Our disappointment in not getting Vider bred spurred us to adopt Bird, but then, as often happens in the human world, after adopting, we got the offspring we had been trying for--we finally got a pup from Vider.  I borrowed Imp. Killiebrae Rudy, a dog bred by Derek Scrimgeour in England that ended up in the US, not far from us.  Rudy came over with a littermate, Geri Byrne's Lyn, and was raised and trained by Mike Hubbard.  Mike took Rudy to the sale at Red Bluff and Chris Gansberg of Gardnerville, Nevada, bought Rudy for his family's cattle operation.

We wanted to have a Cleo grandaughter and Vider daughter, so we tried to breed Vider several times.  It seems that the timing was always wrong for a breeding to a dog we really admired, and we thought we'd never get another pup.  So we contacted Vider's sire's owner, Bonnie Thwaits, in Arizona.  Bonnie had Vider's littermate, Queen, and just happened to have a litter with one female available.  So we ended purchasing Cleo's granddaughter, Bird, in 2006.  A friend brought her back from Arizona for us.  Bird turned out to be more like Cleo than either of Cleo's daughters.

Bird is...well, Bird.  She is an interesting combination of absolute gung-ho on sheep and very vulnerable at home.  I had a chance to take her to a Derek Scrimgeour clinic soon after starting her, and Derek said she had talent and a lot of power that the sheep recognized.  She is not always the most biddable, but she always has control of her sheep and is rarely unsure of herself when working.  She is also very outgoing and social with dogs and people.

Bird gained a few nicknames, like "Birdagator" because of her love of lurking in water, and Birdzilla for just being a young monster.  Her combination of toughness and sensitivity has just endeared her to us.

We've been working together for a while, but I'm not in a hurry to start competing with her.  She loves excitement and isn't above blowing through a bunch of sheep if she feels a training session has gotten boring.  She doesn't bite or chase or ever hurt sheep, but she has stolen them on occasion and gone off with them, I think possibly because she enjoys the power and hearing me get wound up.  Bird has some nice dogs in her pedigree and is coming along with her farm work, so in time I think we'll be great partners.