In late July Ailsa and I went up to Armidale in northern NSW to meet the woman who rescued me from the farm and to go to sheepdog school. When I came to Canberra to live with Ailsa I flew down in a plane and I did not realise how far away it was. It took us two days to drive up and two days to drive back – over 2000k - and we were both very tired – Ailsa because she was driving and me because I was helping her from the back seat. I carefully pointed out all the cars on the road and the trucks and the caravans and sometimes there were cows and sheep.
We left on a Thursday and drove out towards Yass in thick fog – I thought I would help by barking loudly all the time to help warn other cars to stay away from us. It was foggy nearly all the way to Cowra where we stopped and had an early lunch because the sun had come out. From there we went to Canowindra and then up to Wellington and across to Mudgee. We went to a couple of vineyards and a cheese factory where they let me have some samples as well and I can strongly recommend it and a honey place where Ailsa tried some stuff called mead and bought a bottle.
We stayed in a lovely renovated country house at Mudgee on the way up and back. They have made the old stables into 2 apartments for people travelling with children and/or dogs – other people are allowed to stay in the house. I thought it was wonderful – a huge garden full of interesting smells, cattle and horses and sheep in the adjoining fields, a friendly golden Labrador to play with, home made dog biscuits, and a nice fire to sleep in front of.
The next day it poured with rain but we went up across country through lots of little villages and towns until eventually we got to Uralla just south of Armidale where we were staying. It is a village like Bungendore with old houses and shops. We were tired and went to bed early on Friday night and on Saturday morning we were up early because we had to go to sheepdog school to meet Janine and Spy. It was cool but not very cold and at least it was not raining.
Ailsa had arranged to meet Janine, who rescued me, at the sheepdog school at Uralla Showground and when we got there we saw about 60 people with dogs – I was wondering how to find her when suddenly there she was, my tail went up and started going around in circles (always a sign of happiness) and I dragged Ailsa across to meet her and Spy, then I leapt up and covered her face with kisses. She hugged me and said that I had not changed. I gave her the presents I had bought for her and Spy and Ally her human puppy. The picture above is of me with Janine and Spy. She also has a new Koolie called KC who is quite young. We had a lovely weekend at sheepdog school – Spy is really good – she is more advanced than I am but I think that Janine would have been pleased with my progress. Robert said I am doing really well.
It was so nice that she recognised me after two years and we all ended up in floods of tears. Janine was so pleased to see that I can work sheep well since that farmer was going to shoot me for not working. It was really good catching up with my foster sister Spy as well – Spy has lots of titles.
It was really sad to say goodbye to Janine and Spy but on Monday we had to start our trip back – we had good weather on the way back and stopped at lots of antique shops although Ailsa did not buy much. Just outside Coolah we got caught up in the middle of lots of cows which a farmer was moving up the road – we were there for at least 30 minutes and I tried to help by barking at them to get them to hurry up – most of them just ignored me but one cheeky one pressed his face to the window and mooed at me – the nerve of it. I gave him a good growl. Then the farmer came up on his horse and he was using two border collies and a couple of Koolies to move the cattle so I barked to let them know I had been helping them.
We stayed in the same place in Mudgee which was good and then the next day we came back through Sofala, Bathurst, Blayney and then through Cowra again. I was really glad to get home – I had not realized that driving was such hard work – Ailsa was tired too and we had an early dinner and a very early night. The next morning we slept late but we had to get up eventually because we had to get the house ready because my friend Peter is coming back from Europe on Friday and is going to stay with us until his house is ready
We left on a Thursday and drove out towards Yass in thick fog – I thought I would help by barking loudly all the time to help warn other cars to stay away from us. It was foggy nearly all the way to Cowra where we stopped and had an early lunch because the sun had come out. From there we went to Canowindra and then up to Wellington and across to Mudgee. We went to a couple of vineyards and a cheese factory where they let me have some samples as well and I can strongly recommend it and a honey place where Ailsa tried some stuff called mead and bought a bottle.
We stayed in a lovely renovated country house at Mudgee on the way up and back. They have made the old stables into 2 apartments for people travelling with children and/or dogs – other people are allowed to stay in the house. I thought it was wonderful – a huge garden full of interesting smells, cattle and horses and sheep in the adjoining fields, a friendly golden Labrador to play with, home made dog biscuits, and a nice fire to sleep in front of.
The next day it poured with rain but we went up across country through lots of little villages and towns until eventually we got to Uralla just south of Armidale where we were staying. It is a village like Bungendore with old houses and shops. We were tired and went to bed early on Friday night and on Saturday morning we were up early because we had to go to sheepdog school to meet Janine and Spy. It was cool but not very cold and at least it was not raining.
Ailsa had arranged to meet Janine, who rescued me, at the sheepdog school at Uralla Showground and when we got there we saw about 60 people with dogs – I was wondering how to find her when suddenly there she was, my tail went up and started going around in circles (always a sign of happiness) and I dragged Ailsa across to meet her and Spy, then I leapt up and covered her face with kisses. She hugged me and said that I had not changed. I gave her the presents I had bought for her and Spy and Ally her human puppy. The picture above is of me with Janine and Spy. She also has a new Koolie called KC who is quite young. We had a lovely weekend at sheepdog school – Spy is really good – she is more advanced than I am but I think that Janine would have been pleased with my progress. Robert said I am doing really well.
It was so nice that she recognised me after two years and we all ended up in floods of tears. Janine was so pleased to see that I can work sheep well since that farmer was going to shoot me for not working. It was really good catching up with my foster sister Spy as well – Spy has lots of titles.
It was really sad to say goodbye to Janine and Spy but on Monday we had to start our trip back – we had good weather on the way back and stopped at lots of antique shops although Ailsa did not buy much. Just outside Coolah we got caught up in the middle of lots of cows which a farmer was moving up the road – we were there for at least 30 minutes and I tried to help by barking at them to get them to hurry up – most of them just ignored me but one cheeky one pressed his face to the window and mooed at me – the nerve of it. I gave him a good growl. Then the farmer came up on his horse and he was using two border collies and a couple of Koolies to move the cattle so I barked to let them know I had been helping them.
We stayed in the same place in Mudgee which was good and then the next day we came back through Sofala, Bathurst, Blayney and then through Cowra again. I was really glad to get home – I had not realized that driving was such hard work – Ailsa was tired too and we had an early dinner and a very early night. The next morning we slept late but we had to get up eventually because we had to get the house ready because my friend Peter is coming back from Europe on Friday and is going to stay with us until his house is ready
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