04/25/2026
Today, Gabe, Charly and I had to say goodbye Dan. He was around 15 years old. For all of those years he was an amazing herding dog. Gabe and Dan trialed together in Duck, Sheep and Cows. Dan not only succeeded in gaining his intermediate certification, but also obtained High Other Breed and High over All, on several occasions in different trials.
Dan retired to our property after his owners, Joe and Linda passed away suddenly several years ago. But as most know, it's hard to take the herd out of a herding dog, so he continued to help on our ranch. His favorite thing was to hide under the feed bunk...wait for an unsuspecting sheep, then launch full speed at them! He continued to be our feed helper till he lost most of his sight.
If you knew Dan, you know he loved to ignore most of what anyone had to say (unless you were Joe or Gabe)....which he continued to do, even after he lost most of his sight and hearing. He still loved to chase the other dogs (mostly Sue, his younger brother), and he was the fastest dog till his old age started hindering him, around a year ago.
To say he will be missed is an understatement. He taught Gabe how to train a hard headed dog, he taught me (Paty) how to be patient and that sometimes the dog does know best. He was super intuitive when I was pregnant with Charly and was always her personal watch dog.
I guess since dogs can't live forever, all that we can do is love them and know that even though dogs may not be here our whole lives, while they are here, they make our lives whole.
We love and miss you DanDan, may the rainbow bridge be filled with light and color and the journey easy, there is no need to worry, Joe and Linda are waiting for you.
