Aptly named as most of the dogs are, Special was a singleton pup out of Jade x Hondo. As singletons can be highly unique dogs, Special is an intense and incredibly smart dog. Her first attempts at Rally and Obedience were remarkable so we entered and earned the high aggregate score for the weekend many High in Trials and finished her Rally titles with particular ease.

She constantly offers new behaviours and tries to please. She passes along her intensity to her pups. As a herding working dog, her intensity is especially revealed on cattle as she is beyond tough. A dog I had a challenging time to manage on cattle as she was capable and almost always – hit two heels at the same time, lightning-fast and fast enough to escape the kick. On sheep, she casts very wide but was likely to use a hit here and there to create movement.

Special passes along other strong traits such as incredible head types and a super-strong willingness to please.