Category: Our sheepdogs at work

  • Carew does the entire gather by herself!

    Working alone, Carew completes this morning’s gather in record time! This morning’s sheep gather and lamb drafting operation was completed in record time. Of course, the more the dogs and I do this work, the better we should get, but I really wasn’t expecting things to go as well as they did today. On Monday, John had warned me that we’d probably need to separate… Read more.

  • You can’t beat flock work for developing a dog’s character

    You can’t beat flock work for developing a dog’s character

    Carew’s strength of character has greatly improved since starting flock work. As the run of unusually hot weather continues in the UK, I’m grateful (and I’m sure the dogs are too) that we can do the bulk of our training and flock work in the early morning. This morning was no exception. At five-thirty Carew, Kay and I were in the car once again, following… Read more.

  • Working sheepdog Carew has hidden talents

    It was Carew’s turn to astonish me during this morning’s gather I didn’t intend to write a blog about this morning’s sheep gather, but such extraordinary things happened that I felt I must. If you’ve read some of the recent blogs about our dogs at work, you’ll know that I regularly help our landlord with gathering his sheep and drafting out lambs ready for market.… Read more.

  • Gathering sheep doesn’t always go to plan

    5:45am is a great time to start a day’s work on a July morning! Using our dogs to gather sheep for our landlord has become a regular activity recently. We jump at the chance of improving their sheepdog training by giving them new experiences, particularly with different sheep in new locations, so I was happy to take Kay and Carew to work several hundred sheep… Read more.

  • Proper flock work with Carew and Kay

    Farm work broadens the dog’s experience and tests the handler’s skill Whenever possible, we like to take our dogs out to other farms to work on different sheep, in unfamiliar fields. It’s excellent for broadening a sheepdog’s mind, so when our landlord asked for help with his sizeable flock recently, I jumped at the chance. At 6am this morning, I arrived at the neighbouring farm… Read more.

  • Maggot’s morning

    What a glorious morning! After the snow and greyness of yesterday this morning was mild and sunny, with endless blue skies and an optimistic feeling of spring in the air. The sort of morning that can make me forget I don’t have a proper job or a stable income. Almost. Instead of getting the yard cleaned up and the dogs exercised at top speed, I… Read more.

  • Sheepdog comings and goings

    I love this photo. It’s two of my favourite puppies, Maggot and Cotton, sisters from Kay’s litter with the lovely Max Cotton’s on her 30-day trial with a farmer in Oxfordshire, and it was with mixed feelings that we saw her go. She’s a pretty little dog, with a big personality and very obliging; she impressed us with her work when she was really just… Read more.

  • A good looking sheepdog and a great worker too

    Carew continues to shine above the other dogs when it comes to working sheep. She’s desperate to please, a very keen worker, and shows signs of having power too. If anything, she’s a little too sensitive – not with the sheep, but with her handler. When she’s working, if Carew feels she’s done something wrong, she has a tendency to lose confidence in herself and… Read more.

  • A young sheepdog with all the qualities I like

    A young sheepdog with all the qualities I like

    Among the many important attributes that I look for in a trainee sheepdog are confidence, the power to move stubborn sheep, and ‘sheep sense’. By ‘sheep sense’, I mean a dog that can ‘read’ what the sheep are about to do and act accordingly. You wouldn’t expect a ten month old dog with little training and absolutely no flock experience to have acquired much of… Read more.