Out Around the Barn

There are many breeds of dogs that people have as pets and then there are the other breeds that people have as working dogs.  All breeds can be pets but, some of us have these particularly smart animals to help us out around the farm or ranch.  You see them on horse shows working cattle to help their owner round them up for whatever purpose.  These beautiful animals can be considered  livestock accessories.

We own Border Collies.  Well, up until this past summer, we had three.  We lost our best girl, Bella, to old age and arthritis, and our boy, Benny, to the hot weather.  Right now we have Jessie and she is a young green- horn, that still has a lot to learn.  I am not real good with her training because, I don’t know that much about training a working dog.  Now teaching my Jack Russell tricks is another story. 

Bella, shown in the above photo with her owner, was a huge help around the farm.  Whenever we needed to bring up the cattle for whatever reason, you could count on her and Benny to do a pretty decent job.  I didn’t matter to her how big or small the chore, she was willing to do whatever she was commanded to get the job done.  Some of the commands are : come by, away to me, look back, bring’em to me and down.  There are others but I am not an expert.  Now that she is no longer with us, and Benny either, we are some what lost.  We have been so spoiled in having them here to help us, that what seemed to take maybe an hour to do now takes several.  So we are now working with Jessie and maybe we will look into getting another some time in the future.

I would definately consider a Border Collie or another breed of working dog a very useful accessory to our farm and yours, if you like dogs and have the patience for them.  If you would like to read and learn more on Border Collies, a book called, “Border Collies In America,” by author; Arthur N. Allen is a good start.