[Fleecewife]

So sad  but lovely too.  I certainly wouldn't have been able to resist Charlie either - dogs have their hearts in their eyes.


[member=1]Dan[/member] can we have a 'love dogs' icon pretty please? 

[sheeponthebrain]

meg. a home bred collie pup was never meant to be kept.  when showing someone the pups i sat in the pen and meg crawled in beneath my legs.  at 9wk old i had her out (with het mum) gatheting for shearing and the farmer offered me 3 times the price her sisters were sold for.  i declined and meg ran with me for 14 years.  even taking back the title of main dog for a spell at 12 year old, when her daughter needed 12 wks cage rest for an operation.  it may sound soppy for a farmer with a team of dogs but its one of the saddest moments of my life loosing her and i can only hope to find another dog half as gifted in my lifetime

[SallyintNorth]

may sound soppy for a farmer with a team of dogs but its one of the saddest moments of my life loosing her and i can only hope to find another dog half as gifted in my lifetime

Not soppy at all.  When you have a dog with whom you make that connection, when the communication and teamwork become things you don't even think about, aren't even consciously aware of...  That is going to leave a hole.

Dot, now nearly 13 and rather hard of hearing, and I still work the sheep.  When she started to be deaf, I had to realise that if she was out of earshot and made the wrong judgement about what we were doing, I would just have to go with her flow and finish the job she was now on.  And then put the sheep where I really wanted them afterwards, once we were close by again and I could give her direction.  I felt good about being a caring enough owner / partner to make this accommodation for my faithful colleague and friend, so that she wouldn't ever have to feel bad about getting it "wrong"; I would never let her realise that. 

Well, more fool me.  It's a two-way thing, and the dog's ability to read sheep far outstrips mine, and clearly her ability to read me also outstrips my ability to fool her.

We did some work with the sheep at the weekend, and I realised when I got back that I had barely given her any input whatsoever, and yet she had done everything perfectly, including things where I generally have to give her some instruction or even put her the other side of the gate. 

My clever, dedicated partner has realised that I can't seem to advise her vocally as well any more as I used to, and has worked out other signs she can pick up on.  I'm telling her what I want and I have no idea how I am doing it - but she does.

Maybe I will be lucky and her successor and I will develop the same bond and working relationship.  But it takes years to get to that level of connection and trust.  She will be a big miss, and that's for sure.  For now, I just cherish every day with her and especially every day when we can work the sheep and it goes well!  :hugdog:
                                                                           

[sheeponthebrain]

may sound soppy for a farmer with a team of dogs but its one of the saddest moments of my life loosing her and i can only hope to find another dog half as gifted in my lifetime

Not soppy at all.  When you have a dog with whom you make that connection, when the communication and teamwork become things you don't even think about, aren't even consciously aware of...  That is going to leave a hole.

Dot, now nearly 13 and rather hard of hearing, and I still work the sheep.  When she started to be deaf, I had to realise that if she was out of earshot and made the wrong judgement about what we were doing, I would just have to go with her flow and finish the job she was now on.  And then put the sheep where I really wanted them afterwards, once we were close by again and I could give her direction.  I felt good about being a caring enough owner / partner to make this accommodation for my faithful colleague and friend, so that she wouldn't ever have to feel bad about getting it "wrong"; I would never let her realise that. 

Well, more fool me.  It's a two-way thing, and the dog's ability to read sheep far outstrips mine, and clearly her ability to read me also outstrips my ability to fool her.

We did some work with the sheep at the weekend, and I realised when I got back that I had barely given her any input whatsoever, and yet she had done everything perfectly, including things where I generally have to give her some instruction or even put her the other side of the gate. 

My clever, dedicated partner has realised that I can't seem to advise her vocally as well any more as I used to, and has worked out other signs she can pick up on.  I'm telling her what I want and I have no idea how I am doing it - but she does.

Maybe I will be lucky and her successor and I will develop the same bond and working relationship.  But it takes years to get to that level of connection and trust.  She will be a big miss, and that's for sure.  For now, I just cherish every day with her and especially every day when we can work the sheep and it goes well!  :hugdog:
                                                                         

aye. its amazing how much we move our hands etc without realizing.  and sometimes in the long run thats a great advantage.  heres hoping dot enjoys sign langauge for many years yet.

[Backinwellies]

'I dont mind what sex it is ..... but I want rough coated'   I said as I met a litter of 12 collie puppies .....  I had first choice out of the 6 tricoloured (the Merles already having been spoken for) . 

 I visited those puppies weekly till at 5 weeks it was time to make a decision ....  sat on the flour surrounded by puppy mayhem .... one little girl crawled up onto my lap, stretched up and licked my face.  Ok so I had been chosen!
 No ofcourse she wasn't going to be rough coated but she did have  adorable black spots on her pink nose ....  so 6 months on she is here and driving me potty!

(  she has developed a lovely longer white ruff and some feathering down legs) .... 

[SallyintNorth]

Houses and dogs... things where we say I want A and I do not want B and then fall in love with a B that has no A!   

After my second rescue GSD x collie, I was certain that I wanted something different.  I had loved both, but both had had issues which had made them not the easiest dogs to own.  The one from his GSD roots and the other from his collie side.

It took me a long time and visits to several dogs' homes over several months to find the dog that spoke to me, and I wonder if you can guess what sort it was...

But the Universe had smiled; Horace was 3rd time lucky, and was simply the easiest dog to own you could ever have wished for.  The most difficult thing about owning Horace was getting him back from friends who had looked after him when I was away!  lol

[Backinwellies]

Houses and dogs... things where we say I want A and I do not want B and then fall in love with a B that has no A!   

  The most difficult thing about owning Horace was getting him back from friends who had looked after him when I was away!  lol

These 2 sentences sum up Jovi .... we  watched him go over rainbow bridge a year ago .... and not sure even now I can really write about him      .....   might try later.