Filing lambs under documents! (With PHOTO)

My previous post tells of the story of the two little orphaned lambs in my lounge room. Before they made it to my lounge, they were in a document box, snuggled up to a heat pack next to my chair.

See photo:

The lamb at the top of the box is a ewe lamb, the lamb at the bottom of the box (with the big white stripe down the head) is a ram.
They have now graduated to a larger box, which, ironically was the box our lamb marking cradle arrived in!

A day turned upside down.............

Today was the first day in about a week or so that the weather was going to play nice.

This means that things we've had to put off recently can now be done, namely drenching the sheep and trimming their feet up as well.

So, by about lunchtime we are all set. Just as I was about to get properly organised, we had a visitor. Not too bad, the visitor is a nice guy and always up for a chat. He's also a wealth of information when it comes to sheep, so I pick his brains on a regular basis.

Whilst we were chatting, my daughter came and told me that the twins (lambs) were on the wrong side of the fence from their mum. Off I go to rescue them, AFTER turning the electric fence off first. These little guys were constantly trying to go through the fence and were being zapped every couple of seconds.

After a quick rescue, it was back to my cuppa whilst we continue chatting.

My daughter then comes to me and says the two lambs I rescued are down the bottom of the paddock and can't get up.

Off I go at a job, only to get about 30 feet away from them to discover that it is two little newborns. They can't get up because they have only just been born. I back away slowly and make my way back to my, now almost cold, cuppa.

Well, that changes the plans a little. No rounding up the ewes today which means no drenching and no feet trimming. It can wait.

After about two hours I notice that the ewe that has just lambed has abandoned her babies. They are calling and she seems oblivious to them. The little girl struggles to her feet and makes her way over to her mum, only to be shunted away.

This is not good.

It was decided that I would catch the lambs, dry them off (they still had sac all over them) and put them in the sunshine. As I was drying them off, they started complaining, so their mum started coming over. A good sign, or so I thought. Instead of licking them, or even talking to them, she proceeded to headbutt them. I stepped in and picked them both up.

We decided to separate her from the mob and put her in a pen with her lambs. Usually this is enough for the ewes to decide that they are going to look after their lambs. Instead of this happening, the ewe set about stepping on, and headbutting her lambs. I scooped them up, brought them inside and gave them some brown sugar in water.

I wanted to give them a boost, but I knew they hadn't had colostrum so I didn't hold out much hope. I relented and gave them a 1/8 mix of lamb milk replacer.

About an hour after that, my son (17yo) came out and we caught the ewe and put the lambs on to drink. They weren't strong enough, so my daughter brought out a jug and I proceeded to milk a very irate ewe. She kicked constantly and almost got her lambs a couple of times.

It's now 8:35PM and the lambs are in a box in my lounge room. They have had about 30 mls of colostrum each, and three feeds of lamb milk replacer (about 100mls) each. Snuggled up to a heat pack, these little guys (guy and girl) seem content and quite happy.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they survive.

They'll get another feed or two tonight, and I'll milk the ewe again in the morning before turning her back out with the mob. If they make two weeks old, I might just give them each a name.

A Marathon day!

Today is the first official day of the school holidays here, and we've already been flat out.

Today was the day to drench all of the ewes, and to bring the older lambs (and ram) up into a pen (mainly to keep them out of the way lol).

The job fell to Jock to bring the lambs and ram up first. The ram has been worked many times, but this was only the second time for the lambs. Obviously the telling off they got from Jock yesterday carried some weight because they all stayed together today. He had the job done within about 5 minutes of starting, which is a record.

Next we had to bring the ewes and lambs up. That involved fetching them out of a paddock, pushing them through two more and into a small paddock that has the yard. Then get them all into the yard. Again, Jock did this beautifully. He pushed steadily and got the job done.

The best part is, the work I had done with him about 2 months ago on "driving" has paid off, because today he was walking about 6 feet ahead of me, and about 15 feet to my left pushing the sheep into the yards, whilst I got ready with the panel to close in behind them. It was done perfectly!

Jock is still rather too enthusiastic when it comes to the sheep, and gets in too close, however he does get the job done.

I am going to have to work on a few things with him though. First he needs to stop trying to bolt off around the sheep when we first get into the paddock. I want him to wait until I am ready, so that's step one.

Number 2 is, when the training pen is put back up, I'm going to spend quite a bit of time getting Jock to widen out. He's coming in really close now and it's no good for working the lambs, so he HAS to back off.

That'll be worked on over time in the Spring and Summer, which is still a couple of months away!

So, thanks Jock for your help today, and to my husband and kids for their help as well. The best part is (I think), is we get to do it all again in a weeks time! Hopefully next time I'll be able to supply photo's.

Jock got worked, and worked, and worked again!

It was decided that we'd be drenching all of our ewes tomorrow (Monday), and seeing as how Jock hasn't had much work (once in the last 3 weeks), I thought it a good idea to take him out into the paddock and put him through his paces a bit. Usually, running him cold is a disaster. If you are prepared to put up with him not listening, and you having to raise your voice a bit, then the next time he goes out (even if it's half an hour later), he'll be switched on.

Ahh, the exuberance of youth!

So, because he has taken to trying to bolt off after the sheep as soon as we get into the paddock, I kept him on-lead until I was ready. As expected, he forgot about the lead and went to bolt off around the sheep. I had a good grip, and he did the most artistic cartwheel when he hit the end of the lead. Needless to say, he was not happy, however he did stay nice and close to my leg until I was ready, and didn't need reminding once!

Well, the ewes (33 adults with 9 lambs at foot) were spread out over two paddocks, so our first task was to group them all up. This was done with ease and then we moved them all into an open paddock. With Jock working easily from one side to the other, he moved the sheep in every direction I asked. He even left one ewe (and her lamb) alone when I told him to. (The ewe has a sore foot so I didn't want her running).

After this, we went out to the paddock with the newly weaned lambs (and the old ram). These lambs have never been worked by the dog unless they were still on their mums. It was rather entertaining to say the least. Jock got rather frustrated because they wouldn't all stay together. They wanted to split into groups of 3 or 4 and go off and do their own thing. One ram lamb challenged him quite a lot, and to stop any bad habits forming (where the lamb wont move for the dog, or Jock becomes sticky), I ended up walking up to the lamb, scooping him up and putting him with the rest.

Now for the best part!

We had a visitor come over who wanted to have a look at the lambs, so I took Jock out to bring them up. Not only did he bring them all up to me in a group (with the big old ram included), but he penned them for me too! What a smart dog!

So, Jock had a great day, I'm totally exhausted from running around the paddock, and we're all set for tomorrow when he have to move both groups of sheep up to the yards, but keep them separated.

Will supply photo's of tomorrow's workout if we can spare the hands to take them.

Peppa is coming along nicely

Well, Miss Peppa is now three months old.

She hasn't really had a shot on sheep yet because she is still a bit young, but she does like to give them a good telling off from the other side of the fence.

Lately we've been doing some trick training. It isn't because I want a dog that can do a lot of tricks, it's because I wanted to give her something to do. A bored puppy is sure to get into trouble very quickly!

So, in the last three weeks she has learnt to do a number of things.

1) Sit - she gets this right about 98% of the time.
2) Drop - this is done with great gusto and usually involves her body slamming the ground with full force. The 'drop' is new to her and she gets it done about 50% of the time.
3) Give - this is when I want her toy. She doesn't drop it into my hand, she will, however, release her grip on it if I am holding the toy.
4) Towel - she goes and collects her 'towel' (an old hand towel we no-longer use) from her box of toys.
5) Mat - yesterday I bought her a basket to sleep in. She isn't in it very often yet because he can't be trusted to stay put just yet, but she has figured out that when I give the command "Mat", she goes and sits in it.
6) Shake - usually she prefers to shake hands with her right paw, but is learning to swap to the left as well.

So, for a young pup, she is going really well with her training. The only thing she doesn't do all the time is to come when called. This is where having her on the lead is handy because I can do the "Ultimate Power" thing and bring her to me no-matter where she is. She doesn't really agree with this, but hopefully she'll realise that it's a good idea to do as she's told.

I'll update with photo's of her, and the others soon!

Some more photo's of the girls

Today I took the opportunity to get a couple of photo's of Peppa, which is much easier said than done. By myself, there was no way to keep her still!
Fortunately, my new phone (Kogan Agora) has a pretty quick reset on the camera so I managed to get a couple done.

I also got a nice photo of Bobby.

Does anyone remember the old pen I kept Jock in when he was a puppy? It was on wheels, had a red lid etc etc (scroll down near the start of this blog and you'll see his pen). Anyway, Bobby has moved into this pen now, and is currently sound asleep on an old doona in my sons room.
She was perfectly quiet overnight (although she woke James up at about 0630 to go to the toilet. When she was put out on her chain, she went to the toilet. She was then put into her day pen, where she proceeded to bark constantly and shred her bedding. The minute James shows his face again, she is quiet and content. This leads me to believe that she is suffering from separation anxiety. Her history also helps with this diagnosis.
When she had her leg operated on, and was in poor condition, she probably would have been attended to constantly by her owners, not to mention the vets. As soon as the leg had healed, she was put back onto her chain outside near another dog, quite a distant from the house. So she's probably pretty sure she's done something wrong, that's why she's behaving the way she is.

Anyway, she seems to be improving, and is quite happy in her new bedroom!

Not Jock, or even Peppa - this time, it's Bobby!!! (with photo's)

To all of those people out there in the world, do everyone a favour. If you are planning on getting a dog, treat it right. Take the time to understand it's behaviours and why it does something. Learn to "read" the dog. Learn what it likes and doesn't like. Teach is manners. Exercise it, and keep it healthy. Regular worming, a good balanced diet, routine and love. Then, when the time comes that the dog needs a new home (we never set out to buy a dog with the option of rehoming it), at least it shouldn't come with truckloads of baggage, and be a well behaved member of 'Our' society.
Again, we are faced with a dog that has a lot of baggage. Barks constantly, digs everywhere, bites at her feet when she's too excited, petrified of anything that may be used to hit her, and begs constantly to be loved rather than punished. This girl has been through a world of hurt, and doesn't trust humans too easily. The sad thing is, she's not even two years old yet!
My son has taken on training her at the moment. I started the work, but she is fearful of me, and as I have done nothing to hurt her, I am lead to believe that it was a woman who did all the damage.

Bobby is two years old in October. She has suffered through major surgery to have the ball of her right hip removed. We were told that she was found on the side of the road in October of last year in an emaciated state and with a broken hip. The hip ball was removed and she was 'cared for'.

When we got her, she was approximately 8 kilograms underweight. Her coat was dry and sparse, and she had no idea who she was.

We found out that the story we were told may not have been 100% correct.

These photo's were taken about 2 weeks after she arrived. At this stage she was still on 6 small meals a day. A little bit of exercise (her back leg was giving her a lot of trouble) and plenty of attention.

The second round of lambies born, with PHOTO'S!!!

This bunch of ewes started lambing (second group) about 2 weeks ago. From what I can tell, we still have a couple of ewes to go!

Enjoy the photo's!

A new sheepdog puppy! Meet Peppa (with photos)

Peppa came to us on Thursday 30th May. She's a purebred Border Collie girl that is bred from working lines.

A little sweety by nature, she's fitting in beautifully with the family and even had a go at chasing one of the stray ewes today.

When the ewe ran off, Peppa took off in hot pursuit. The ewe, in her wisdom, tried to run through the fence to get away from this little puppy. Whilst I untangled the ewe, my husband picked up the pup, but not before she gave the ewe a really good telling off!

Even when I had freed the ewe, and had sent her in the direction of the other mob of sheep, Peppa voiced her displeasure at being held (or was it because she caught the ewe and I was letting it go) and proceeded to complain whilst in the arms of my husband.

On the way back up to the house, little Peppa grew another 2 inches taller she was that proud of herself! Her tail was up and wagging, her head held high and she was one happy, and a little tired, little puppy.

A long, messy afternoon!

A couple of days ago we decided it was time to bring all of the sheep in, drench them all (lambs included) and draft off the sale ewes. This we did.

However, we needed to move the sheep and lambs through two paddocks before pushing them into the paddock with the yards in it. We had to leave one ewe behind as she had lambed only a couple of days beforehand and I didn't want her to go into the yards and risk her lamb getting injured in the squash up!

So, with the help of my husband on the quad bike, and Jock, we proceeded to try and bring them up. Jock hadn't had much work due to all the ewes lambing recently and the fact that most of our property is without grass and under water and soggy. We don't tend to do much with the sheep during these times, and as it is starting to get really cold, I don't want the dog chasing the sheep around and running any fat off them.

Well, Jock had his ears painted on. I must say that I lost my temper with him a couple of times, and had to yell quite a bit. In the end, he settled down, burnt off his excess energy and enthusiasm, and started working solidly. He brought all of the ewes up quietly and with some help from the kids, we pushed the sheep into the yards.

After drafting off the sellers, I used Jock to take them to the other side of the property into the sale paddock (this has good grass and is usually kept for fattening). He worked quite well but was still a bit disobedient. When this was done, we went back to the yards to take the second group back to their paddock. We had to retrieve the ewe and lamb we had left behind and push her back into the mob, but Jock had trouble seeing her due to it getting dark quite quickly.

In the end, with all of us tired and a lot muddier than we started out, we got the job done and got to rest for the night.

Jock did the job, and although it was a help, he certainly wouldn't have won any awards for his efforts!

Coming into his own (with photo/s)

Well, I hope that everyone has had a very merry christmas (or whatever you celebrate) and a happy and safe new year.

All was quiet in this household, with the kids thoroughly enjoying themselves, and us taking pleasure in watching them play around with their prezzies.

Jock took a break from training for a few months and he seems to have really benefited from it.

We no longer have my favourite woolly sheep any more as they had to go off to market. We didn't have enough grass to feed everyone, especially with the addition of 20 black headed Dorpers mid August of last year. The weather had been kind to us, but over the last month, the grass has burnt off to the extent that we are pulling fencelines down and doubling our paddock size.

These 20 Dorpers consisted of 19 maiden ewes and 1 mature ram. Sadly, we lost one ewe to rectal prolapse, bringing the number of girls down to 18.

In late November of last year, they started lambing, and we were blessed with 11 healthy lambs from 10 ewes. (Yes, one girl had twins, and she was a maiden!).

Out of the 11 lambs, we now have 6 ewe lambs, 4 wethers and we've kept one as a ram, now known as Bam Bam. I named the ram that we bought with the girls. It was a toss up between Fred and Barney, from the Flinstones. He became Barney, which means I just had to name his son Bam Bam.

Above photo is the grass BEFORE it burnt off.

These Dorper sheep do NOT work the same as other sheep we have worked. Unlike the 'whites', these guys do not run. As Jock circles them, they turn to watch his progress. Even the lambs will stay put and watch the show.
For the last 6 months or so I have been trying to teach Jock to give the sheep some room. He was just getting the hang of it when I realised that if he was more than 6 feet behind the sheep, they wont move!

Yesterday he successfully gathered up the sheep, and after about 15 minutes of him pushing from behind and each side, we got them into the yard. We weren't putting them in the yard for any reason other than as an exercise for Jock, so no gates were shut.

Tonight he did an even better job of it. I carry a horse lunging whip which I will crack if Jock is not listening. Sometimes when he is well out behind the sheep he doesn't pay attention when I give a command. A quick crack of the whip and he's looking at me, waiting for direction.

Don't be mistaken, he  is NEVER hit with the whip, I never crack it near him and he is NOT afraid of it. He is respectful of it when we are around the sheep, but when there isn't a sheep in sight, he loves to chase the end of it. Just another game of his.

So, he's just turned 14 months old and can successfully gather all of the sheep up together in the paddock, push them quietly through the gateway and guide them into the yards.

Not bad, given I've never trained a working dog before!

Below is Jock cooling off the best way he knows how! (wonder what the sheep think of him sitting in their water?!)