Wednesday, January 27, 2016

What they teach us...

While cleaning out a desk, I came across these photos of Rambles, our first Border collie pup.


She arrived on our farm in the spring of 1998, just weeks after we moved to the farm. The old farmhouse was in a state of renovation, with no doors or woodwork. She stayed in the mudroom during the days while we were at work, and tagged along with us everywhere in the evenings.


On this particular evening, she was helping my husband, Randy, plant pine seedlings. She had a grand time following behind him, pulling up the seedlings he'd planted and racing around the fields.

She was the dog that made me fall in love with Border collies, and she was the dog that began my dog-training journey. I taught her obedience, agility and so many tricks.

Rambles died nearly nine years ago--and many of the seedlings planted that spring are nearly as tall as the house. We now need two hands to count the number of Border collies that have called our farm home: Rambles, Jack, Tag, Caeli, Mickey, Raven and Niki.

Today I visited the young Border collie, Niki, who is at sheepdog boarding school. While she was working the sheep, and the trainer was correcting her, I realized that this dog-training journey will last a lifetime.


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