To my great relief, Bonnie gradually recovered her moxie on the goats, and in a couple of weeks there was hardly a trace left of her disturbing behavior immediately after her trauma. But the incident did increase my already growing resolve to find a puppy.

Bonnie is three and half now. I can't say she is beyond a started level in most respects, but then neither am I. Although, I have come to realize that "started" is a truly measurable term only in the world of trialing, where, after all, measurement is what it's all about. Many an invaluable stockdog works their whole life without ever learning to drive, or ever even attempting to put three terrified sheep between two panels standing in the middle of an open field.

When I am just doing a job with Bonnie as opposed to "practicing", I find I can get by almost entirely on "atta girl" (yes, you correctly anticipated what was needed) or "hey!" (that was a bad idea on your part, try again). Probably I am giving her a lot of clues with body language I'm not aware of, but it all seems to work.

Bonnie and I have a long, long way to go, trainingwise, but I can't forget that it will take someone like me at least a couple of years to make a usable stockdog out of a raw pup, at which time Bonnie might be six or even seven. Considering that started Aussies are very thin on the ground at any time (and the best ones are never for sale), I will almost certainly have to begin with a nine week old pup. That's a lot of lead time.

I'm in a far different position than when I was looking for a working-type pup for Agility, and ended up with Bonnie. Then, I just wanted an athletic, high-drive, biddable pup that looked and acted more like the old-style Aussie. If I had found one on Aussie Rescue I would have gotten it. Now, my must-haves are as long as a grocery list for a bomb shelter. Now I want a real stockdog, with grit and savvy and rate and group and all the rest of it. And I've become educated enough to know that not even all working Aussie lines are likely to deliver the package I'm in search of.

Not only that, but I'm also looking to the farther future. What if my pup turns out to be talented enough that I want to breed her (or him)? What kind of matches are there locally for the lines I'm looking at?

Just like human beings in other endeavours, breeders of working Aussies are influenced most heavily by two factors: convenience and success. Lines used by the handlers who are doing the most trial winning (and who generally are also teachers with a circle of students, who naturally buy their pups) are by far the most popular, although whether these are indeed the "best" lines is certainly an open question. And then there is location: people generally breed to what is nearby. Here in California, almost every working Aussie I see is a relative of Bonnie's. If I buy a pup here, potential outcross mates are going to be far away.

My ideal pup? This would be a dog of quietly awesome stock abilities, who never met a cow that couldn't be bent to his/her will, who would also move mama ewes and lambs with ultimate finesse. This dog would be from old ranch lines rarely seen in the trialing world, have an all-terrain coat, be small enough to slide between cattle panel bars, and have a never-say-die work ethic. He/she would be reserved with strangers, protective when there was need to be, loyal to the end, and the smartest dog I've ever had. Oh, and would be a self merle. But that's optional.

If anybody is planning a litter from parents like that . . . I'm interested.