Bauers Working Border Collies: Where has the time gone

I knew it had been a while since my last blog, you can imagine my surprise when I realised its been nearly TWO YEARS!!!!!!!!! So much has happened in the last two years I really don't know where to start, we still have a dogs which is a good start, our two girls are both in High school now(very scary to know your baby is in high school). The girls have also worn us down and we all have horses again, this has been a step in the right direction for all of including the dogs, even though they didn't think that at the start when they realised they had to walk home after moving stock. I have been fortunate enough to take on a job at our local sale yards, where I help unload sheep truck, move sheep around with the help of my dogs and also help the cattle sale. I have also found contact stock work on a few farms as well as the local lamb marking contractor. These jobs enable me to take my dogs to work with me and gives them more experience both in the paddock and yards. Jamie has settled into farm life well over the last three years, placing twice in the cropping competition at our local show with wheat and canola . His main passion is still working with sheep and cattle which he now does with his dogs and horse.

Our three favourite things in life.

Over the last two years our dogs have changed a little, I made a decision I never thought I would make and I sold my boy Sonny. It was very hard but he has gone to a great home where he lays around most of the time but still gets to help with the cows for a few days a week. Sweep has proven to be a great asset to our work team and breeding program, he will work cows and calves with force then go onto lambs in the next paddock with ease and calmness that is needed with lambs. Mist too has played a huge part with our dogs, with producing a very even line of pups to different sires, she has also shown us she is a very useful member of the working team.

Sweep with his daughter Floss who is out of Mist, pushing ewes and lambs up at the draft.

Minnie who is our Mist/Rees daughter is a great mixture of both parents and is very handy in both the paddock with a huge cast and outlook to go further, in the yards she has force and cover and has proven to be very good at backing. She has produced some very nice pups to different sires and they too are a very even type of pup.

Young Gooch who is now 2 is my main work dog and never gets left at home, he is very much like his father Sweep in so many ways. He is happy to work in the yards, with force and cover and will also back in the yards and in trucks, in the paddock is where he excels with a big cast and great outlook. Like his father Sweep he is able to adapt

the force needed when working cows and calves and then back to working flighty merino lambs, there can be days at home this can happen from one paddock to the next.

Gooch at about 15 months taking Shawn sheep back.

Gooch helping me move 1500 heavily pregnant ewes to there new paddocks over some steep country, I couldn't see him or the lead at this stage but not one was left behind.

Our young up and coming dogs are very exciting for us, they range from 17 months down too 3 months old. Friends of ours used Sonny over there bitch which produced a very nice litter of pups, all of which are showing traits of both Sonny and Fox. I was fortunate enough to get Bluefox Rubix from Amy late last year when Rubix was about 14 months old. Rubix has great presence with the right amount of eye and cover needed for a good work dog, he is also very happy too walk straight in on his stock. I have been taking him on small musters as well as working in the yards with Gooch.

Rubix showing some of his fathers style.

Bauers Pippa has been a long awaited pup from Mist and Redgate Sam whom Allen Munns imported from the UK in 2010. Pippa while still young is showing a good mixture of both Mist and Sam, she has not done much at this stage. Only seeing sheep every few weeks and helping in the yards on small easy jobs, I am looking forward to getting her into my work team very soon. We also have Bauers Jean she is only three months old and is out of Mist by Munns Jock, she has just switched on and we are liking what we see. Photos of her to come.

Pippa when she just switched onto sheep.

Bauers Henti who is by Munns Jock and out of Lyster Lucy has recently had pups too Sweep, Henti is a tough little bitch who has a huge heart. She excels in the paddock on cattle, she has a don't back down attitude to work and will take on any cow that comes out of the mood. She too will also drop back enough to work lambs, she is a great dog too have in the yards for force however she will not back LOL. I will post some better photos Henti soon, it only came to my attention while looking through the hundreds of photos I have of the dogs there was none of poor Henti. We do have one male pup still for sale from this litter.