The Joys of Border Collies

Thanks to my cousin Hayley I now have new material to write about.

Last Father's Day I wanted to get Andy something really special. So I did some research, a lot of research, and finally found a Border Collie breeder in Alabama. We already have a female named Baby that Andy has had since before we got married so she is probably 10 yrs. She is a real working collie and helps us with our cows. Unfortunately, Baby is pretty deaf now so is not quite as much help as she used to be. So my thinking was, lets get a puppy for her to help us train in the art of herding cows. I contacted this breeder and he had 3 puppies left. I looked at pictures on line and found one that I thought was really sweet and had the markings I wanted. He told me that she knew basic commands already and had already been around cows so she shouldn't be afraid of them. She sounded perfect so she was delivered to me on Father's Day. Andy had no idea I was doing this. When he saw her he was soooo excited! I think it was the best day of his life. The puppy had already been named Happy because of her personality and we couldn't think of anything that suited her more.

A day in the life of Happy begins like this. Wake up after a not so good night sleep, wait she didn't sleep at all, she barked all night long. For those of you that have had or will have a Border Collie, they have a very unique bark or at least both of ours do. They kinda sound like they are being strangled as they are barking (I wish). Anyway, so she wakes up and proceeds to go hunting for trash wherever that may be. She then will bring it up into the yard and shred it into pieces making our yard look like white trash heaven. I have found, just to name a few, pink insulation, pieces of water hose, beer bottles, McDonald's wrapers, feed sacks, dead animals, ect. Continuing on with her day, she then proceeds to follow Griffen around like a shadow (her only saving grace) or actually herds him around. They absolutley love each other. Then she finds my bulbs in the garage that I was going to plant last fall. She eats them. She then finds a brand new bag of potting soil. Oh how she loves to play in the dirt.....all over the garage. My favorite is when earlier this year I just got back from the grocery store and had popped the trunk on the van. I had to run inside to do something and it took me a couple of minutes to get back outside to unload the van. When I came outside there was Loafer and Happy out in the grass drinking a gallon of milk. Of course Happy would not be strong enough to lift a gallon of milk up and out of the van like a Great Dane would be able too, but I know she was brains of the operation. So as her day winds down, she finds it necessary to kill a chicken that has gotten out of the coop, chase a baby bunny until it gives up and dies and then proceeds to bark all night long, again.

By the way, did I mention how much Andy loves this dog? He sleeps with her in the hammock. She rides in the truck with him (after she finally quit throwing up), she goes with him to the chicken houses, and she plays fetch with him. She is mans best friend. (not womans) Not once has this dog herded cows. She is the most useless animal ever. I will never get him anything alive for Father's Day again. This year he is getting a coffee cup.