About Nell

Nell was produced by internationally-renown breeder Brian Abingdon in 2009. Zach Welch bought her in 2016 to work on the Farm, and she has become part of his family.

Mandolin Creek Farm uses Nell to herd its sheep and cattle, saving many hours a year of chasing animals around the pastures. She knows how to follow voice and whistle commands, though she often will complete her work with little prompting. She learns fast and is eager to please, though she is extremely skittish and nervous around people.

Nell enjoys herding cattle, sheep, and pigs. She completely ignores our poultry, so she never performed exceptionally well at trials. However, she did win a ribbon or two at competitions, back in her prime.

Breeding History

When Zach brought Nell home in 2016, she recently had finished weaning a litter of pups. After some discussion with Brian, they agreed to breed her to one of his studs, Wally, when she next came into heat in exchange for one or two pups from any resulting liter. Wally and Nell both tested negative for MDR-1. 

At the end of the year, she was dropped off at Brian's during her cycle, but she failed to get pregnant. We tried again in the Spring of 2017 with the same results. After two misses, she was retired from the breeding program.