A post about Audacity!

Most of the time I sing her praises and there is much to praise! But no dog is perfect, so I want to touch on a few of her "issues."

Daci is high drive and high arousal. She's driven out the ears, will always focus and engage, no matter the environment. But even when she isn't in drive, she's easy to hype up. If the dogs are all racing to go outside, she barks at them like a bossy girl and if you act silly at her she will run into your space and shove you with her feet! It's not hostile behavior, but it is high arousal. Which has it's positives and negatives!

Audacity is also not the most coordinated dog yet. She's not a total klutz but she will sometimes launch herself and miscalculate. Like at agility class a few weeks ago, when she ran up the A frame and just kept flying! She missed nearly the entire down side and crashed and slid in the dirt. However she is very resilient because she had no hesitation to get right on it again, so that was good. Some dogs would have been traumatized!

She's such a love with people but really couldn't care much less about dogs aside from the ones she lives with, who she gets along great with. But I don't think she'll be the dog to toss into most any situation like her mother Calypso is. She's not afraid to correct a dog if they invade her space and she can be snarky!

I think Audacity is on track to being a great little sport dog, she may end up doing some tasks for me, and of course she's a beloved companion. If she is eventually bred, I think it would be to a working line BC. The more Border Collies I meet, the more I recognize that the working variety is my favorite and the best representation of the breed in terms of historical relevance. But there are several confo dogs I love and I have been very pleased with the Space litter and how well they are turning out! We're seeing a little reactivity in a pup or two but nothing extreme and I have a feeling maturity is going to look very good on all of them. I hope one day I get to see what Calypso can produce if bred differently, too! I also love purpose bred mixes, so that option is in consideration as well. 

Yesterday Vintage turned 11 months old! My puppy isn't so much of a puppy anymore. She's such an amazing dog and truly all I had hoped to gain from the Marley x Abigail breeding.

She's incredibly high drive but she is not high arousal. She's driven in the way that nothing makes her hesitate to do the things she's driven for, no matter what's going on or who is around. She will play with me and engage in any setting I've put her in so far - busy parks with kids screaming and running around, near people playing sports, dogs playing, in stores and public settings, at trials. True drive is something amazing to see. Her herding drive is definitely her primary drive and most intense. I love what I'm seeing there so far and I need to get back into herding classes with her. It's a struggle when the trainers I would prefer to go to are far away and also very busy. My own schedule is tight as well so it's a poor combination and will likely lead to me having to do classes with the more local trainers which are still a full hour away. Downsides to living in the middle of nowhere and running your own business! Long drives and little free time.

Vintage is such a non reactive, confident, even keel pup. She really is so stable and it's a beautiful thing to see. Exactly what I think a Border Collie should be! She's friendly and outgoing but she isn't incessant and I have a feeling as she continues to mature, she will have mostly eyes for me.

She's impressively coordinated for such a baby and snatches disc's out of the air and lands so precisely on her feet, like she was born to do it. I have not seen her lose her footing. When she was little, she would jump onto and stand on our window sills which are probably 4-5 inches wide, like a cat!

To top it all off, she is so affectionate and obsessed with me. Like her mama! She is a perfect combination of her two lovely parents and I couldn't be happier with my Vinti bean.