McNeil was named for Robert McNeil of "The McNeil/Lehrer News Hour" fame. He is a frenetic herder--he'll herd anything that moves, including birds as they fly overhead. He's also a great frisbee catcher. He's a pretty smart dog and is easy to train. Some would say he's manic/depressive and needs Prozac. I say he's just a bit on the hyper side. I have tried to offer him to some of my Australian chatroom friends for a visit, so he can discover his "roots", so to speak, but they have declined, saying these dogs are all crazy.

One of McNeil's favorite things to do is to go running with me. When I decide to go jogging, I have to put him outside with the curtains closed, so he won't see me putting on my running shoes. If he does, he goes bananas and jumps up and down until we get out the door. I must say his enthusiasm is inspiring. Because he's a herding dog, I've had to train him to sit every time a car drives by, or he tries to herd it as we go for our morning jog. Now, everytime he hears a car, he plunks down and waits. (I told you he was easy to train.) We're currently working on the command, "On By", to override the previous training.