(broken) Sheep for sale! ~a shaggy tale.
Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2012 11:35 pm
Well, i almost bought some sheep today. Xena's instructor wanted to see how she would do off lead. 
(i warned her)
At the last clinic the instructor also worked her off lead and she did pretty well! She caught one by the leg, but no damage and just held it and let go when told. With the larger group she also circled well, but when a youngster got scared and split from the group, she caught it by the leg too. All of the instructors are just crazy about my girl. They talk about her over dinner... they try to make it to the day she is going to be working, They mention her to their friends. She is SO KEEN! they all say. What incredible DRIVE! they all say.
So today... by luck of the draw we had really flighty sheep. Even the instructor was marveling at their stupidity. It IS really just luck of the draw. The Ausies go out and bring in 3-6 sheep to work. These 3 would not stay with us, but more importantly, they would not stay together! They just kept taking off in three directions!
We all know how fast a Dutch shepherd is, right? Well sheep, even terrified sheep, are not as fast as that.... So she kept running them and grabbing one until we got to her and made her let go, then she would take off to another one... 
It was horrible to watch. She finally did "down" when I told her and no blood was drawn...
Whew.
My friend who shares lessons also let her 16 month old GSD go, the nice thing was, she could not outrun the sheep. So she got a bit of fuzz now and again, but no leg. 
Anyhow I was counting up the costs in my head ($150.00/sheep) and was very frustrated with this HUGE step back. she has gotten so good at herding the chickens now. She now knows that we are putting them in the coop and does a great job manuvering them. Chickens defy all laws of herding, yet she can do it! Less is more, and she knows it! It dawned on her almost overnight that we had a goal and now they are not seen as just something to chase and catch.
We will try that with sheep next week. Have her pen them (NOT pin them!) and see if the lightbulb goes on for her. Wish us luck. My little wild child will be on lead for a while yet and I really don't want to buy any broken sheep!!!!
(i warned her)At the last clinic the instructor also worked her off lead and she did pretty well! She caught one by the leg, but no damage and just held it and let go when told. With the larger group she also circled well, but when a youngster got scared and split from the group, she caught it by the leg too. All of the instructors are just crazy about my girl. They talk about her over dinner... they try to make it to the day she is going to be working, They mention her to their friends. She is SO KEEN! they all say. What incredible DRIVE! they all say.
So today... by luck of the draw we had really flighty sheep. Even the instructor was marveling at their stupidity. It IS really just luck of the draw. The Ausies go out and bring in 3-6 sheep to work. These 3 would not stay with us, but more importantly, they would not stay together! They just kept taking off in three directions!
We all know how fast a Dutch shepherd is, right? Well sheep, even terrified sheep, are not as fast as that.... So she kept running them and grabbing one until we got to her and made her let go, then she would take off to another one... It was horrible to watch. She finally did "down" when I told her and no blood was drawn... Whew.
My friend who shares lessons also let her 16 month old GSD go, the nice thing was, she could not outrun the sheep. So she got a bit of fuzz now and again, but no leg. Anyhow I was counting up the costs in my head ($150.00/sheep) and was very frustrated with this HUGE step back. she has gotten so good at herding the chickens now. She now knows that we are putting them in the coop and does a great job manuvering them. Chickens defy all laws of herding, yet she can do it! Less is more, and she knows it! It dawned on her almost overnight that we had a goal and now they are not seen as just something to chase and catch.
We will try that with sheep next week. Have her pen them (NOT pin them!) and see if the lightbulb goes on for her. Wish us luck. My little wild child will be on lead for a while yet and I really don't want to buy any broken sheep!!!!
do you think any sheep might die in their sleep tonight from fright?? 
)
Xena has gotten a bit of fuzz herself. We are going to try again tomorrow! I can't wait! 
When i fussed at her for it, she gave me lip. Then we had a little I'm the boss talk and she listened better. 
instead. So after the first go of us hitting on or near her with a noisy but painless kids plastic bat whenever she bit the sheep, She came back out trying to bark them into doing her will. Thank goodness that didn't work, because I love a quiet worker. Then She tried snapping in front of the face of the lead sheep (he was not behaving). When one cut away she was able to bring it right back! 
Instead of attacking, Xena looked horrified and backed off. 
I think she knew right away what had happened. The teacher also immediately had her lie down and stay. After that she did much better at staying behind (although not far enough) and downing right away when told. 