My journey to discover the challenges and joys of working with a dog began back in 2013. Together with Tim Stephens, the farmer I work with on our farm in Monmouthshire, I had gone to meet a shepherd who had some puppies for sale. Tim was looking for a new dog to train up to work with his sheep and the idea was we would share it, and Tim would train me as well as the puppy, to be able to work a dog with sheep. But that was before we saw the puppies and the inevitable happened. We both fell for a puppy - it just wasn’t the same one. Tim chose a dog and I chose a bitch and we returned to the farm with a puppy each.
I had never had a puppy before - let alone a working dog. Bronwen, the shepherd we had bought them from, had explained they were Welsh sheepdogs - a breed I had never heard of. “They work very differently from collies,” she told us, “but they are wonderful dogs.”
Eight months in, I discovered I was completely out of my depth. My puppy, who I had named Teg, had grown into a big gangly teenager, with boundless energy and an inherent will to herd sheep. In fact, so strong was this desire to work, I couldn’t stop her, or control her in any way. Tim was often busy, and I knew I needed help, so it was then I ed the Welsh Sheepdog Society to see if there was anyone local to me who could give some advice and training.
Three years on, and I have discovered not only the joys of working with a dog, but also that the Welsh sheepdog is a rare animal. As recently as twenty years ago there were only a handful of these dogs left of breeding age. A history stretching back hundreds of years - the dogs are mentioned in the laws of Hywel Dda - was in danger of coming to an end, with the real threat of extinction. Together with Teg I went to meet farmers, historians and scientists who are all doing their bit to discover what it is that makes a Welsh dog truly Welsh and to keep the breed alive.
Inspired by them, I tracked down Teg’s ancestry, had her assessed by the Welsh Sheepdog Society (a nerve-wracking day!) and decided to try and breed from her so that we could contribute to a new generation of these very special dogs.
The series follows our journey, the highs and lows of learning to work with a dog, the detective work to find Teg’s ancestors, the cutting-edge science to discover whether Welsh dogs are genetically distinct and the nail-biting day when I find out whether Teg is pregnant.
