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Sean left today with Patti for his new home in Connecticut on a family compound of over 100 acres along a river. Patti had been searching for a year for a border collie to replace her last (and best). She first found Jimmy, but it was Sean who stole her heart: his strong frame, attentiveness and balanced temperament.

While we freeze here in snowy Vermont, Cait, Bridget, Galen and Pearl enjoy the quiet season on Martha’s Vineyard. Cait who was improbably found after 4 days and nights out in freezing temperatures, is thriving in her second chance life at the inn on the Vineyard with her new family. Pure happiness in the video Bridget sent.

Jullian sent me an update on her pup Venti from the Clwyd Bob x Nel litter. Maybe the most handsome border collie I have ever seen! Jullian (half Italian) taught Venti how to say “hi” for the camera: Ciao Venti!

During the off-sheep season (Nov – April), the dogs need to stay fit and stimulated. That means games at home throughout the day and walks at places like the Dartmouth Woods. They wait on the patio –mostly patiently– until I come out and lead the games.

Feels like I get older and they get younger. By the time we get home after a 3 hour hike on the Dartmouth mountain bike trails, my legs and feet ache. They are ready for ‘the next thing’. Eesh!

Brave young Cait who survived 4 days and 4 nights and a snowstorm out in the sub-freezing New England winter goes off to a fine life with Galen and Bridget, innkeepers on Martha’s Vineyard, and their border collie Pearl.

Cait was diagnosed with Aortal Stenosis, a constriction of the aorta giving her high blood pressure for life. She needed a home and humans who could make sure she got the moderate lifestyle and care that would give her a long life. Bridget and Galen are the perfect home for Cait. She will be treated with an abundance of kindness and love. Just what she deserves.

Thank you Bridget and Galen for taking Cait and her beautiful spirit into your lives and care.

Thank you sharp-eyed biology doctoral students who found Cait on Thanksgiving Day and gave her a second chance.

Thank you Dr’s Freeman and Rush at Tufts Foster Small Animal Hospital for getting Cait right in, diagnosing the problem and putting her on the right program.

And THANK YOU New England Border Collie Rescue for making the connection!!

If you don’t see a pup or dog you want here, please check out the dogs available for adoption at NEBCR –a super organization.

My three keeper pups for 2023 on a walk today at Dartmouth College. They are littermates from my Nel x Dewi Jenkins’ Clwyd Bob. In front, Sue (bass) and Mike (piano). Pete in the back (on drums), looks smaller but is every bit as big as Mike. They can go (perform) anywhere; they simply delight me.

A miraculous recovery of my two 14 week old pups on Thanksgiving Day is something to be truly be thankful for. The pups disappeared into a deep forest 4 days ago during a hike and had to endure unforgiving cold and snow. Puppies Sean and Cait were discovered by a group of amazing biology Ph.D. students at Dartmouth College out on a Thanksgiving Day walk.

Last Sunday around 1:30 p.m. Sean and Cait bolted from our group of dogs and puppies at a junction, heading down a trail we were not taking. They moved with such speed I couldn’t see where they were going. They were not coming when called. They just kept going to wherever they were going. It was all over in seconds.

The conservation area is 1000 acres of rough, forested terrain. And the temperatures, already at freezing during the day were dropping. The situation had danger written all over it.

My pack of dogs and I (including the pups’ mother) searched until after dark, calling and calling, alerting everyone we saw to two lost pups. After a long 25°f night, we resumed the search, covering every trail within a 2 mile radius of the point we lost them multiple times, calling, calling, calling for the entire day. Nothing. The temps dropped to 15°f on the next long New England night. I gave up hope, assuming two pups out in the elements could not make it.

The following night it snowed. More cold. No calls from the police or humane society. I knew the pups were dead.

Then… at around noon on Thanksgiving day, the phone range and a beautiful, kind, reassuring voice on the other end of the line said, “I think we have found your puppies.”

The pups had traveled to the other side of conservation area. They were found by four Dartmouth Ph.D. students sitting on a hillside up from the trail trying to catch some sunshine for warmth, the female, Cait, shivering. An hour later the pups were at the trailhead. A half hour later, we were reunited.

What happened this Thanksgiving with my pups is a true miracle.

Two presumed-dead pups have a new chance at life. Thanksgiving doesn’t get any better than having two sweet puppies rescued from death. The sharp-eyed Dartmouth biologists found two needles in the Landmark Forest haystack. These pups now have their second chance.

I am thankful for all who worked to get the word out and give those pups their second chance. A post on the Upper Valley Lost Pets Facebook page gave the Dartmouth biologists the connection back to me.

My profound gratitude to the good and compassionate young Dartmouth biologists who delivered my lost pups back to me on Thanksgiving Day. Thank you…

THANK YOU !!

Chip sent an updated photo of Becca, thriving in her new life with him in Rhode Island. She had just been out for an early morning cross-country run wet with dew and “glowing with happiness” as Chip put it. You can see it for yourself!

The current Welsh National Sheepdog Champion described 12 week-old Mike as “a very sensible pup with good natural instincts.” The owner of Mike’s sire, Clwyd Bob, said young Mike is “class“. I am delighted with my little Mike. I think he is awesome, on and off the field.

This was only Mike’s 2nd time seeing sheep. He saw them briefly at 8 weeks and was interested enough to breech the fence and come take charge while one of the adults was practicing with me. Here he is at 12 weeks-old showing amazing confidence and talent with NO instruction from me.

Mike’s sire, Dewi Jenkins’ Clwyd Bob, is probably the best sheepdog stud in the UK. Mike’s litter supports that.

3 of Mike’s littermates are available for sale. There are some very talented pups to choose from, all with EXCEPTIONAL natures.

The 9 week-old puppies (4 M / 2 F) are already being tested on sheep. They are creating havoc inside and outside the kennel: competition for food and any curiosity. Quiet puppies have become noisy (noise eliminated from the video below). As 12 weeks approaches, some first decisions on those off to new homes.

The 7 week-old pups (4 F / 1 M) are close behind. They have separate quarters but both litters play happily together.