What do you think is happening in this photo taken today at the East End Beach?
Tune in tomorrow to find out.

I woke up this morning thinking about my dog's behavior yesterday at the Quarry Run Dog Park in Portland. I was surprised and impressed by it and wanted to share the experience.

As we all know, there is a lot of snow! Snow to some dogs, means "Hey, now I can just step over this fence in my way!" That is just what my dog’s friend, Iris, a Border Collie-mix did.

Yesterday morning we were walking abound the park with a small group of dogs when Iris decided to wander away. Her owner was concerned and went to retrieve her. The snow accumulation is high in this area and Iris had managed to step over the fence and was heading up the hill towards the rock quarry (which is very deep). Though melting, the snow made going a little treacherous for Iris' owner. We could see her, an older woman, having difficulty making it up the tall hill after her. I said "I'll send Charlee".

So Charlee and I go down the hill we are on, and easily step over the fence to the road. I send her up to get the dog just as the owner disappears from sight over the ridge. My dog hesitates and I'm unsure if she'll follow, but suddenly she runs full tilt up and over the ridge. By now we have a crowd of about 15 owners all calling for Iris to "Come back". For a minute or so both dogs are out of sight and I don't say a word. Visions of both dogs frolicking to their death running head first down the rock quarry do come to mind when suddenly someone yells "Here they come!" and I see Charlee and Iris heading down the hill quite a way from where I last saw either one. I yell to the owner that Charlee has her, and Charlee flies down the hill to me, while Iris stops to sniff a bit more along the way. Once I started rewarding Charlee's rescue success with treats, Iris was right there for me to leash. The little stinker made someone carry her back over the fence too. This dog has taken "jaunts" before and has been known to be gone for hours.

Go Lassie (Charlee) go! I was delighted to see that Charlee knew what her job was and she went to do it! She is a mixture of two high-energy herding breeds, Border Collie and Australian Cattle Dog and this experience has made me realize that I really want to test her skills on herding sheep this summer!