I discovered Gail was pregnant today. I knew she was in season weeks ago and was careful about separating males and females. So, I’m not sure when and with whom this happened, but I will find out once the pups arrive and I can do a parentage / paternity test. Since I have DNA profiles on all the suspects, I can just submit a puppy’s DNA and find out whodunnit.
Who is the perp? My bet is on Max, then Mirk. Though it really could have been any of them.
2 Days later…
Around 5 AM while I was watching the European Nursery Sheepdog Championships, Gail gave birth to a healthy male pup. Appears to be a singleton. And could belong to any of the perps, but most likely Max or Mirk.
A must-watch for those of you worried about what is happening in the United States. I was not aware how ‘authoritarian temperaments’ correlate(d) with support for Trump. 30% of the population is a big number. I understand better the answer to the question, “Ffs, do Americans want to live in a dictatorship??”. And it makes me despair for the future here (and elsewhere).
This little blue-eyed devil of a pup, named Blu (Martin Feeney’s Meg x Dean McAuley’s Joe), is coming back to my breeding lines courtesy of Brian, who took him as a pup. Blu was a bull of a pup, mad for sheep (hard to hold back), full of hell, BIG and TOUGH, and verysmart. Too much for me to handle at the time, but just right for Brian, in Upstate New York, who likes strong dogs.
Brian was kind enough to let me collect and freeze Blu this spring so I will have him to breed with later on. THANK YOU BRIAN!!!
Gwen (Nel x Rob Ellis’ Bran) left for her new life with Lora on a goat farm in Massachusetts today. Lora is a pharmaceuticals engineer, with a passion for animals and traditional husbandry, working from home so she can do what she cares about most –farming! Yay!
Delightful talking with Lora while he dogs frolicked this afternoon. She is just the kind of person I want to have my dogs. Easy to say ‘yes’ on the spot. If I’m going to let a premium dog go, it has to be to a premium person …like Lora.
I violated my own rule today and said from the outset, I think this is dog for you. Gwen kept coming back to us and circling round, so I think she agreed.
Halfway home and Lora reports Gwen already has her nose on her arm as she drives …and giving her kisses!!!
Makes my eyes well up thinking how happy these two are going to be together!! Pairings like this make the tough parts of dog breeding feel like it is worth it.
ADDENDUM: And this is what Lora saw in Gwen’s eyes the next morning when they went out to the barn to see the goats. Just look at that SMILE!!!
Moments later, supremely confident Gwen took charge of the goats! No grabbiness, just taking control at 7 months old. All this her first morning off the farm. A very talented young pup!
Yes, that is a border collie pup (Gwen) competing with baby goats for the milk. Loving her new life on the goat farm. Always a job to be done that requires working dog ‘assistance’.
Brian, Meg & Myles have just done wonders with Willow (né Jill). Jill was outwardly shy and introverted. There was something inside a protective shell that just couldn’t get out. Brian, with a long history of rescues, had some ideas.
With every update, I see who Willow is becoming and was meant to be, brought forth by what Brian calls ‘love’ and ‘consistency’. Brian is a-ma-zing with dogs.
Today, Brian sent me a couple videos of Willow pulling what looks like him on a skateboard with Willow focused on what looks like son Myles ahead on a skateboard along the Cape Cod Rail Trail, near where they live. I could never have imagined Willow doing that. The transformative power of love and security.
Willow showing her sheep dog power …and clearly enjoying it!
BRAVO BRIAN AND MEG !!!
With Myles, Sleeping with ‘brother’ Henry, In Meg’s Arms
Jett is the son of Gail and Jimmy (an unplanned mating), brother to: Faye, Willow, Annie, Rob and Nico.
Andrea from the Albany, NY area wrote today with an update on her (Fly By) Jett:
Hello Charles! Attached please find some pics of Jett at our weekly Agility class. He is truly a budding superstar, learning very quickly and teaching me how to be a more efficient handler. I am also thrilled to share with you he has successfully completed Puppy Too training and moved onto Life Skills classes. Thank you again for this absolutely amazing border collie! ~ Andrea
I would love to give Gail credit for young Jett, since he looks so much like her, but Andrea and Jett are a team. Without Andrea and her dedication and skill as a handler/trainer, Jett would not be the ‘budding agility superstar’ he is. I remember that snowy day in November when Andrea was here in Vermont: Jett chose Andrea! He would run off with the others for a bit and then come right back to Andrea. Dogs have a sense about these things, about humans and situations. When a pup clearly chooses a human, and the human feels it too, it augurs a happy new beginning .
Llangwm Ffansi (which means ‘fancy’ in Welsh) turns 14. She is the last of my first generation of dogs from Aled Owen, in Wales. She has arthritis and double cruciate ligament disease, but she is out walking around for most of the day, every day. Unfortunately, those lines are known for osteoarthritis, and I didn’t find out until later. Ffansi has always had a kind of gutsy determination to press on, never one to be left out. She wants to be doing what everyone else is doing. Even at 14, she won’t back down from the challenge of #2 female, 3 year old Nel. Ffansi has her dignity to defend.
Ffansi adored my favorite dog of all time, Seren, 2 years older than her. Ffansi was content to be 2nd female. Never a cross word between them. They were beautiful together.
Seren and Ffansi
Photos of Ffansi in years 1 and 2: a strikingly beautiful young tricolor female with a big smile.
Even with her limited mobility, Ffansi insisted on taking her turn on sheep last summer and showing the youngsters she still has it in her.
“Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.” —John Adams
“The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment. ” —Robert M. Hutchins
“The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.” —John F. Kennedy
