Goodbye Flo

Today is a sad day, as we have made the very difficult decision to sell Flo back to the breeder we purchased her from. It’s a true head/ heart predicament, as although she is a lovely dog and works well when she’s in the right frame of mind, she is inconsistent, and Fraser needs a dog that wants to work all the time, and won’t scatter the sheep; something Flo excels at as she’s so aggressive with them. Over the next few months we will be gathering sheep off the hill, so Fraser needs a dog he can trust to bring them in. A good dog is worth its weight in gold on a hill farm, as it’s like another person working the hill with you. As Fraser’s uncle told us today: a great sheep dog will teach you what to do.

In my mind, this is the first time we’ve really had to make a difficult ‘business’ decision on the farm, and what we had to remember in doing so is that the dogs are here to work. The other day, in a last ditch attempt to install some work ethic into Flo, Fraser took her to a top sheep dog trainer. Unfortunately she did nothing right, and the trainer confirmed that dogs need that extra bit of intelligence to work a rugged hill – completely different terrain to fields – and Flo just hasn’t got ‘it’. Whilst she’s fast, fit and aggressive with the sheep, she doesn’t have that keen eye and determination to always want to work, and to work under her own steam.

And so it came that we were faced with the dilemma of either cutting our losses now, or persevering in the hope she might come good. Unfortunately, the head has to rule in this situation. I’m driving down South next Wednesday anyway, so will be taking Flo back to the breeder then. This will break my heart and won’t be easy; but we have to do what’s right for the business. In the meantime, Fraser is on the hunt for another dog – if you hear of any, let us know!

So all that’s left to say is we wish Flo all the best, wherever she ends up – we’ve no doubt that with lots of hard work and on the right farm, someone will find her a fantastic asset and companion. We will all miss her terribly here at Shellfield.

Au Revoir Flosy Wosy xx