July 01st, 2025

Bella sitting pretty in the sunset on March 23, 2025

I keep saying this—but Bella really did open all the doors for me. Into training, into sheep, into business. Everything I’m doing now started with her.

Now, getting a Border Collie puppy doesn’t guarantee you’ll end up with eighteen sheep, a dog boarding and training business, and dreams of owning a bigger farm with a greater purpose—but that’s what happened to me.

I started dreaming, and Bella made those dreams possible. She works her heart out for me every time we step into a new space. At the end of each weekend or workday, I’m just overwhelmed with gratitude to have her as my partner. Honestly, I don’t feel like I need another human being. Even Emma—with all her class and work ethic—is sometimes unnecessary. Bella and I are just fine on our own.

Bella and Addi after she has been home for 48 hours on December 19, 2020

So… why did I get Emma?

Well, much like my first dog Rylee, Bella was meant for other things. She has decent breeding but isn’t ABCA registered. I was going to do agility with her—proudly told my mom that, too.

She had other plans.

For my birthday in 2020, my mom gave me a book. A classic Border Collie book, filled with passages about how these dogs herd sheep, love sheep, live for sheep. She knew what she was doing.

Soon after, we found Jim. He’s been guiding us since day one—and that’s when we got hooked on sheep.

The day that changed everything - Bella and Addi see sheep for the first time on May 23rd, 2021

Bella turns five this year, and I didn’t want to wait too long to add another dog to the mix. I knew Bella would have big feelings about a puppy—not just because she dislikes puppies (or really, any other dog), but because she’d have to step aside while I trained this new working partner. That was unfamiliar territory for her.

Bella has been by my side for every single sheepdog trial, clinic, mentor visit, and sheep adventure.

The boy that could have been on March 12, 2024

Rylee sometimes comes along, but she’s mostly there for the pets and the pout. She’s my little terrier who only wants me and a quiet world. Instead, I keep adding high-drive Border Collies and now… sheep. Rylee is still trying to find her place.

Emma, though, is the dog I didn’t think I needed. I figured training Bella and some client dogs was enough for now. But then I found myself in the Midlands in England, scrolling through puppy posts and trying to talk myself out of it.

That didn’t work.

I reached out to breeders, asked about pedigrees and work style, tried to figure out transportation across the UK. It was chaos. Eventually, I called the airline—the final piece before I committed. The first agent said I could bring a puppy on board. The second? Said it wasn’t allowed.

The photos we got on April 5th, 2024 of all the puppies - this was Emma!

I was devastated. I’d already told the breeder yes. That call ended with me in tears.

Back home, my girls were thrilled to see me. And while I was happy to be back, that lingering thought of a puppy never left.

Emma’s litter was born on March 15th,

2024. I’d seen the sire work. I’d met the dam. My friend was getting a puppy from the same litter, so I asked if there was a female available. Somehow, even as a stranger to the breeder, I got one. My friend brought her east with her own dogs.

Emma was intense from the second we met. She screamed the entire ride home—and we hit two deer on that drive. Two deer. Two states. One day.

Nothing has been the same since.

Emma and Addi at their first herding demonstration June 15, 2024

Bella tolerates her. Emma adores Bella and desperately wants to be her best friend. Herding-wise, Emma only has eyes for sheep. She’s fast, intense, and has a work ethic that sometimes bulldozes right through my corrections. I wanted a dog who wasn’t like Bella, and well… I got one.

Working Emma has been a lesson in humility. But our relationship is changing. I’m learning to correct her obsession and ask her to focus on me. For the first time, she’s starting to work with me—not just for herself.

It’s fascinating, this dynamic between human and dog. We have to learn to work together, not against each other. Real working partnerships are built on love, respect, trust, and cooperation.

And I’ve never experienced anything quite like it.

That’s all from me today.

Happy Training,

Addi and The Girls