astrangerhere mentioned Floss, and the strong bond between man and dog. I noted down the section (Chapter 24 in Winter) where Rebanks wrote about training Floss, and the enjoyment the dog has in her work.
Quote:
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I call her back and show her what I meant. She almost smiles as she comes back to my feet. I feel blessed to have a dog that can work like this.
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It was this section which reminded me of a book I read a very long time ago by a now obscure English author called Constance Holme. In her first novel, published in 1913, she had a section I have never forgotten about a sheep farmer working with a sheepdog he rescued from her abusive owner, and the knowledge of how to work with the sheep that had been bred into these dogs over many generations.
When I got the book down from the shelf and started reading it, I realised that the setting was the same. Holme lived and set her books in Westmorland, which in the 1970s was combined with Cumberland to become Cumbria. While the story was a bit melodramatic, the section I remembered, which took place at a sheepdog trial, was very good indeed.