If It's Free It's for Me!

vanity? Do we try and use our dogs to show the sheepdog world how talented we are? Is it ineptitude? Can we not so much as even train one effectively, so we blame the dog, toss him aside, and try again with another? Is it great compassion? No one can provide for a dog as well as we can, so we accumulate? Is it financially rewarding? Do we breed to make money, then end up with a full kennel of breeding stock? Is it ignorance? Do we breed bisquit-eaters to bisquit-eaters and end up with a lot of dogs no one else wants? Is it necessity? Do we have livestock in numbers requiring more than a few dogs to get the job done? Is it love of the sport? Most trials allow us to run 2 open, 2 nursery and 2 pro-novice/ranch dogs. That's 6 right there. Is it our job? Do we train and sell dogs professionally? Are we mushers? Just exactly why do dog-sled mushers keep so many dogs?
August 1, 2010 - And the winner is...Loretta Mueller of Full-Tilt Border Collies in Pierz, MN. Please read her comment below, but I simply could not resist the reference to the movie Gremlins. Very funny, well incorporated into her post, it made me laugh, and Loretta a winner.

I want to thank everyone for playing. I love to hear from my readers, and I was so happy to be able to repay the readership in some small way. Thanks again, everyone. I appreciate it.

I have been wondering about the nature of this dog-ownership phenomenon and was talking about it just the other day with another hand. Is it

I only have the questions. I don't have any answers, so I thought I would ask you, then reward you for your thoughtful reply.

The Contest:

Please leave a comment (doesn't have to be Gone with the Wind) to this post, and tell me how many dogs you have, and why. Whether you have only 1, or 10, or none, but hoping, I want to hear from you. We're not limited to Border Collie stockdogs, or any other breed in particular. That's just my frame of reference, and what got me thinking. So, if you want to play, and what you have is 36 Dandy Dinmonts, 1 lovable mutt, or anything in between, I'de like to hear about it.

At the end of the month, July, I'll choose a winner. There's absolutely no criteria for winning beyond which reply tickles me the most by month-end. However, you are all in the running for a $40 gift certificate to CSN Stores, where you will find just about everything under the sun. Pet stuff, home furnishings, outdoor, necessities for the babes and kids, luggage, it's all there...somewhere. Check it out, then come back here and tell me all about it.

Caveat: You must somehow get your email addy to me so I can send you the gift certificate. If you don't want to comment here, em me privately, and I'll post for you and just use your first name. Anonymous posts can't be considered, because again, I need an email. The gift certificate does not include shipping charges, and for international (including Canada unfortunately) (I mean it's North America afterall) addresses, international fees may apply on certain products.

That's it. The latest BorderSmith contest. Tell me all about it. I can't wait to hear how many and why, and good luck to all!

By Pup-u-lar Vote

From this group of adorable, male, candidates, I will be choosing a puppy, and I need a name. I've narrowed the list to just 5 choices, but I'm stuck, and hopeful that you guys will help me. Here are your choices: OZ - QUILL - JED - TINE - FYNN.

My friend, Llona, (thank you Llona,) bred these beautiful pups out of her nice bitch, Sweet (Milliken's Grace x Davidson's ##Star) and by Suzi Applegate's 2008 USBCHA Nursery Champion, Buzz. I'm hoping for the best, but I need a name!

I've chosen these names because, a. I like them, and b. they don't sound like names of the other dogs in my kennel, Price, Mirk, Star or Taff. Forget about little Dexie. He's one of those dogs that don't count in the count, if you know what I mean.

I don't know which one "mine" will be. I'm second on the list, (thank you Llona,) and I have yet to get to her place and make my selection. So, we're kind of shooting blind here, but the names are oft-used and very traditional, all chosen from the ISDS Border Collie Database list of dog names.

Here's what you do. Please choose a name from the list provided and leave it in a comment to this post. If you can't figure out how to do that, (it happens to me sometimes too,) you can send me an email, or private message, and I'll leave the comment for you. You don't get anything by participating, except the satisfaction of knowing that you participated in the success of a working Border Collie. You gotta call 'em something.

Everyone can play, and I encourage you to do so. Friend, enemy, arch-enemy, acquaintance, complete I-will-never-in-my-life-meet-you-or-even-know-your-name stranger, Llona, (thanks Llona,) anyone at all. I will compile the tally between now and July 1, 2010, and announce the winner here. Thanks for playing, and helping to name little...what's his name?

The Caption Contest for June

Honestly, she had me from the word "Cowboy." I'm such a sucker for the genre. Marilyn T is winner of the Caption Contest for June with this crazy clever entry: "Hmmm lets see. The cowboy said three wraps and a hooey with this piggin string and I would have complete control over this kid. Now how to get three legs together in order to tie him up." Chris R submitted this for second place: "Once and for all, you don't get all the attention. Now, let's go!" With that bit of dialogue, chris captured the relationship between tenacious little Dexie, and the big dogs. Congrats to both, and everyone else who played. I am sure it's more fun more me to read than it is for the submitters to write and I appreciate everyone's efforts so much. For the most part, the big dogs play nice with little Dexter. In his youthful exuberance though, Star plays too rough sometimes. Seizing the opportunity, Dexter is about to get even.

It's contest time again and this one is a caption contest. For a week you guys will have the opportunity to amaze me again with your wit, wisdom and humor. Write a caption, dialogue, whatever and this time I'm upping the ante. First prize is a 1 year subscription/renewal to The Real Time Canine and 6 months for second.

Please post your entry as a comment to this post, or email me privately and I'll submit it for you. I can't wait to see what you come up with this time. Cheers, have fun and good luck!

BorderSmith SheepShot PelletPick ConTest

Congratulations to Kellen and Cyndi for winning 1st and 2nd prize in the PelletPick ConTest. The actual number is 229 pellets. Kellen guessed 215 and Cyndi, 199. I don't know how they arrived at their numbers, whether they drank, filled and guessed, or just made a guess, but it's done and these two have carried off the spoils. Kellen gets a 6 month subscription to The Real Time Canine and the plaque with my thanks. Cyndi receives a 3 month subscription, and honorable mention goes to Marsha, who not only guessed the name of the bird depicted on the plaque, but also gave me the genus and species; laughing Kookaburra or Dacelo novaeguineae. I'm impressed! Thanks to all who took the time to play. I appreciate it. I know you have all been waiting anxiously, so here it is, another contest, The BorderSmith SheepShot PelletPick. After reading this, you will know what I've known for years... I need a life. First I drained the beer bottle in the photo above, and then another. I collected sheep pellets and put them through the strainer shown below, (made from a rug pad, trash can and 4 spring clamps,) to remove debris. No, I'm not that clever, thank you very much Jeffrey. I filled the bottle with the pellets, while keeping count, thank you very much Jeffrey for helping me keep track, and the winner will guess the correct (or closest to it) number of pellets in the bottle.

Here are the hints:

1. It's a 12 fluid ounce bottle
2. With a slight beer buzz, it took me 7 minutes to fill the bottle
3. The number of pellets in the bottle is an odd number.

I sheared my ewes a couple weeks ago and traded wool to a local yarn/craft shop for this gorgeous 3"x15" ceramic wall hanging. Together with a 6 month subscription/renewal to The Real Time Canine, the plaque goes to the winner, including shipping within the continental US. Second prize is a 3 month subscription/renewal to The RTC and honorable mention goes to the person who most intelligently guesses what kind of bird is on the plaque.

Please leave your guesses as comments to this post or email me privately and I'll post the comment anonymously. If there is more than 1 correct guess submitted, I will draw straws for you. Trust me! The number of pellets has not been verified in any way, but I know what it is. Really, trust me! The contest will run for 2 weeks, anyone can play and good luck to all.