On Friday, the Wilcox family received a long-awaited visit from Clover, a border collie who is employed as a domestic security consultant north of here.
After an intimidating first meeting, Naomi and Clover became fast friends. NaNi adopted the same pose as Clover for all their photos together. (Note that Naomi is wearing some of her new Geekwear: a “Version 2.0” t-shirt.)
More hints has said that Clover presented on such important topics as stick-fetching, ball-fetching, stick destroying, Nerf-ball chewing, human herding, neighborhood patrols, criminal background checks, and indicating when one needs to use the little dog’s room. (I am told by Matt Camillieri that other canines, such as Winnie Sohmer, are not so good at communicating such a vital topic.)
Clover is a good dog.
Winnie says that Clover has sold out to the man.
Now I want a Border Collie. (I was looking at puppy pictures online yesterday.) And I haven’t wanted a dog since my very early childhood.
Clover hasn’t sold out to “the man” she is “the man”! Poodles are hardly canines!
Do you see how Clover is smiling? She knows when she’s appreciated.
Now this is getting vile when my beloved Winnie the POOdle is being besmeared!
Star Wars: Episode VII: Rise of the Dweebs
Hey, I’m posting to your BLOG from my Blackberry! :nerd:
There was an ad in the Market Bulletin (NH Dept. of Ag Newsletter) this week for Border Collie puppies…starting at $700! That may affect your desire for one! Clover was half that, and worth 3x as much! 😉 One thing I learned from our sheep days is that the more an animal costs, the sooner it will die!
Border Collies take such rigorous training and require such vigorous activity that people need to be really careful before getting one as a pet. It’s as much a commitment as having a child, but all scrunched into a shorter amount of time. On the other hand, if you’re looking for a pet that yaps incessantly, gets overexcited and has “accidents” in the house with grim determination, then get a toy poodle. [Not in reference to any toy poodle SPECIFICALLY, of course. (I wonder why so much as made of their poodle when their big dog is infinitely more interesting?!) I had several toy poodles in my childhood and early adulthood. I much prefer a standard if you gotta have a poodle – much quieter, more cooperative and more sane. I do have a prejudice against toys of all breeds, however. [Have you noticed that every owner of a large motorhome owns one? I think they come with the motorhome when you buy it.]
Some of the listings for Border Collies I found were $250, plus another $200 for transport to anywhere in the US. It’s still more than I can afford right now, and I’m not a compulsive buyer.
I haven’t been deceiving myself about the amount of work required for training (or care, exercising, or maintenance), which is another reason I’m not going to run out and get one.
Clover shows the results of very good training (which must have taken a great deal of work—I can’t imagine how long it took to teach her to read, type, and do criminal background checks), and her intelligence is very evident as well, even in her subtle ways of trying to control the play situations—like intentionally dropping the fetched ball just out of reach.
As you know, I don’t like those yappy dogs, either. Ugh!
Clover’s the first dog that I’ve seen in two decades that made me think about having a dog in the family. (I am—or was—a cat person, but Isaac is dreadfully allergic to cats.)
Maybe it was “the Naomi Factor”—NaNi clearly adored Clover.
I have a brilliant solution:
Beth and Clover will become famous, and we’ll get a Border Collie that we already know is a noble example of her breed.
Beth can clone Clover!