Dawg Unleashed # 10

Dawg on sheep

Dawg here again: Greetings fellow herding dogs and aficionados. Finally, it is my chance to take over the reins and write the blog. Happy day!

Dawg on sheep!

Today I want to talk about a subject close to my heart - sheep. Not just any sheep, witchy sheep. Actually, I am thinking of a particular snotty wether but somehow calling him a “warlocky sheep” just doesn’t have the same ring to it. (BTW, a wether is a castrated male sheep or goat, for those of you new to the lingo.)

Anyway, I was watching my BFF working sheep recently and had to laugh. Barb was penning the sheep, four ewes and four wethers, in a very small pen that consists of just four panels. Now I will be the first to admit that the wethers have not been worked too often and are a bit full of themselves. And I will also admit that Qwest is getting very hard of hearing. (That’s all of the excuses I can come up with.)

All that being said, one wether was just not giving Qwest respect. Instead of politely following the other ewes and wethers into the pen, Mr. Snotty decided he wasn’t going into the pen because it was a TRAP!

I will give Qwest the benefit of the doubt and say that he just didn’t hear the flank cue that would have blocked Mr. Snotty from going around the pen. But… as you may know, once a sheep goes around instead of into a pen, they are about 99% likely to go around again.

Things were starting to get interesting!

Soon all of the little flock of 8 head were back in the throat of the pen again. Would Mr. Snotty follow the flock in? Would Qwest prevail? Yes, things were definitely getting interesting.

The sheep started into the pen and it looked like Mr. Snotty was going to follow his sheep mates in until he popped out at the last second and circled the pen again. My BFF was not happy.

Score 2 for Mr. Snotty and 0 for Barb & Qwest. This was just getting better and better! Mr. Snotty was feeling quite stroppy and full of himself and Barb was not about to let him circle the pen a third time. Time to call in the reserves!

I was itching to jump into action to show Mr. Snotty who was boss, when Barb called Sir instead of me. Imagine my outrage! Sir is always stealing my thunder and my BFF was aiding and abetting his taking of my rightful place at tehe top of the pack. I was ready to show that nasty wether a thing or two or three, but I would have to wait until Sir failed before I would get my chance. I would bide my time.

I sat back to watch Sir be humiliated and then I would step in to save the day. But it was not to be. As Barb ushered the sheep to the mouth of the pen, Mr. Nasty took one look at Sir and dove into the middle of the flock and into the pen, wanting nothing to do with Sir. Gate and case closed.

I guess the moral of this story is that sheep (and other stock) react differently to different dogs and (most importantly) that Sir actually has learned something from watching me masterfully work the sheep. All the years that I have been telling Sir to watch me and learn, he actually had been doing that! Who knew?

As usual, I implore you to buy Barb's book and keep her (and me :) happy.

Get the book here!

Until next time, tell your mates about this blog and...

Grow the pack!

Join my list to receive the latest news and updates.

(Don't worry, your information will not be shared.)