Sam was out maneuvered or out gunned
When my 4am alarm woke me up I could hear Sam barking non-stop in the field. He does this sometimes when he is unsure of what is "out there" in the dark while he is by his sheep. When I headed out...
Forum Discussion
We had a close call that was our fault
Wendy has been working out great; she and Sam are now best buds. She has been watching us work the sheep with our Border Collies without any issues; until New Year's Day. The night before she and Sam were guarding a fence line next to the woods; there was something in the woods they didn't like. They were still there most of New Year's Day. I went out with Nell to gather the entire flock and shed off 4 of last years lambs for us to work. Wendy and Sam watch all of this without moving. My wife went out to work Tally on these 4 young sheep; being young they were skittish but Tally was being calm and controlled. As Tally followed the skittish group past Wendy and Sam; Wendy jumped up and attacked Tally. My wife and I both started running and yelling at Wendy immediately. Wendy had Tally pinned when my wife got there. My wife said that Wendy realized she did something wrong and likely realized this during the attack (because of our yelling). Tally had lots of slobber all over her neck but no wounds.
We figure that between Wendy & Sam being on alert in that part of the field, the skittish/running lambs, and not enough time for Wendy to have learned about us working sheep lead to this incidence. It was our fault; Wendy still needs more time adjusting to our Border Collies working sheep. We now have zero doubts that Wendy would kill a coyote or stray dog that was attacking our sheep.
Wendy has been working out great; she and Sam are now best buds. She has been watching us work the sheep with our Border Collies without any issues; until New Year's Day. The night before she and Sam were guarding a fence line next to the woods; there was something in the woods they didn't like. They were still there most of New Year's Day. I went out with Nell to gather the entire flock and shed off 4 of last years lambs for us to work. Wendy and Sam watch all of this without moving. My wife went out to work Tally on these 4 young sheep; being young they were skittish but Tally was being calm and controlled. As Tally followed the skittish group past Wendy and Sam; Wendy jumped up and attacked Tally. My wife and I both started running and yelling at Wendy immediately. Wendy had Tally pinned when my wife got there. My wife said that Wendy realized she did something wrong and likely realized this during the attack (because of our yelling). Tally had lots of slobber all over her neck but no wounds.
We figure that between Wendy & Sam being on alert in that part of the field, the skittish/running lambs, and not enough time for Wendy to have learned about us working sheep lead to this incidence. It was our fault; Wendy still needs more time adjusting to our Border Collies working sheep. We now have zero doubts that Wendy would kill a coyote or stray dog that was attacking our sheep.
