Welcome Raif
Liz charnell
Gus was on the farm for 12 and a half years so a pretty good innings and a wonderful life for a dog - freedom to be, to roam, to chase cars and slow them down acting like the farm’s ‘mobile speed bump’, and of course to hunt things like pheasants, rats, pigeons and even do battle with the occasional fox - which invariably left him with another scar!
Gus died in May as he was about to go running off around the polytunnels - so although desperately sad I couldn't argue with the timing and circumstance!
Five months later after many tears and lots of puppy surfing, not to mention a few visits to litters of saluki puppies, I bought Raif - in every way a stark contrast to Gus. In fact, Raif is the antithesis to Gus!
He is a bearded collie and so (once fully grown) he will be unrecognizable to the photo here today. He will not chase deer, run off, fight foxes, or even chase cars. He will (hopefully) stay closer to me, obey some commands like ‘stay’ and have a recall response - that will be novel.
He will look shaggy and require grooming. Bearded collies are biddable and friendly so please don’t feed him treats at the coffee barn! So, if you see this wee thing walking the farm be assured that he lives here.
One day when he is older, I hope to learn how to work sheep with him, although I am not sure if the mix of sociable dog and working dog go well together...it's still a long way off!
