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 don't want Wendy bonded to us or our place (per say) we want her bonded to the sheep so that she will stay with them no matter what field they are in. This is where Sam comes up short; he is more bonded to the field next to the barn and may not follow the sheep when they are grazing in other fields.
"Considerations in Fenced Pasture Operations" (starting on page 16 of Livestock Guarding Dogs) has a good description of issues and training methods recommended by US Sheep Experimental Station where the USDA studies sheep breeds and working dogs for their base flock of 3,000 sheep. Our friend who is a vet did an internship at the sheep station during lambing while she was in vet school.
More e-fence line has been put up to block access to escape holes. Wendy may get some free time during the day but will mostly be on a drag until lambing (starting Feb 19th).
"Considerations in Fenced Pasture Operations" (starting on page 16 of Livestock Guarding Dogs) has a good description of issues and training methods recommended by US Sheep Experimental Station where the USDA studies sheep breeds and working dogs for their base flock of 3,000 sheep. Our friend who is a vet did an internship at the sheep station during lambing while she was in vet school.
More e-fence line has been put up to block access to escape holes. Wendy may get some free time during the day but will mostly be on a drag until lambing (starting Feb 19th).
