So here is Stilhope Rob, son of Denise Wall's Mick and May. He very much wants to work now, but he's just too small to catch my flighty lambs. Rob will have to suffer through the boredom of being a spoiled puppy until he grows a little bigger.
Friday, March 28, 2014
Welcome, Rob!
My pseudo-puppy-raising project has officially turned into a permanent addition. I am certainly not dog-poor, but this little dude was not something I could pass on. For so many reasons.
So here is Stilhope Rob, son of Denise Wall's Mick and May. He very much wants to work now, but he's just too small to catch my flighty lambs. Rob will have to suffer through the boredom of being a spoiled puppy until he grows a little bigger.
So here is Stilhope Rob, son of Denise Wall's Mick and May. He very much wants to work now, but he's just too small to catch my flighty lambs. Rob will have to suffer through the boredom of being a spoiled puppy until he grows a little bigger.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Stuck at home
Well I was sure looking forward to returning to returning to Dawn's Lazy J February trial...but it just wasn't meant to be.
The week before the trial I sold all but 3 ewes because they were not up to my standards health or working wise. I kept the 3 best ones to leave me with something to train on before the trial and to hold me over until my lambs could work or I could buy new sheep. Two days after the culls left, I went to take the remaining ewes across the street to work. As soon as they saw Gabe they ran like they were feral and took off down the road. Gabe and I trailed them for a mile, but since the roads were so winding and narrow, I never could get to a place where I felt safe sending Gabe to head them. Eventually we lost their trail and had to go home. I searched all day on foot and in the car, even took the dogs with me to help look, and never saw them again.
The next morning a call came in to the clinic that some sheep were standing in someone's yard about 2 miles from my house. The woman was angry because I couldn't come to get them until my lunch break and ended up hanging up on me! Her attitude was surprising because it's the dead of winter, so no nice lawn or garden for them to destroy, and jeez, we live in the sticks! Since I had many surgeries to get to, I had two girls from work go put them up in the neighboring field that had sheep, cos, and a goat. At lunch time I took Gabe and a work friend to go catch them, and what a fun adventure that was! First we had to put the undogged cows up in a shed, and that was a chore because some were spoiled pets who had no manners or sense. The three of us finally got them up and then had to deal with the menagerie of sheep. My feral three were amongst about a dozen others that included aggressive suffolks, rams, a mom with her newborns, and even a neurological goat. There were no chutes, pens, or gates, so Gabe and I had to sort them in the open and then after much work, the three of us got mine loaded on my trailer and ready to go home. We were muddy, bloody, and sore, but we got it done!
The next couple days the dogs and I tried to settle the feral sheep at home in a small field, but they were just crazy. Even so, it was good preparation for the trial at Dawn's which can have some very light sheep. I was really looking forward to the trial and spending a weekend away from home in the camper, but it wasn't meant to be. On the way to the trial Friday night I was run off the interstate by a tractor trailer and the camper and Suburban slid jack-knifed down the grassy median. Long-story short, it was ridiculously scary but me and all 6 dogs were not injured. The camper ended up being a total loss and the Suburban has been undergoing repairs for what seems like forever, which means that we truly have been stuck at home since I don't have another vehicle that can transport all the dogs.
I've found another camper that I think I will like even better than the last one. I've put a deposit on it, have the insurance money from the old camper, so am just waiting for the Suburban to be fixed so I can pick it up! In the meantime I've worked a million hours at the day (and night and weekend) job and have just been lounging around at home doing minimal work with the dogs. It's nice to have some time off but I'm getting a little stir-crazy here, and I'm thinking they are, too.
The week before the trial I sold all but 3 ewes because they were not up to my standards health or working wise. I kept the 3 best ones to leave me with something to train on before the trial and to hold me over until my lambs could work or I could buy new sheep. Two days after the culls left, I went to take the remaining ewes across the street to work. As soon as they saw Gabe they ran like they were feral and took off down the road. Gabe and I trailed them for a mile, but since the roads were so winding and narrow, I never could get to a place where I felt safe sending Gabe to head them. Eventually we lost their trail and had to go home. I searched all day on foot and in the car, even took the dogs with me to help look, and never saw them again.
The next morning a call came in to the clinic that some sheep were standing in someone's yard about 2 miles from my house. The woman was angry because I couldn't come to get them until my lunch break and ended up hanging up on me! Her attitude was surprising because it's the dead of winter, so no nice lawn or garden for them to destroy, and jeez, we live in the sticks! Since I had many surgeries to get to, I had two girls from work go put them up in the neighboring field that had sheep, cos, and a goat. At lunch time I took Gabe and a work friend to go catch them, and what a fun adventure that was! First we had to put the undogged cows up in a shed, and that was a chore because some were spoiled pets who had no manners or sense. The three of us finally got them up and then had to deal with the menagerie of sheep. My feral three were amongst about a dozen others that included aggressive suffolks, rams, a mom with her newborns, and even a neurological goat. There were no chutes, pens, or gates, so Gabe and I had to sort them in the open and then after much work, the three of us got mine loaded on my trailer and ready to go home. We were muddy, bloody, and sore, but we got it done!
The next couple days the dogs and I tried to settle the feral sheep at home in a small field, but they were just crazy. Even so, it was good preparation for the trial at Dawn's which can have some very light sheep. I was really looking forward to the trial and spending a weekend away from home in the camper, but it wasn't meant to be. On the way to the trial Friday night I was run off the interstate by a tractor trailer and the camper and Suburban slid jack-knifed down the grassy median. Long-story short, it was ridiculously scary but me and all 6 dogs were not injured. The camper ended up being a total loss and the Suburban has been undergoing repairs for what seems like forever, which means that we truly have been stuck at home since I don't have another vehicle that can transport all the dogs.
I've found another camper that I think I will like even better than the last one. I've put a deposit on it, have the insurance money from the old camper, so am just waiting for the Suburban to be fixed so I can pick it up! In the meantime I've worked a million hours at the day (and night and weekend) job and have just been lounging around at home doing minimal work with the dogs. It's nice to have some time off but I'm getting a little stir-crazy here, and I'm thinking they are, too.
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