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Shaken not stirred.
Sat 17th August, 2013
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Blue arrived from the breeder in Canterbury on Thursday and I picked him up from the air-port none the worse for his flight. He's settling in really well and doing a first class job of training the both of us. All pups need a lot of input but this is especially important with a breed like the Border collie.
This from Wikipedia ;
The Border Collie is a herding dog breed developed in the Anglo-Scottish border region for herding livestock, especially sheep.
Ranked number one in Stanley Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs and typically extremely energetic, acrobatic, smart and athletic, they frequently compete with great success in dog sports, in addition to their success in sheepdog trials, and are often cited as the most intelligent of all dogs. In January 2011, a Border Collie was reported to have learned 1,022 words, and acts consequently to human citation of those words.
History
The Border Collie is descended from land-race collies, a type found widely in the British Isles. The name for the breed came from its probable place of origin along the Anglo-Scottish border.
Mention of the "Collie" or "Colley" type first appeared toward the end of the 19th century, although the word "collie" is older than this and has its origin in Lowland Scots dialects.
It is also thought that the word 'collie' comes from the old Celtic word for useful. Many of the best Border Collies today can be traced back to a dog known as Old Hemp.
In 1915, James Reid, Secretary of the International Sheep Dog Society (ISDS) in the United Kingdom first used the term "Border Collie" to distinguish those dogs registered by the ISDS from the Kennel Club's Collie (or Scotch Collie, including the Rough Collie and Smooth Collie) which originally came from the same working stock but had developed a different, standardised appearance following introduction to the show ring in 1860 and mixture with other breeds.
 Old Hemp
Old Hemp, a tricolor dog, was born in September 1893 and died in May 1902. He was bred by Adam Telfer from Roy, a black and tan dog, and Meg, a black-coated, strong-eyed dog.
Hemp was a quiet, powerful dog that sheep responded to easily. Many shepherds used him for stud and Hemp's working style became the Border Collie style.
All pure Border Collies alive today can trace an ancestral line back to Old Hemp.
They demand a lot of mental and physical stimulation so I'm going to be tied up for a while and will have to rely on others for any news from the river. Mark sent me this hot off the press last night.
He recently spent a few weeks in America fishing the Colorado river. One of his guides was a young guy called TJ who is coming to New Zealand for the first time later this year.
Hey Mike,
Pulled this fella out of the riffle above the bridge - no more than a foot deep. Lost four more including a couple of good sized rainbows and another brown, busted off in the fast water , all inside an hour tonight ... just after the earthquake hit Wellington.
TJ , one day you have to try this , the Tongariro is fishing as good as it gets at the moment.
Browns are not often seen this time of the year -more common in the Summer and Autumn when they average 6-7 lb
Rainbows at the moment are good solid fish - average around 3lb , good fish 5 -6 lb
Looking at photos of your old mans new toy, I can see where you need to be. Nice boat - twin 150s ? Maybe we can set up an exchange sometime !
NZ is known as the "Shakey -isles" - as there is a fault line the length of the country. Earthquakes are not unusual but today's was a good one 6.6 on the Richter scale ...
would have spilt Mikes beer in Wellington.  
Just to make it interesting there are three active volcano's , Tongariro , Ngauruhoe and Ruapehu all in sight of the river and Mt Tongariro is blowing steam at the moment.
Good hiking trails through the mountains up to Ngauruhoe crater rim (Mt Doom in the lord of the rings films)
There are ski fields on Ruapehu below the crater lake.
Cheers Mark "
Until the pup has had all his jabs, life as we knew it is on hold. I drew the short straw so it was my turn to " baby-sit " this weekend but I've managed to sneak these few words in between all the mayhem. He's a little bundle of mischief with a personality and mind all of his own ... but he'll come round to our way of thinking ... one day. That blue eye really makes him stand out and we've already nicknamed him the " Terminator " ... ooooops ... gotta go ... Arnold wants a pee !
  
Sssscccchhhh !
Tight lines guys
Mike |
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