Changes

My dad was able to go home from the hospital yesterday-- thank god! I talked to him a bit today, and he sounded a lot better. I'm so relieved. Hopefully he'll continue to improve and gain strength over the next few weeks and not focus on getting back to work. He's a bit of a workaholic ;). But I am so thankful that he's pulled through and was able to go home so soon! Thanks for all the positive thoughts--they are very much appreciated.

Went out to Dianne's (Moss's breeder and our herding instructor)new place this morning to drop Moss off and figure out a plan for him. Her new property rocks! She has a great setup and lots of cool places to work. So that was cool :) I let her work Moss, and he did fabulous, especially not for having worked for three months. He remembered all his whistles and listened really well to her. I was so proud of my boy!

Dianne and I talked a lot about where to go from here w/ Moss. She's going to work him this month and see where he is and whether or not he's talented enough to be campaigned in Nursery this/next year. I'm excited to see how he does. In the meantime, I will be working Moss's older half brother, Reggie. I'll try to get some pictures next week when I go out there again... he looks a lot like his (and Moss's) mom, Peg. I'm going to be working him a couple times a week for the foreseeable future :) Fun, eh?

I promise to get some pictures, soon :)

I get a completely different rush from doing stockwork than I do from agility. Agility is fun, of course. It's fast and challenging and did I mention fun?!? But I still see it as more of a game. Stockwork is a different 'game' all together... it's more of a purpose, and deserves to be treated with respect. It's so natural, and requires so much trust from both the handler and the dog. It's amazing watching a young dog "turn on" to stock and understand the sheep based on hundreds of years of genetics behind them. It's even more amazing to watch a dog run out 800 yards and bring a group of sheep straight to the handler's feet. I'm not explaining myself very well... my eloquence went out the window about the time school started up again ;). All I know for sure is that while I love both agility and herding, if it really came down to it, I'd choose sheep every time. It speaks to my soul. Maybe it's the Scottish in me?

I'm currently working on a post that attempts to describe my feelings about Border Collies and stockwork in a more eloquent manner. It's a hard thing to get "right" on paper.