A couple of weeks ago I took my English Shepherd, Trailer, to a local herding instructor and he had his first exposure to sheep. My sister and her 3 year old Aussie, Izzy, went with us.
A man and his two boys were there buying some sheep and we spent a couple of hours waiting while sheep were sorted and loaded. Trailer was intensely interested in the two boys and all of the other dogs, and somewhat interested in the sheep. Izzy, on the other hand, was ALL ABOUT those sheep! She barked and whined the entire time we were waiting.
When the instructor took Trailer into the round pen with a few of the sheep, he didn't seem very interested. He was more worried about what all the other dogs were doing. After a few minutes, she let him and the sheep out into a larger pen with one of her Aussies. The Aussie began gathering the sheep and running circles around them. This got Trailer interested and he began running in circles around them also. The Aussie didn't listen very well and he would occasionally cut a single sheep from the herd. Trailer just kept circling the rest of them and making sure they stayed together in that spot. He kept looking at me to make sure what he was doing was okay, and when I called him off he came right to me. All of the other dogs had to be tied when it wasn't their turn to work but Trailer sat right by my side and watched as the other dogs worked.
When it was Izzy's turn the instructor had to spend several minutes just getting her settled down, but afterwards she did really well. Unlike Trailer, she wasn't interested in anything else BUT the sheep. I could really see the difference in the breeds. I'm so glad my dog has that ES "off switch".
We are taking the dogs to a herding clinic the first part of April and will start regular herding lessons after in a few weeks. I'm really looking forward to it, I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

Peace

Another ice storm last week - and another on the way tomorrow... I sure would like a great big snow instead!
Because of the cold and hard-to-get-around-in weather we have endured, I have had the time to accomplish several things in preparation for spring.

The garden is planned and all the seeds are in-hand, ready to plant at the appropriate times.

Several food-producing parenials are ordered and soon to be on their way. We will be adding asperagus, Edelweiss grapes, 3 more blueberry bushes, and 3 varieties of heirloom apple trees (Liberty, Spitzenburg, and Cox's Orange Pippin).

50 Araucanas chicks and 3 Narraguset turkeys will be delivered on May 6th. We will keep the hens as layers, butcher the roosters, and either butcher the turkeys or keep them as breeding stock.

Finally, I have started herding lessons with Trailer, our English Shepherd, so that when we get goats or sheep he (and, more importantly, I) will be more prepared to handle them. He had his first exposure to sheep last Saturday and did relatively
well.

When the weather changes, I'll be ready!
Peace out

Groundhog Day has come and passed and we've had a couple of days around 70 degrees - spring MUST be just around the corner. Just to prove that point, this brave little weed popped it's head up and came into bloom! What could possibly herald the coming of spring better than a Dandalion?

Wishing you peace and a forth-coming spring season.