Fate will be back at work by the middle of next week, if not sooner, once the stitches come out. She is very much larger than life.

I was touched by one image this morning.

She started to chase Minnie outside, but Minnie wised up and yawned, and Fate, puzzled, lay down next to her. Peace at last.