At last in August we got an opportunity to go sheepdog school again. It was freezing cold and rainy and, of course, we had to go to sheepdog school at Brad’s place out at Binalong. There was no way I was missing it so I was up at the crack of dawn ready to wake Ailsa at 6.00 so she was ready to leave by 6.30. She was not impressed, particularly when she saw how cold and wet it was. The first trauma on the way there was when on the highway to Melbourne which is a divided road, there was an old couple in a car coming up the wrong side of the road towards us. We flashed our lights and tooted the horn at them but they must have been doing it for ages because the road is divided for a long way back. Just as well there was not a nasty accident. To get to Brad’s place we had to go on a dirt road for 6km – you can imagine what that was like after it had been raining all night. At one point we had to cross a causeway and the water was already up to the road

Anyway, enough of the trauma, we were there to play with the sheep and that is what we did – three goes each day. Robert who taught us at Echuca was there and he was teaching us again. By the end of Sunday Ailsa and I could take the sheep around the paddock together without losing any – I hope we can still do that next time. We met some people we knew from the dog club like Greg and Ruby who are often doing agility in the next field while we are playing ball, and Maureen who told us about herding to begin with, and Gillian who comes from London and has a border collie called Meg who is as keen on sheep as I am, and Michelle who was down at Echuca with us – she has a famous Koolie called Chance who has won titles at shows. About half the dogs came from Canberra and the rest were farm dogs. Robert said I worked as well as the farm dogs which was good because I want to make Ailsa and Kerrie and Janine (who saved me from the farm) proud of me.

The funniest thing that happened was when Robert made the people go in with just one sheep and get the sheep to move around by walking near it and finding its point of balance (something we sheepdogs do instinctively but people find difficult). Anyway, Ailsa was the last to go in and that sheep was getting a bit toey from being stalked by all these people. I thought it might charge at Ailsa and was planning how to rescue her, but it did not – it made a bid for freedom instead, jumped out of the shearing shed windows and was last seen leaping for joy at having escaped from all these people. The station we were on is a big one so I don’t think it will get lost.

Michelle had some new puppies with her – 7 week old Koolie pups – one little boy pup got a chance to see the sheep as well and it looks as though he has good Koolie genes and will make a good sheepdog. There was another little boy puppy called Mike Tyson who was born deaf and Michelle was looking for a good pet home for him. Ailsa was cuddling him to keep him warm and showed him to me and asked what I thought, well I know what I thought, I thought she was getting clucky, so I growled at him and curled my lip so she would see that a puppy was not a good idea. She already has a good dog and should be satisfied with what she has.

Saturday night we were exhausted and Ailsa had to stop for a rest on the way home because she has not been sleeping well – when we got home we had dinner and went to bed but she still did not sleep although she was very tired. Sunday night was the same and on Monday she had to get up in pouring rain and go to work for the morning – I don’t think she was happy. I got to sleep in which was good. I had had a really good time and she knew it and promised we would go to as many sheepdog schools as possible after that. You should have seen her car–red brown with mud all over instead of green and shiny. I thought she might wash it but she says there is a drought on despite all the rain and it is bad to waste water.

That afternoon a woman called Judith came round with her special hydrobath to give me a bath – I don’t know why because I really did not need one – I had already had a mud bath yesterday when I rolled in the sheepyard in the rain and that has to be good for the skin and fur – I know Ailsa uses mud soap and mud shampoo sometimes so what is the difference? And what happened to not wasting water???? She said I smelt of sheep – well of course I did – I am a working dog and I had been working sheep. Anyway, now I ended up clean and smelling of lavender which is a bit poncy compared with the good honest sheep smell I had before.

After this we started going to sheepdog school every month. In October Ailsa had to go to New Zealand again to see Grandma and my new friend Lesley, who used to live next door to Ailsa in Moscow, came and stayed with me. She took me on lots of long walks and gave good cuddles and rubs – perhaps she is particularly good at this because she is a masseuse. I really missed Ailsa while she was away and I think she must have missed me too because she bought me a nice new collar – bright red with a black and white dog like me herding sheep on it and also a funny looking ball with a face on which looks just like someone who is on TV all the time here and has a really annoying voice. Ailsa said that he is the Prime Minister, whatever that is, and he runs the country. I have been giving him a good chew.

On the Saturday and Sunday after Ailsa came back we all had to get up really early because we went to sheepdog school again and it is a long way and you have to be there early. After we had had nice weather all week, it was freezing cold and raining and strong winds out at Binalong at the farm we go to. I am alright because I have a double fur coat which keeps me warm and insulated but the people all had lots of layers on and some of them could hardly walk. Luckily Ailsa had bought some special shoes in New Zealand and a thick farmer’s sweater but I think she has decided she needs some wet weather gear. Lesley came too so I had the opportunity to show her what a good sheepdog I am learning to be – I think she was impressed because she has not been to a sheepdog school before and I am definitely better than some of the other dogs – I did my best to help the others by barking instructions when they were trying to work their sheep but some of them were too stupid to listen.

My friend Robert ran the school again and he gave me a special welcome pat – I like Robert a lot. This time he brought his wife Jenny with him and now she is my friend too. They know Janine who rescued me from the farm and they are going to see her in a few weeks – they promised to say hello from me and Ailsa and to let Janine know that I am a good sheep dog and am doing well at my studies. I got four goes with the sheep in a very muddy paddock and I thought Ailsa was going to fall on her bottom in the mud but she did not. A couple of sheep did escape over the fence though. Robert said we have improved lots and can start preparing for the Herding Instinct Test – if we pass that we can go into sheepdog trials. One go we had with Jenny and she said I was a really good worker – I hope she tells Janine that – I want Janine to be proud of me. I think Ailsa is pleased with me because lots of people told her a rescue dog could not learn to work sheep. When we got home each night we were too tired to do anything and I just curled up on my nice soft bed and fell asleep.