A DOG'S LIFE

Photographer and farmer Amy Bateman documents the day-to-day lives of her working border collies in words and pictures

-  Amy Bateman

An excited bark comes from the kennels as the dogs hear the door slam and my boots scrape on the yard. They know their day is about to begin - a day full of stimulation. They bounce around their kennels with excitement as we get them out for their day's work. Their life would be envied by most pet dogs.

Three border collies work at Croft Foot Farm, our 364-hectare property in Cumbria. My husband, Colin, does the bulk of the farm work, using the collies mainly as sheepdogs. The four of them make a formidable team in looking after our 1,200 breeding sheep.

At any one time, we tend to have a lead dog who does the main bulk of work. There will also often be a retired dog who potters around the yard and comes out on busy days. And a third dog to mop up, possibly a young dog in training.

But we also have a fourth dog, Meg. She's mine, and has become more of a 'model' dog.

I'm a photographer as well as a farmer, and host Farm Photography Tours at Croft Foot. Meg demonstrates shepherding skills for my clients and poses for portraits. She also adores coming on walks with our children.

AN EDUCATION

 Working dogs, of course, need to be taught. A fully trained dog will start work at around two years of age. Training sheepdogs is very challenging. You can train a dog to think, or you can train a dog to respond exactly to command. If you focus solely on the latter, then once the dog is out of sight it can't think for itself. Fell dogs, which assist in gathering livestock across the hills and commons, need to be able to think for themselves much more than other farm dogs. This is an ability that comes from experience, especially from gathering with other dogs and learning the hefts (the communal grazing areas on the fells).