Yet another passing of a good friend....Haig......owned by Joe....Haig just passed away last week.

I got Haig from Karen Child as a trained Open dog. He covered for my mistakes and helped me become the handler that I am today...he took me under his wing and showed me the ropes...a kind and patient dog that never faltered. He was a great mentor and a wise old soul in a Border Collie body.

I sold him to Joe and he helped Joe on that same path and then he retired to a life of leisure, chasing sticks and getting pets and loving life. Haig was much loved by Joe!!

Good Bye Haig...we will all miss you.....

Jojo, me, Deb and Rodger with Jacob cuddled next to him...a lunch we went to a few yrs ago

Sweet Jacob

Jojo, Jacob and Rodger ..there are such an awesome, loving couple....true love at the finest...

.....more pixs of Jojo and family.....We still miss Jojo....she has been a key part of my life for almost 25 years....

Rest in peace, JoJo Reinhardt

A bright light
in a sea of darkness
a ray of sunshine
on a cloudy day

a true friend
we grew together
through laughter and tears
in hard and good times

the road is not easy
and life is not kind
and friends help you
smooth out the path

the sea is rough
tossed about in the boat
you find comfort
in kind words

many miles we have traveled
many paths we have taken
but our friendship is strong
our binds are forever

I am blessed to have you as my friend
my sister so late in life
with your quick smile
and open arms

you took life with zeal
with death at your door
you laughed him away
and went on your terms

I wish I was as brave as you
your courage is the rock
your life is the force
that makes me believe again

God Bless JoJo Reinhardt

I will miss you and will love you forever

~Diane

Kael...4 months old

Why do I love Kael....let me see....would it be because he looks like his mom?

Or perhaps of his eyes.....

Or perhaps he is just plain cute?

What do you think?

Moving lambs and training the new help

Tess has been the main dog for almost 8 yrs and she has pretty much retired from trialing and I am slowly easing her out of the lambing chores. I do let her do some but not the daily chores. Lucy, Nan and Jackie are picking up the slack.

Monday was Lucy's turn. I had turned the ewes and lambs out to one pasture and we needed to put them away in the big stall at night. Now, lambs are not known for being the sharpest knives in the drawer so gathering lambs and their mamas was not as easy like opening the gate, calling "sheep, sheep" and sending a dog to gather them in while I show the ewes the feed bucket.

The ewes (before they had the lambs), upon seeing the gate open and me waving the bucker of grain, and the dog behind them would run like a thundering herd and if I was slow to move, I would have sheep tracks all over my shoes.

Toss lambs into the mixture and you have...ewes headed to the gate, lambs not moving, ewes realizing the lambs are left behind and then rushing back, and the dog trying to move the mass and the ewes wanting to get fed but the lambs moving at a snail pace and ....well, you get the picture.

Lucy gets behind the flock and starts gathering them and any lamb not moving she will nudge with her nose or shoulder and any ewe that take a charge will get a quick nice grip or she will stand until the ewe moves. I see a lot fo Tess's lambig skills in her...gentle with lambs but firm with the ewes

Pretty darn soon, the flock is in the stall, all moved without a fuss or muss and Lucy is quite pleased with her fine work. I am very pleased to see that she did such an excellent job and now is the main lambing dog. Lucy dances with joy at her new role.

Suddenly I hear a loud wailing and look up to the house and I see Tess with her face smashed to the window...she is on the computer desk (which I might add she is NOT allowed on!!), face smashed to the glass and protesting that somehow I forgot to call her or perhaps telling Lucy that she could do better. Who knows but she made it clear she was mad.

But she soon forgave me when I gave her a pig ear when I came through the door.

Auntie Kristi.....our favorite photographer

We love you....all of us.....especially Kael, Anson and Tess.

Kristi took pixs of the gang at a trial in early Feb. Kael and Anson went to get socialized and soon were swept up in the loving arm of Bob and Jane. Bob has 2 beautiful women in his life, first one is Jane, his lovely bride and the second is Mojo, his stunning Border Collie. I am sure Jane is glad the *other woman* in his life is Mojo.



Kael, Anson and Tess sure were happy that Kristi took such cute pixs of them. Much better than Diane who wouldn't make a living with her photographic skills.

Anson loves Kristi since she has a gorgeous white headed male named Lou. Maybe Kristi can send a pixs of Lou so it can be put into the blog under "Gorgeous white headed Border Collies"

We can't wait for Auntie Kristi to comeback and take more pixs

"Lamb Watch"

Ok, so Kodi was asleep and then a bunch of lambs ran over him so he woke up and he was not happy...the lambs all ran off, of course!! Everyone looked innocent so he couldn't put his paw on the culprits!!



Kodi hears some coyotes in the distant and is on guard. He also guards the ducks...notice the duck in the far part of the pix?

"Hey, leave me alone to do my job. I have all these lambs to watch"

...and then the lambs did the lamb races..and Kodi went back to sleep...for the time being...

"Taking Charge"

Kodiak has been here for over 7.5 yrs and he does his job well. Two years ago, we had a horrible barn fire and our barn burned down. Quite a few of my sheep were in a open stall and Kodi had to push/herd them out of the open stall out to that pasture. In doing so, his back caught on fire and he got it out by rolling in the mud. In our book, he is a hero.

Kodi takes his work very seriously and loves the baby lambs....they are curious and not afraid of him. He will lick their faces and let them climb all over him. Most of my foundation ewes were lambs when Kodi was a pup so this is a family affair. The ewes trust him and often will let him baby-sit while they graze.

Here a Clun lambs follows him as if to say "Are you my daddy?"

"Nope son, I am not, but I am your babysitter"

"Let me see your nose....it's dirty"

"Stay near me, ok?"