Mist's first day at school!

Mist is my sheepdog and companion.

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She came from a nearby farm at 8 weeks old.She was from a litter of eleven but as the farmer only had homes for two puppies the other nine were destroyed at birth. This may sound harsh but it is a more responsible attitude than ending up with unwanted adult dogs. She is a Belgian Sheepdog[type Malinois] cross lurcher. As you can see from the photo she is not the usual Border Collie type sheepdog. She is a large imposing dog with an amazing turn of speed[the lurcher in her] and an intuitive wish to work with sheep. She is also one of the friendliest dogs you will ever meet, her sole aim in life is to please, and she is very obedient unlike my other dog,a Basset Hound! They make an unlikely pair,but that's another story.

When Mist was about 18 months old I saw an article in the local paper for a Sheepdog training course being run by the Chambre d'Agriculture. I decided this could help us both as I had no idea on how to train a sheepdog. I put my name down and it was only then that I wondered if either of us would be up to the task.

The day of the first session dawned and of we went. Unfortunately Mist is a poor traveller and despite the travel sickness pill she was sick before we got to the end of our lane so that by the time we got to the venue she was feeling a little sorry for herself, and I didn't feel too good either! Luckily for both of us the morning was spent indoors without the dogs so she was able to sleep and recover.

My fellow trainees were of course all men. AS a lady farmer this is something I encounter all the time in France. When it came to describing our dogs I felt somewhat self conscious particularly as all the other participants [the men] had "normal" sheepdogs[all dogs].I put on a brave face and explained that I had a bitch because it is well known that "females" are more intelligent.

After lunch we took our dogs outside into a field for the fun to begin. The first task was to show the dog trainer how obedient the dogs were. This involved leaving your dog with the trainer walking away and calling your dog. I hung back and watched with utter foreboding as the first dog took off across the field in the opposite direction to it's owner, who took off in hot pursuit and was not seen again for some time. Several other dogs had obviously not read the book either.

Then it was my turn. I left Mist with the trainer and took up my position across the field. I could see the grins forming on this group of farmers, they thought they knew what was coming. I knew better. Mist was a star. She showed all those dogs how it should be done. I was so proud of her. I had hoped she would not let me down and she didn't. Her first day at school had gone well and we could look forward to the rest of the course,knowing that we had passed our first test.

We continued with the course on one day a week for several weeks and were just beginning to work with the sheep when disaster struck. Our flock of sheep was attacked on several occasions by unknown dogs, leaving sheep and lambs dead and injured. The flock was completely traumatised, as were we, and they could not tolerate any dog coming anywhere near them. So Mist and I had to abandon the course which was a great shame as I am convinced that with her intelligence she would have done really well.

Even though we didn't complete the training Mist does her best to help us with the sheep. She is so excited when we call her to work, and her desire to please is obvious for all to see. Everyone that meets her is captivated by her lovely nature.