She is a tricolor, with white and fawn markings. She also has a naturally docked tail that is quite short.
This is Pippi Longstocking, so named for the long, white "stockings" on her legs.
Her tail is normal length.
These are English Shepherd/Australian Shepherd crosses. They were born in our house and have had daily interaction with us. They were whelped in a small room in our basement with access to the outside. They have a blanket under a heat lamp to sleep on and a wading pool with dirt in their room and during the day we leave the back door open where they have access to a small fenced in area. They prefer doing their "business" either in the dirt in their wading pool or in the grass outside which should give them a good headstart on housebreaking when they move to their new home.
They are used to children, our dogs, our cats and are being introduced to our poultry so they learn from early on that chickens are part of the family and to be protected rather than chased. They've also been taken down to the barn to play near the calf's stall so they are accustomed to the scent and the sounds of him.
Both parents are good farm dogs, alerting us to anything that comes on the property but they are otherwise quiet dogs, not prone to excessive barking. If they bark, we know that something is wrong. Generally, either the coyotes are active close to our property or the calf has escaped. Being herding dogs, they have been easy to train and actually work to try to understand what you want from them. My daughter has worked a lot with Faithfull for 4-H. We have not had Luke for very long, but he went to the State Fair in Faithfull's place when she went into heat and earned a purple ribbon.
Both parents have natural herding instincts. Faithfull (the English Shepherd mom) is a little more intense, keeping the stock and the other dogs in line. She recently earned her AKC Canine Good Citizenship certificate, and has earned champion ribbons in 4H for Showmanship, Tricks and Agility as well as a blue ribbon for Obedience.
Luke was dumped not far from where we live and we ended up taking him after neighbors couldn't locate an owner. He has been a wonderful companion to the children. In fact, we initially decided to keep him because he adopted my son and didn't bother the chickens. He tends to ignore the poultry and calf unless they leave the property. When the calf has escaped, he has alerted us and kept him from leaving the property. As soon as the calf is back where he belongs, Luke goes back to napping on the porch.
If you have any questions, please feel free to ask here in the comments or email me at thesciencemouse AT gmail DOT com.
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