I've just got off the phone from Joyce Geier, talking about Border Collies in connection with an upcoming film "You Lucky Dog" which will be on the Hallmark Channel in June. I find the working life of Border Collies fascinating - and Joyce knows her stuff! I was also amazed to learn that there are over twenty breeds of herding dogs currently at work in America. The interview will be in the next episode of DogCast Radio, which will be available on June 12th.
Here's the press release to tell you more about the film:
A HEROIC DOG’S POTENTIAL IS DEFINED BY BOUNDLESS GRACE
NATASHA HENSTRIDGE AND GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINEE HARRY HAMLIN STAR IN
‘YOU LUCKY DOG’
A HALLMARK CHANNEL IN HD ORIGINAL MOVIE PREMIERING JUNE 26
When a New York City fashion designer returns home to her family’s struggling farm, she finds new purpose training a herding dog, and discovers that her four-legged shepherd has the talent to turn an increasingly inhospitable cattle farm into profitable sheep country in “You Lucky Dog,” a Hallmark Channel in HD Original Movie premiering Saturday, June 26 (9p.m. ET/PT, 8C). Natasha Henstridge (“Eli Stone”) and four-time Golden Globe nominee Harry Hamlin (“Veronica Mars”) star in the story about facing failure and overcoming the odds.
After the sudden death of her mother, Lisa Rayborn (Henstridge) travels home to small-town Rockton, where her brother, Jim (Hamlin), and dad, Clay (Lawrence Dane, “Bride of Chucky”), are still mourning. To make matters more difficult for the family, Jim has begun raising Merino sheep on the farm against his father’s wishes. Jim hopes the Merino fleece would turn a better profit for the farm, but without a superior working dog, his sheep have instead made him the laughing stock of the town.
Deciding to stay home to help, Lisa goes to the local animal shelter and adopts Lucky, a Border Collie who Jim’s prime nemesis in ranching has just dumped. Jim wants nothing to do with Lucky knowing his biggest competitor thought so little of the dog. But Lisa, who sees the underdog in herself reflected in the pup, works vigorously with Lucky, and the dog shows such remarkable progress that the siblings decide to enter her in the town’s annual herding dog contest. But when unforeseen disasters put more than prize money in jeopardy, Lisa and Jim must ask more from Lucky than they ever could have imagined.
“You Lucky Dog” is a Chesler/Perlmutter production. Lewis Chesler and David Perlmutter are the executive producers. Rob Vaughn is the producer. John Bradshaw directed from a script by Kevin Commins.
Hallmark Channel, owned and operated by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., is a 24-hour basic cable network that provides a diverse slate of high-quality entertainment programming available in high definition (HD) and standard definition (SD) to a national audience of nearly 90 million subscribers. The top tier program service is distributed through more than 5,450 cable systems and communities as well as direct-to-home satellite services across the country. Hallmark Channel consistently ranks among the highest-rated cable networks and is the nation’s leading network in providing quality family programming. Hallmark Channel’s sibling network is Hallmark Movie Channel, also available in HD and SD, which focuses on the greatest family movies of all time.