Last night was Gigi's second night of Obedience School. She did quite well, as I expected her to do, as we have already been working on sit and down and come. It's very odd having a dog like Gigi. When out on a walk or hike; strangers ask, "Is that a Border Collie?" They comment on her beauty. She draws attention. I am now the owner of a Border Collie.
I'm used to being the owner of Biscuit the Wonder Dog. Biscuit is a dog of indeterminate breeding. People will ask what kind of breed she is (their guess is as good as mine...), but they don't ooh and ahh over her in quite the same way. Biscuit has been allowed to pass under the radar. At agility trials she's overlooked until she quite often has the fastest time. Or when she fails, she still is visibly having the most fun. She surprises people and then makes them smile. Biscuit actually has quite a fan club. But her fan club is made up of people who have watched her perform - successfully and poorly. They love her because of who she is.
With Gigi comes expectations. Her breed is generally intelligent and quick to learn. People tend to respond to her because of what, not who, she is. They judge her before we get to show them what we can do (or cannot do). They expect her to do well. It puts much more pressure on me.
It is an interesting addition to this training process.
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Border Collie
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
That's interesting. I haven't had quite so much of that because, thanks to her coloring, Silver looks sort of like an Australian Shepherd to the untrained eye. People spend much more time trying to figure out which she is.
ReplyDeleteGigi has "classic" good looks. :-)
Border collies are just sweet babies, period. When they aren't trying to herd you, nipping at your heels.
ReplyDelete