08/01/2026
The Dog Who Started It All 🧡
Today has been a tough day for us as we said goodbye to Jade, or JD. She has been a cherished part of our lives for nearly 16 years, more than half of my life. We are incredibly grateful for the time we had with such an amazing dog.
Everyone in our family has their own special stories about her, but for me, she was the first dog I ever trained. I used to run off the school bus and get changed as quick as I could to take her out and slalom ewes and lambs through telegraph poles or let ewes break out a gateway and send Jade over the wall and get them back in. With every lesson I taught her, she taught me something in return.
Jade had the heart of a lion and an endless endurance for hill work. She was a master at catching a troubled ewe during lambing or nudging a stubborn, out of reach twin lamb towards me if I were busy with its sibling. I’ll never forget the first time I had to shed off a neighbor’s ewes from our own on the peninsula at Mellon Charles, again going against dad’s advice (comman theme) but I was confident we could do it, I didn’t know why I ever doubted it would be possible on the open hill Jade made light work of the task.
Her steady power and balance were easy to see as she maneuvered ewes through rocky crags and cliffs, in the Carn at Drumchork. Sympathetic power making sure that any old or weak ewes had the time they needed to make it through safely.
Even in retirement, I left her in the pickup while myself and Dad worked with four other dogs to move 200 ewes with baby lambs from one field to the yards for marking. Although Dad didn’t agree with the decision, he gave me the benefit of the doubt. The youngest lambs were running in every direction but towards the gateway we wanted, while the ewes with older lambs ran ahead down the hill road. With worries that they might stray into the forestry or head for the hill, I could almost feel dads rage with me 😄 That’s when Jade stepped in, without command or us even noticing, she sensed the chaos and had jumped out the window of the pickup and was heading off the fastest ewes before they could escape to the open hill or worse, the main road!
This post may seem overly sentimental, but Jade was a once in a lifetime friend. Had it not been for my confidence in her abilities, I might not have ventured into self-employment as young as I did. She came with me on all my first shearing jobs and gatherings, a dog who would sooner drop dead from exhaustion than let us down.
Jade was the type of dog who would run out blindly on command, and if ewes disappeared over a ridge, she would bring every single ewe back steadily. For most of her life, she was a house dog, a privilege none of the working dogs normally get! She was fiercely protective of our family from all “enemy’s” including the ironing board, the vacuum, and the post lady(sorry, Rosemary 😆) or her NEMESIS, my sisters cat, Honey!
She brought so much joy to my grandpa during our visits for lunch after a hard days gathering and provided us all with plenty laughs during hard times, especially when Mum was sick. When we weren’t winding her up and playing with her to put a smile on mums face, she would be sleeping on the couch or on the bed with Mum through her chemo. She really was a pillar in our family’s lives.
There are countless stories and not enough words to honor a dog like Jade. I will be forever grateful for the pleasure of working with her.
That’ll do, Jade. That’ll do. 🖤🤍🧡
