Our March Madness

I did not know about this video of me and Lee at the 2017 national finals. For those who want to see what we do with our dogs at events; here is one of my best.

2017 USBCHA National Sheepdog Finals

My wife watched it at home (I'm at work) and the sound (my whistles and voice) was driving Lee crazy.

Pics?

No pics at the moment, only the one video

M'lady loves watching the new lambs and goat kids.

TY BC

Love watching your dogs on the job. So cool!

Dale

Great vids! You've been a tad busy:C

Mar 6: 3 sets of twins
Mar 7: 3 sets of twins

The jobs for the dogs are quite challenging at this time of year. We bring the flock in once of twice a day (one of the jobs); at feeding time (we give the ewes grain to supplement their diet while they are nursing) and in the late afternoon (it's easier to deal with new born lambs in the dark if they are born in the barnyard as opposed to on the field). Most of the ewes will come down for feeding but the flock doesn't always want to come down for the night. The job is to make sure all the ewes, and more importantly, all the lambs are gathered. The youngest lambs may not have learned to keep up with their mothers. Some lambs don't wake up when the flock moves and could be left out on the field. We walk out with the dogs to gather at this time of year. New mothers will turn on a dog when their lambs are not following them. Some will charge a dog others will just stand off the dog. This stand off allows the others in the flock to go in other directions. If the dog goes and deals with the rest of the flock; the problem ewe may not follow the flock. We are viewed by the mothers as less of the threat to the lambs and we are able to nudge the lambs along without causing a standoff with the ewe. At the barnyard gate we frequently have several lambs that miss the gate and end up on the wrong side of the fence from their mother. At this point we carry these errant lambs into the barnyard. The dogs provide backup to ensure a ewe doesn't decide to dart out of the barnyard while the gate is open.

The other main job for the dogs is to aid us bringing a new family into a stall in the barn. During the day, the ewes deliver out on the field with the flock scattered across this field. We walk out to the new lambs and carry these lambs to the barn. Ewes don't understand their lambs can be off the ground and will start running around looking for their lambs. We carry their lambs in front of the ewes like a "carrot" and the dog walks behind the ewe as the "stick" ensuring the ewe stays with us and their lambs. This can be easy (the ewe follows her lambs) or every hard (the ewe keeps trying to run back to where she delivered or to the rest of the flock which is all around us in the field). When it's hard the dog will look like a cutting horse, darting back and forth blocking all escape routes for the ewe and might even need to bite the ewe if she charges the dog. Mean while we are stopping and lowering the lambs to draw the ewe in the direction we are going. At night the flock is in the barnyard; the task is still the same but with different challenges. While the ewe has less space to run away the rest of the flock is right there for her to run amongst.

Our dogs need to understand when we need them to gather everyone and when to gather just the one we are focused on. I'd love to be able to video these jobs but since we are actively participating in these jobs it's difficult to film. A friend has used a go-pro on the head but these don't turn out very good because of where you end up looking vs where you want to be filming. The new drones (programmed to follow you) would provide the desired framing of the action but the drones would also influence the action.

Lee injured a toe this weekend; bruised or pulled something while helping me with chores. With him on rest, Fern has been pressed into service. This weekend she helped bring a new mother and her lambs into the barn. Before her first lamb was delivered an other lamb decided to thieve some milk. Since the ewe was in labor she started mothering this lamb and allowing it to nurse. After delivering her second lamb Fern and I went out to bring the ewe and her lambs into the barn. I carried her lambs and Fern followed the ewe with the milk thief. The ewe kept trying to stop and nurse the thief and Fern kept her moving and moving in the right direction. Once in the barn we separated the milk thief and sent it back towards its own mother.

Milk thievery, now that's funny... does that happen often or are the ewes usually particular about who drinks.