First frozen collection from my top dog, 16 mo. old Pete, this past weekend. Beautiful, healthy 4 breeding doses (each with 150+ million post-thaw sperm).

Pete is everything I ever wanted in a dog. Perfect (for me)! Serious dog people who come to visit and see Pete in action are gob-smacked. Pete is what a ‘working’ collie should be, on and off the pitch.

Thank you James McCloskey (Nel) and Dewi Jenkins (Clwyd Bob). What a pairing!

Renowned sheep dog trainer, Katy Cropper, from Wales, did an interview with Robin McNaught. I thoroughly enjoyed the hour-long conversation and getting to know Katy, because we share similar views on training …and it is always nice to have positive reinforcement from someone as highly regarded as Katy.

I have sent the interview on to people who have taken pups from me here in the USA …for the same reasons it appealed to me. It reinforces and expands on things I have told them.

Like Katy and Robin, I spend a lot of time getting the dog – human fit right with pups. I love my dogs and our rapport is the basis of our training. Even if we are not working sheep, we are work on our relationship daily.

The dogs have to fit the culture / temperament of the farm and the rest of the pack. If a pup/dog is not going to fit, I try to take care of that early on, like Katy finding a better place for the dog/pup. As Aled Owen has said often, it generally isn’t the dog that is bad, but the fit. A dog that doesn’t work for me could be a star for someone else. And very every dog/pup deserves the best home possible.

Here is Katy’s interview with Robin. Thanks to both of you for making it and sharing it with the worldwide sheep dog community on YouTube.

Martha sent along a photo of very handsome Rain. What a life he has with Martha & Ed! A little bit of sheep and a lot of love.

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Martha also sent along a training video of Rain with Ed, ( I think ) just to let me know it isn’t all soft cushions for him. Rain has just the style I thought he would have: confident, calm and businesslike. Got to get the business done so he can get back to his soft cushions!

New year 2025 update from Martha:

This past weekend, I had breeding first: a returned puppy ...and thank the universe she was returned.

Sweet 5 month-old Jules came back to me after 2 weeks away in an unsuitable situation and a failed transition from life here on the farm. I put 40% of the blame on me for letting her go and 60% of the blame on her new owner for not protecting her and giving her a stable transition.

Working collies are highly intelligent and sensitive. Their breeding focuses on herding skills, so life inside the home can be a challenge.

I was not aware of the scope and scale of the household Jules was going to until the final minutes before her departure after papers and money had been exchanged. It was going to be a big transition, dependent up on her primary care taker to make it work.

The new owner was not up to the challenge to a working collie. Lesson learned for the next time(s) …take the re-homing process slow and get it right.

Happily, fate gave Jules a second chance. I’m so glad I got the call to take her back.

NICE TO HAVE YOU HOME JULES ! I’ll do better next time. Promise!

Dewi Jenkins’ trained dogs are for me the very definition of what a working sheep dog should be. Dogs bred out of his Jock and Bob win trials …but they also do a hard day’s work in the demanding conditions of the Welsh hills.

Tynygraig Mirk, bred and trained by Dewi from his International Champion Jock, sold for £20,000 ($26,000) at auction earlier this year.

My #1 dog Pete is from Dewi’s lines. He shows the same power, intensity and smarts as Tynygraig Mirk and Dewi’s other exceptional dogs.

I have fielded about 20 enquiries for Annie, the most delightful of the extraordinarily talented three witches out of Gail. Annie is special among the witches: she has joy and love of life to match her talent. She has it all.

Annie will be leaving soon to Nicholas, in Massachusetts: a polymath, AI researcher and entrepreneur who has a passion for working dogs and sheep. Nicholas is astonishingly plugged into dogs. While with me he made keen and incisive observations about the dogs here that I had never noticed and confirmed much of what I believe to be true of working dogs. His trenchant insights and synthesized thinking were an unexpected bonus to his visit.

I hold my pups long to begin with, 16 weeks or more, to see who they are, and after that for the right person / place …even if that takes (many) months. In the best cases, a pup tells me when it is right. That is just what happened with Annie and Nicholas. Gifted young Annie said to the those present and to the universe, ‘this is the one‘.

‘Sleep of the Innocents’ after breakfast and 4 hr romp on a cold, wet Vermont morning.

Nel x Bran pups [4] in the big kennel. Gail pups Faye & Annie in the crate to the right. Jazz’s Julie behind right by herself. Gail’s pup Jill not in view.

Martha sent me an early October video of 4 month-old Rain working sheep with her son Ed. Rain has nice pace and calm, unlike my lot. Rain is a 3 on the power / intensity scale. Mine are 4’s and 5’s.

3’s are good for most small farm purposes. They are also better all around dogs, doubling as companions. 4’s and 5’s are pushy, intense dogs that require holding back, harder to train, and best suited to demanding work.

Martha writes of Rain:

“He is a beaut. And a perfect personality. Warm, sweet, diplomatic, and smart as a whip.”

Peter is the reason I chose to breed border collies …so I could my perfect match. Pete is everything I want in a dog.

Andrew has had Jess for less than a week. He was very kind to write to me this weekend to tell me how she was doing.

NB: Jess is ‘untrained’. This was her first time on sheep. The power of breeding and the right partnership!

7 month-old Jess is a quietly strong and capable female (daughter of a world champion) who was stymied by the ‘big bitches’ here on the farm, she’s just a 2 on the 5 point power/intensity scale. Jess needed a more singular relationship with a partner she could trust. She needed Andrew.

Jess actually ‘chose‘ Andrew & Stephanie when they arrived. Looks like Jess chose her new home / partner well !!