Red reminded us again what a great working dog he is, he tried to corral Izzy in the dog area, she ran him right over, he got right up and walked her towards the gate. Then I woke up and brought the sheep into the dog area to be with Izzy, rather than the other way around. In sheepherding, you always bring the many to the few. Izzy was anxious at first, but the other sheep accepted her quickly. Later today, we’ll bring her in to be with the donkeys and the pony, Chloe.
Red is an amazing creature, he backed Izzy down a few times, and now she seems to be doing what she is told. He never bit her or acted aggressively towards her.
Izzy arrived this morning, Donna and Maria tackled her when she bounded out an SUV and held him while she tried to figure things out. She ran over Red once or twice, and then we brought the sheep into the dog area, they accepted Izzy immediately. We’re keeping her apart from the donkeys and the pony. We need to find a shearer who will come to us for one sheep – not simple. Izzy badly needs some shearing, but she seems like a nice sheep, easy-going and Red got her in line pretty quickly.
Maria was thrilled with his wool, it is beautiful. He reminded both of us of Ma, who came to use in similar shape but also turned out to be a great sheep.
We move the sheep into the side pasture today, we are getting ready for Izzy, the new sheep, a Romney ewe. Her owner was evicted from her property, and Izzy is staying with friends, she needs a new home. Romney’s are famed wool sheep, this will be good for us, the dogs, and for Maria’s yarn operations. We need to keep her away from the donkeys and pony for a day or so until they all get used to her, the donkeys will challenge any new creature to the farm, they are guard animals, they protect the flock.
They will see Izzy as a dangerous intruder, at least until they get used to her. The sheep will butt her and give her some trouble too, but sheep are not smart enough to hold a grudge for long. Maybe Fate can heard this one, she’s supposed to be nice.
A couple of years ago, I went to meet Dr. Nancy Burns, a very gifted chiropractor in Bennington, Vt. When I walked in the door I met a friendly, beautiful border collie who looked oddly familiar to me. When I asked about him, they told me he came from the same farm where my border collie Izzy came from
He was, it turned out, Izzy’s son. And one of many. Izzy was a busy man before I got him and had him neutered. There were a lot of Izzy’s out there.This guy was named Casey, and although Izzy died a couple of years ago – he was a hospice therapy dog, my first – it is great to see another dog with his easy-going and sweet spirit.
Casey is having a rough time right now, surgeries on one leg, possibly another. He is bigger than Izzy, but just as mild-mannered. I have been blessed to have easy going border collies, except of course, for the super-charged Fate. it’s neat to see Casey when I go to the chiropractor, he is always there, much cosseted by the staff.
Izzy chased sunsets with me when I started taking photographs up at the old Bedlam Farm, when we ran around every night chasing the sinking sun. He and I drove all over the lower Adirondacks seeing hospice patients out in the woods. He was a sensitive therapy dog, a great companion. He stood with me when I needed the love and friendship of a good dog, and I think of him whenever I see Casey.
I’ve long felt that one of the most important – and difficult – things to teach a dog is how to do nothing, how to relax. We make our dogs crazy by over-stimulating, over-exercising, over-loving, over-playing and arousing them. Dogs know how to do almost anything but nothing, and nothing is a critical thing for them to learn, it is the gateway to obedience, health and living mindfully and peacefully with us. I see Lab after Lab turned into ball-chasing addicts and one border collie after another so cranked they can barely think straight.
In my e-book “Listening To Dogs,” I devote a whole chapter to this idea and it is especially important with a dog like Red, obsessed with work, possessing tremendous energy, with sheep out the back door, therapy work regularly and all kinds of people hugging him, pushing treats at him, loving him.
Red knows how to herd sheep, he does not know how to relax, so I am teaching him something all border collies and most dogs really need to learn: how to be calm, be still, do nothing. This is not something obedience classes teach or that dogs learn in the play group or chasing frisbees. It is a long and painstaking process, in Red’s case, daily sessions of calming training, calm, quiet obedience drills, weekly acupuncture treatments and introducing him to activities where he can be still. Yesterday, I took a two-hour photo lesson with George Forss, the brilliant urban landscape photographer, and I brought Red out. He sat by the gate to the pasture in case we had sheep work to do, but then began to relax. I praised him when he was still and eventually he went to sleep and lay still for nearly an hour.
This would not have been possible for him even a few months ago.We are getting there, he is internalizing the idea of being quiet and still. This is very good and healthy for him. I think we are loving our dogs so much we are making a lot of them crazy, which is why hundreds of thousands of dogs are now on Prozac for various anxiety disorders. I owe it to a dog like Red to help him live peacefully in an alien world.
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Good news. My book “Izzy & Lenore,” the story of my hospice work with the border collie Izzy, was offered as an e-book by Random House last month, the price is $1.99 and the book just hit the New York Times Bestseller List for October 13. Thanks. Also, the paperback copy of “Dancing Dogs,” my first short story collection, is now out, signed and personalized copies available at Battenkill Books. You can also pre-order “Second Chance Dog: A Love Story” from Battenkill Books (518 677 2515) and Maria and I will both personalize and sign it. A book for $1.99 is a remarkable thing to get my head around, the new world of publishing.
