Nanna, the babysitter

I have shared photos of my border collie here before but for those who are new to my blog, this is SadieMae. She is a rescue pup that came to live with us 2 years ago this coming August. She is a dog that is true to her nature and breed. Much training has gone into this sweetheart but still there are quirks that are ingrained, they are part of the dogly fabric of her life. Part of her ingrained nature is to herd and watch out for the lambs. The lambs in this case are my grandchildren. I babysit these little angels every Tuesday night while their mom and dad teach a young adult class at a local coffee shop. Since the weather has been nice, I take the kiddos out to play for an hour or so after dinner. There is no way on God’s green earth that SadieMae is going to stay in the house. According to her she must come outside to keep an eye on these lambs. If the lambs go out of their assigned territory she corrals them back. If they run she cuts them off at the pass. If they persist she will nip them so the lambs have learned to stop when she rushes toward them. The smallest lamb, who is 20 months, sits in my lap and watches the action. Now before you think SadieMae is a bad puppy, I must let you know she is gentle and loving toward these little lambs. A couple of weeks ago the oldest male lamb (6 years old) picked up an arm thingy that is attached to my rebounder (exercise trampoline) and began to play with it. This piece of equipment is off limits to the lambs because it’s not the toy they think it is and I don’t want these sweethearts injured. SadieMae took the little lambs arm in her mouth ever so gently and the lamb dropped the arm thingy. When he dropped it, SadieMae picked it up and pushed it under the rebounder so he couldn’t get it. That same evening she herded the youngest lamb from going into the room with the rebounder, that little lamb was quite fussy that he couldn’t do what he wanted to do but SadieMae was persistent and did win the battle. The young lamb finally went and lay down on a rug in our dining room; SadieMae sat down a few feet from him to keep a watchful eye on him. When the lambs finally went to bed SadieMae came into the family room and flopped down on the floor with the biggest sigh you ever heard. Her watchful duty was finished and she was tuckered out. Poor girl!. There are so many tales of the Nanny duties of SadieMae, I should write a book called “The Nanny Diaries of SadieMae". She is a special dog!