Strider mentioned in a comment to me that Border Collies need a job to do. Well, I put my Buddy to work today and he did a fantastic job!!!!! Because one of the hay trucks is stuck in the South Meadow, I needed to get the cows out of there. They were eating way too much hay off the truck. Hay is sooooo expensive, I couldn't afford to let them continue to chow down all of that hay. Soooo... Buddy and I went out to move them to the North Meadow.

Now sometimes, Buddy has a complete mind of his own and can send those cows in every direction except the direction I want them to go. But, today was not that way at all. Buddy followed every command and we managed to move the cows and calves without any problem. He got a lot of praises and some cookies for his achievement.

I have only one complaint.... Buddy has to be told several times to "down" before he actually "downs." I wish he would mind on the first command. He just gets so involved in herding the cows that I can't get his attention to stop or slow down. Funny, but if I give him a herding command such as "away" (go right) or "come by" (go left)... he immediately obeys. It is just the commands to tell him to stop like downing him that he doesn't seem to hear.

He still was worth his weight in gold today. Couldn't have gotten those cows moved by myself.

Another day on the ranch - Annie :o)