Day: July 19, 2016

It was bound to happen, I suppose, and it turns out to be a sweet and appealing story, which is not a bad thing for me. I have a border collie, her parents imported from Wales, where border collies were invented, and she doesn’t want to herd the sheep.

Fate loves working, she loves being with the sheep, she seems to love sheep. She races to the gate, circles endlessly around the sheep, lies down as close to them as they will permit, and is in bliss when she can  hang out with them.

She just doesn’t like to herd them, move them, push them around. She obeys every command and instantly, can run up to 50 miles and hour, is keen, biddable and responsive.

So we are carving out a rich and good life for her. She rides around in the car, hangs out with Maria in her study, wrestles with me, walks with us, and spends several hours a day doing the thing she moves loves – being around sheep. Truthfully, she brims with every instinct a border collie could possibly have except one – making sheep move or intimidating them into behaving.

At the Open Houses, I notice that just as many people come to watch Fate not work as come to see Red work. Stories and photos of her are shared all over the Internet. And she is the most loving dog, she loves people, is affectionate, smart, playful and mischievous. She has a lot of personality.

So I like having  border collie who didn’t wish to herd sheep, that is new to me. Border collies are all crazy in their own way, but Fate is crazy in her own very delightful way. I Iove her for her gentleness, I accept her for her sweet heart.

Dr. Karen Thompson, a breeding wizard, could not have done better. One day, Red will wear out and retire from working. I’ll be calling Karen again.

This morning, we pile Red into the car and drive off to Shushan to save a sheep, a white Romney. The person she lived with was evicted from her farm, the people who took her in have not been able to catch her so they asked if we could try and get her with Red. If we can catch her, we’ll take her in, she’s described as being a “real mess.”

We’re also trying to get a shearer to come if we get her here, lots of warm weather coming. This week, another chapter in our lives. We decided not to take in a female calf (cow) this summer, we don’t really need another large animal eating up the pasture.  The sheep are different.

Maria sells the yarn and the dogs love and need to work, so the sheep work for us in a very practical way. I don’t love sheep, but I love working with the dogs and having them around. Maria does love sheep. This week – we took Izzy from the same flock – has reminded us how important animals are to our lives and to the farm.

I am wary of the rescue impulse, as you know, but saving this sheep seems right to us. Romney sheep are known for their beautiful wool, and we already love having Izzy here. She is a great sheep, grounded and calm and pretty smart, at least for sheep.

It is gratifying to save an animal, especially one you can afford, and one you have a real use for – more than one.

Maria and I have discussed it and we feel good about getting these two sheep, it makes sense for us, for the farm, for Maria, for me and the dogs, for me and my photography. Sheep are easy to maintain, they cause little trouble. I hope we can catch her, I have faith in Red.