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.