ZEALOUS ZELIE...

 ...is a sheepdog, she is a McNab to be precise. She is a full-time livestock herding dog on a farm. As you can see, she is enjoying a cuddle in my arms. She is utterly calm and content. Her ears are down and her body is relaxed and most crucially her eyes are at ease, she is not staring so sharply that her stare could split a stone. 

This is very different from the first time I met her. When I was introduced to Zelie, her ears were up in wolf-pose and her body was very taut, she was in a state of restless irritation and her eyes were locked in a hard stare. I tried to pet her (her ears are like silky velvet) but she resisted me with firm determination. She bounced away from my hand and she trained her eyes on the plump cats who were scampering in various places, the mousers of the farm who were not forming an orderly group. Zelie is adamant that she needs to herd the cats into one mewling colony, and every effort to train her out of the instinct to herd them is met with her frustration. She becomes haughty to the humans who own these maddening moggies because they will not let her do her job and they confound her by scolding her when she corals the cats into one caterwauling colony. When I saw her glare at the cats, she sniffed in indignation because they have free reign of the farm. Zelie has free reign, too, but she is convinced this can never be extended to cats. 

If cats are in the vicinity, the well-fed felines who cannot run as fast as she can, she eschews all attempts to pet her. For a McNab, it is always duty first, affection second. That said, she loves herding the sheep, the cattle and the goats. She is often called, "Zealous Zelie" because she has a die-hard commitment to keeping order. There is a debate among dog breeders as to whether a workaholic as she can ever be a pet. She however, was not bred to be beloved, rather she was bred to bear the burden of bringing other beasts into line.  

Mightily intelligent and strong, she is still quite small and dainty, and when there is no work to be done, she can happily sit in the arms of one of her fans, like me. 

Her time in my embrace did not last long. She spied (or more likely smelled) a goat creeping up behind me and she squirmed around so that she could see the bearded Billie Goat. 

I let her down and she wasted no time accosting the goat. He was twice her size, but she sidled up to him and he trotted behind her as she eagerly guided him back to his tribe.