Hugh, a sheep farmer in County Kerry, Ireland and his dogs
Good Day, God
What a TREAT it was today to hear this sheep farmer talk about his dogs. First, it was clear how much he loved and valued his two dogs — second, it was magical to see them working together — and third, we had Mother Dog behaviors to watch.
The Mother Dog, Sally, is the one chained up by the fence. The farmer, Hugh, chained her up because she kept “cleaning up” the mistakes her daughter, Rose, made. Rose is still being trained and if she missed a command, Sally would be right there fixing it. As Hugh said, it was like a mother teaching her daughter how to do the dishes by keeping on doing them.
These are Border Collies, God, so I bet Sally would have been “cleaning up after” Rose even if she hadn’t been the Mother. Boy! Are these dogs obsessive, or WHAT! But then, perhaps, “hard workers” would be a better descriptive phrase — or maybe these dogs just have VERY HIGH ENERGY? Hugh said that after a month on the mountain they are so tired from running all day long that when he gives a command he can see the dogs eying each other as if to say, “Isn’t it your turn?” So, maybe their eagerness is related to their energy level.
I felt for Rose. She slunk close to the ground when Hugh yelled a repeat of a command she hadn’t understood. She felt awful. Here she is with her paws on Hugh’s leg, asking for reassurance. He made it clear that you praised the dogs for what you wanted more of. I could have stood there all day listening to him tell dog stories.
Now, God, it comes to me. You could have made all of us people to be like Border Collies — hard working with high energy. That’s what I would have done. But You didn’t do that. And, after thinking about it, I’m glad You didn’t make us all alike.
THANK YOU GOD that we are so very varied. But we need help in dealing with this immense diversity! Ah, God. We need minds to match Your Reality!
Or is it that we need to OPEN our minds to Your Reality?
Story teller,
A Moment with God 
I just love border collies. I was looking for information on them and found Border Collies, Diversity and Me I’ve got 7 and they’re so much fun. No other dog has quite the same intelligence and understanding as one of these guys.