Annaleigh, as we learned in our previous story, came to Upstate New York after living near the southern city of Atlanta. She was familiar with warm weather, so the colder winter climate of her new home was a bit of a surprise.
Many people speculated as to Annaleigh’s heritage. After a great deal of consideration, the general conclusion was that she was part border collie. Most of the border collies we see in pictures are black and white, but little Annaleigh was brown and white. Still, Annaleigh seemed to have the natural instincts of all border colliers, that is to herd sheep. If sheep were not available, people were perfectly acceptable herding subjects.
On the very first snowy day in Upstate New York Annaleigh watched out the window of her new home. The white stuff falling out of the sky was very strange, and Annaleigh wasn’t too sure about it. Was it dangerous? Was it tasty? What exactly was the white stuff that her new human family called “snow”?
Annaleigh had noticed that the weather was turning cold. When she went out into the backyard to play or when she went with her family on daily walks, she discovered that the air was getting a little colder each day. Most people believe that many dogs are not too good at basic arithmetic and have trouble “putting 2 and 2 together”. Annaleigh was not your average dog, so when she noticed that the cold and snow came at the same time, she suspected that they were connected in some way.
Annaleigh watched the snow come down all morning. Finally, playtime came around and Annaleigh went outside into the backyard. Oh, boy! She was able to explore this weird snow stuff. Her guardian, whose name is Anita, but the way, went outside, too. Anita was wearing boots that had fake fur around the tops. Annaleigh thought they made Anita look like she was wearing silly sheep on her feet, or something. Annaleigh had never actually seen sheep, but her instincts were kicking in.
Within moments of going outside, Annaleigh discover that snow is really, really fun! You can run through it, you can eat it, you can roll around in it. Snow is fun, fun, fun.
Annaleigh ran around the yard and caused the snow to fly all over the place when she made tight racing turns. Then she saw Anita’s boots and decided that she would try to “herd” sheep. The problem, of course, was that Anita’s boots were not actually sheep. On top of that, Annaleigh really didn’t know how to herd anything. But dog instincts are very powerful, and when they kick in amazing things can happen.
So, I am sure that you are now asking how well Annaleigh did with her “sheep herding”. You can check out her work for yourself. The video below features Annaleigh’s first experience with snow and her attempts at herding.