SHEEP DOG?

[snow1]

Dotch ,what do ya think? do you have such a boi? looks like the sheep ain't having it.poor little guy,he'll have nightmares,.

[mike89]

bet Ruby wouldn't be doing that!!!   

[LPS]

Nelson looks like he is near to getting in trouble with those sheep.  LOL

[Dotch]

My first red & white, Lucy, could've been a trial dog. All she ever wanted to do was work & was good at it, especially out runs. Ruby is more of a drover, she tails 'em pretty well going from barn to barn but never was worked with like Lucy was. Ruby is more of a 50 lb. ham! Fudgie, one of Lucy's red & white puppies was the best gate watcher I ever had. Got her back from my Mom before she passed away. Open a gate and drive thru it at will. If the sheep even got near it, Fudgie was on them like a chicken on a June bug. Same when the sheep got out. They were scared to death of her. Never trained or worked with her either. Just had an attitude. 

[snow1]

maybe post a pic dotch or a better yet a video of your working pup....I find it interesting the natural ability of these herding dog's

[Steve-o]

Here is the dog you need!

[mike89]

 

[snow1]

Steve-o,funny,reminds me of a "monty python" bit

[LPS]

That's what I thought too Snow.  LOL

[Steve-o]

Yeah, I was looking for the Monty Python bit and found this one first.

[Dotch]

Always enjoy seeing that one Steve-O even on my stinky little smartphone! 

Alas snow, I've posted several pics of Ruby in the grilling thread but usually my hands are full when we're moving ewes & lambs from the lambing barn to the loafing area. Since Cheviots are the orneriest & quickest animals with wool & 4 feet, you really have to focus on them. Otherwise it's off to the races! Lots of herding dog trainers like Cheviots to train their dogs with. If they can herd them, they can herd just about anything.

Ruby always likes to be where the action is & thinks I make a good pillow. 

[snow1]

Thanx Dotch,looks like she's daddy's girl,has an intense look on her face,very focused.So is it the shep are afraid of these pup's or something else that makes the sheep obey?

[Dotch]

It's an eye contact thing initially a la Dirty Harry. Once they figure out the dog isn't taking any chit off of them and they can't outrun them, the sheep fall in line pretty quickly. Some dogs are more aggressive than others so it takes time to get that adjusted. Don't want them ripping the sheep up. Be fun to get back into training borders again in retirement.

[snow1]

Dotch,seen a news clip the other day about a lamb wondered off 5 years ago then finally came back home,story claimed the lamb had 60lbs of wool on her,could this be true? This was in new zealand,how could one lose a lamb on a island other than they didn't care or notice,free range type deal.Can sheep grow this much wool? 60lbs?

[glenn57]

Dotch,seen a news clip the other day about a lamb wondered off 5 years ago then finally came back home,story claimed the lamb had 60lbs of wool on her,could this be true? This was in new zealand,how could one lose a lamb on a island other than they didn't care or notice,free range type deal.

yep i seen that to snow!!!!!!!!!! 

[Dotch]

I didn't see the show nor the island. I do know it's easy for them to get off by itself for a variety of reasons. When you have a large bunch it's definitely not unusual. Have had a ewe go missing only to later find what's left of her in the pasture or worse, wadded up in the corner of a building. At the kindly neighbors', I know there are only 10 head; 3 of them are black sheep & there's 1 ram in there. Makes it less worse to keep track.

We had an elderly neighbor who was a real wingnut. He always kept a few sheep. They got out & wandered the neighborhood because he bought them no feed and didn't water them. Sometimes they got hit by cars. He'd let them go several years between shearing. No one would shear for him either. He was constantly suing people and always wanted to haggle on the price of everything. He showed up one time & tried to buy some sheep from us. Told him we had none to sell. PITA to deal with and I didn't want any animal we raised to face that kind of neglect.



 

[mike89]

Dotch,seen a news clip the other day about a lamb wondered off 5 years ago then finally came back home,story claimed the lamb had 60lbs of wool on her,could this be true? This was in new zealand,how could one lose a lamb on a island other than they didn't care or notice,free range type deal.Can sheep grow this much wool? 60lbs?

seen that a few months ago. it was crazy!!!