Photo's of our new sheep, and some classic Jock shots too!

So much has been happening here the last few days that I've gotten behind in my Blog updates, but all of that is about to change.

In the last week we managed to find, and purchase our first purebred Black Headed Dorper Ewes, plus a registered, purebred ram.

We've had Dorpers before, but not the black headed ones, and found them a little surprising. They seem to be less fussy when it comes to what they eat, and they also do a much better job grazing than my other sheep have been doing. They are slightly smaller than my other ewes, but seem less flighty, more inclined to take things in their stride.

When they finally arrived, they had spent almost 8 hours in the trailer, but careful handling and driving by the gentleman who delivered meant that when they finally did get here, they looked like they'd only been travelling for about 10 minutes!

Below are some photo's of these girls, and the ram who I have nicknamed Barney (from the Flintstones!).

I also managed to get some more photo's of Jock whilst he was playing. As you can see, the stick is more enticing than the watering can right now.

Enjoy!

Some of the Black Headed Dorper girls that we bought recently

More Dorper girls

A lovely panoramic view of the sheep (new and old) and the Willow Tree just starting to grow leaves again for Springtime!

Jock with the latest toy. This stick provides him with hours of fun and multiple bruises for me as he rushes past and hits me on the back of the legs with it!

Jock is 'full-pounce' mode!

He's run off his feet!!!

Well, Jock has certainly earned his food this last week.

My sheep refuse to stay where they are put, so today I decided that enough was enough!

With Jocks help, we managed to move the sheep out of the paddock they were in, through another paddock (that I might add has heaps of obstacles), and into the last paddock where they will stay until I can get the rest of the fencing sorted out.

Jock is progressing surprisingly fast. He is now reading the sheep much better and is able to anticipate their next moves. He's also responding very well to voice commands, and I'm hoping to change him over to whistle commands in the coming months.

Today we did a lot of work on slowing him down. If he got closer than 15 feet from the sheep, I'd put a stop on him, wait for the sheep to move off a little more and then tell him to 'walk up'. He still hasn't entirely grasped the concept of 'walk up' but he is getting the idea. With him walking and stopping and then walking again, I was able to stop the sheep heading for the gate they came out of and down to the new paddock gate. At one stage I needed Jock to come around to the flank to stop them making a run for it, which he did, and then went back to following them again.

When they made a run for the gate into the new paddock, I knew that Jock would want to head them and bring them back, so I called him off, which he did almost willingly (I say 'almost' because had I been less firm with my command, he would have happily circled the sheep again and brought that back to me) and came and sat on my foot. Not, at my foot, but actually sat ON it. That way he knows where I am without looking! Smart pup, but a hazard if I have to walk off!

So, with my ewes only about 3 weeks off lambing, Jock is now out of work. If I can figure out how to do it, I'll separate the ewe lambs off for working and leave the others in peace. If I can't, then he gets a break until I can find some more sheep to work him on.

I'm not sure what level he is supposed to be at in his training or at his age, but to give you an idea of where he is up to, I'll list them below:

1. He stops when I give the 'Stand' command (98% of the time).
2. He casts round to the left on 'come-bye'.
3. He casts round to the right on 'way'.
4. He walks up on the sheep when commanded (50%).
5. He will come off the sheep when called (99% of the time).
6. He stays by my leg when walking around or through the sheep without trying (too hard) to round them up (85% of the time)
7. He gathers them all up in a tight bunch when I cast him and brings them to me (95% of the time)
8. He goes back for strays on the "look back" command (80% of the time with prompting).
9. He stops and blocks gateways when required so that I can get the gate closed properly.

So, he can't run the fenceline and gather all of the sheep without going too quick, and he pushes them up on me really fast if I don't 'check' him, but other than that, I think for a pup who is yet to hit the 9 month old milestone (16th August), he is doing exceptionally well, don't you think?

I'm proud of my Jock, and proud of myself for having helped him to get to where he is (and where we are) today!

He did a fantastic job! (with pic!)

Today, Jock was required to help me with the sheep.

He's only eight and a half months old and has had lots of broken training. Intense and then nothing, then intense again!

Well, today he did a beautiful job for me. I wanted to have a look at a couple of my ewes but I no longer have any yards set up (moving them to a more suitable area) so I have to rely on Jock bringing the sheep to me in the paddock and holding them in place. It probably would have been easier for both of us if I'd picked a corner to work in, but the middle of the paddock seemed to work out well.

After checking over the sheep, I decided to put Jock through his paces. Below is a diagram (albeit rough) of where I got Jock to put the sheep, and he did it every time!

Andy Nickless posted this:

The Definition of a Sheepdog.
My definition of when the dog you're training becomes a sheepdog.

Imagine your sheep had escaped ("surely not," I hear you cry - "our sheep NEVER escape")and are roaming your neighbour's fields. Your only dog is the youngster you have at home, just in the early stages of his training. Would you take that dog to help get the sheep back in, or would you call a friend and ask him to bring his dog - leaving the trainee secure in the kennel where he can do no harm? If you'd take the trainee - because you're reasonably confident that between you, you can get the sheep back into your field, then (in my opinion) he's a sheepdog.

I mention that because every one of those "rescues" became a sheepdog that I would take with me to get the sheep back in.

Some were certainly a lot better than others, but I'd have taken any of them to get my sheep in if I had no other dog. Having said that though, some of the ten dogs had big problems (not of their own making) which I had to overcome. If you start off with a young dog which is from good working stock, you're likely to find training a lot easier.   on his website.

Today, I agree that my pup is very quickly becoming a sheepdog!

I am proud of my dog, and proud of myself as well!

PS. If you want to hear more from Andy Nickless, check out his site at:

http://www.herding-dog-training-border-collie-sheepdog-dvd.com/herding_sheepdog_stock_dog_training.htm

for some fantastic tips, tricks and insights!

A move outside :(

Well, it seems that Jock is growing up, in many ways. However, the last few nights he has been forced to sleep outside in his pen on the front verandah.

Why? you may ask?

Simply because he is currently in a power struggle with our other dog and has decided to mark his territory by peeing in his pen. Jock is not a small dog, he's almost at full height now, is quite long and appears to have a bladder that stretches from shoulder to hip. He can quite literally pee for 3 minutes straight!

So, when he decides to 'mark his territory', he just about flood washes my lounge room floor. Now, I have children, one who is just about to turn 3 years, and she spends a lot of time playing on the floor. I do not want her playing in the area where he has pee'd. To stop this from being an issue, and to stop him from making my house smell like a public urinal, I've moved him outside at night.

Neither of us a very happy with this arrangement (I don't like keeping dogs outside overnight) but at the moment there isn't really any other option.

To his credit, since being moved outside at night, he has not pee'd in his pen again. He still goes out for his run just before bed, and he gets to come inside for attention, as well as a bit more training (obedience and agility at the moment), but for the next few nights, he will continue to sleep outside in his pen, and we can only hope that when we bring him back in, he's a well-behaved boy and doesn't pee in his pen!

Things didn't go quite to plan

Well, I had to move the sheep again. The paddock they were in doesn't have enough grass to hold them much longer, and as it always takes a long time to come back, I didn't want the sheep grazing it down to bare earth.

To get them into the paddock that I needed them in would require taking them through the gate, closing the gate behind them, opening the next gate, walking them through, closing that and then walking them down the driveway to the last paddock (where the barn and dam are). Because of the way its set up, I have to close each gate once they are through, which is tricky at times as many of them try to rush back through.

With Jocks help, we managed to move all of the sheep out of the first paddock. He did do naughty things like dart across in front of them, and head them way too close, but after a few minutes I got him under control and we sent the sheep out of the paddock. We had to go back for Yak, who was, as usual hiding from us. Jock got a lesson in driving then, because without him, Yak would have just buried her feet and stayed put.

When they were all through, the sheep made a run for the far gate, which is a tiny laneway that is about 30 feet long and 8 feet wide. They'd jammed up in there and weren't coming out. This is where Jock came in. He quietly went down beside them and started pushing them out. Unfortunately enthusiasm got the better of him and he decided to cut them off when they started to run. Some quick commands and a minor telling off later and we had the sheep in the paddock ready to go to the barn paddock. The sheep had spread out a bit and some where panting quite heavily, so, as they are all heavily in lamb, I decided to leave them where they were for the night to recover. Jock wasn't impressed with finishing work so abruptly, but he took it in his stride.

He did well, but it was a much messier operation than it should have been, and his lack of training, and my inexperience caused many issues. All in all, he did well, but there is plenty of room for improvement.

Unfortunately, yesterday was the day that I really needed a trained dog, however, only having Jock at my disposal means that he was pressed into service more than he should have been.

In the very near future, I am hoping to get some young, dry ewes to train on. Until then, we'll make do!

I needed Jocks' help, could he do it?

Two days ago I discovered that I have a couple of ewes that are unwell. They were all due for drenching, and the usual feet trimming, plus a general hands-on check, so I set about bringing them up to the pens. Fortunately almost all of them will come up for a bucket of feed, but there is one ewe that constantly hides from us. Her name is Yak (she looked like a baby yak when she was born and the name stuck) and if she can 'miss the muster', she will. On this day, everyone had come up except for her and two others. The other two were making their way slowly up to where I wanted them, but Yak wasn't having a bar of it, so I decided to go and get Jock for help. Oh, how I hoped he'd remember at least a little of his training as he hasn't been worked in months!

With ten sheep penned and two making their way slowly up to the pen, Yak was still in the original paddock that has a drain across it, and of course, she was on the wrong side of the drain. With Jock by my side, I walked down to the gateway of the paddock. Yak saw him and made a break for it over the drain and started heading up the hill over to the far corner of the paddock. Putting Jock on a stand, I turned to face him and sent him 'away' to go out and around Yak.
He did as was asked, but cut in too close and almost ended up going straight up to her. I tried to send him out, but he either didn't hear me, or ignored me. Yak took off, and Jock managed to get around her and bring her to me.
When she saw the other sheep she made a bolt for it to them, so I called Jock back to me to let her go. He was a bit confused because he's always been taught to bring them sheep to me, so he wanted to go around and head her again to bring her back. However, he did listen to me and we followed along behind her until she was with the other two sheep up in the first pen. I put him on a stand and he held them in the yard until I got the gate closed.

All in all, he saved me from doing a hell of a lot of walking, and most probably some swearing as well! He wasn't impressed that his work was done for the day, but he did seem to take it in good spirits.

A couple of things impressed me with the way he worked.
He went the direction I sent him (no questions asked),
He was able to out run Yak and turn her back to me,
He brought her too me in a very straight line,
He came off her when I needed him to, and
He held them in the yard whilst I shut the gate.

Not bad for a green pup!

However, there are a few things that we need to work on:

As usual, he was too close, and he wouldn't move out when instructed, so when the weather improves, and my health as well, we'll work on that.

Thanks Jock, for making my job that much easier!

The new training yard is almost ready!

Well, after a quick discussion with Jock, which went along the lines of -"I'm bored mum, I wanna go play with the sheep!"- I decided it was time to get the new yard set up and get some more training in.
Being sick with a head cold has put a bit of a damper on things, and I haven't really wanted to venture outside in the freezing cold and rain to get the new yard up.

However, yesterday evening I decided to 'bite the freezing bullet' and get started. The yard is really quite big, being a very large rectangle with rounded corners. There is still some more work to be done on the yard before it can be used (actually, until I fit the gate in place, we may have a little trouble keeping the sheep from making a break for freedom!) but soon enough Jock will be out there, no doubt as enthusiastic as ever!

Will keep you all posted on how we go, and whether we make any progress or not!