Mini Horses
Herd Master
I'm thinking a good pistol, practice aim, let dogs keep sheep held tight -- that'd be my choice. At some point, the coyotes would be gone. 
SageHill Ranch Journal
- Thread starter SageHill
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #722
SageHill
Herd Master
That's exactly what I do nowI'm thinking a good pistol, practice aim, let dogs keep sheep held tight -- that'd be my choice. At some point, the coyotes would be gone.
.- Thread starter
- #723
SageHill
Herd Master
Had a hugely busy day yesterday. What was supposed to be one dog for herding turned into 3 and then morphed into 5 and added in one dog for scentwork. Getting ready for herding is quick and simple, for scentwork it's a fair amount of time to set up search areas. Such is life, and paying the feed bill - and I enjoy it.
It made for a short grazing time though, and with a sorted out flock. I wanted everyone sorted so the "working" s
heep would be ready to go.
I think that the dryland pasture mix that we used on the cut and fill slopes for the arenas a couple years ago are sending the starts of alfalfa to other areas of the ranch. Not complaining at all. The sheep have found it quickly - they love a fresh salad!
I've been working on printing out the Wild Graze posts so I've got a printed journal of it. I may keep that at the barn as a handy ever growing reference.
End of year reflection........
Since I've started all this "sheeping" here I've realized that I do things differently. I knew it when I started, but didn't truly realize the scope of it. I'm still a babe in woods, a newbie at all this and am constantly learning - love that.
I've learned that the sheep are pretty darned smart - well - there are "those" days when I think not so
- but ya' know most of those days happened when I was giving lessons at a big facility.
Little did I know when I got into this here how things would evolve. The plan was to have a training facility - small scale. Well - kinda have that, but smaller than originally thought.
That evolved into some sheep for training, breed some for training and meat - that's in progress - 5 lambs total, 1 in the freezer (check mark - did it, no regrets, and enjoy the product).
Animal crackers - I did the herding, herding training, teaching, trialing starting back in 1982 - and until I found you all I never thought of giving sheep treats! Seriously. I mean I've had horses and did the apples, carrots, horse treats when they started making them - but NEVER thought of giving treats to sheep. My sheep thank each and every one of you. Animals crackers, snacks from the garden, squash, pumpkin - they are happy.
Names - well I did occasionally name a few sheep through the years - "Dog Killer" an old Suffolk ewe, "Ol' 22" ear tag number, and maybe another or two? Fourty years and 2 names? Now they all have names, more to keep track of who's who - but names none the less and the lambs tend to know their names. Petting sheep - ah yeah, do that too complete with ear rubs sometimes. Talk to them - of course, though even in the teaching at a facility I'd say "thank you" to the sheep as I put them away.
The work - aka grazing. I have learned so much with this. My dogs are much smarter than me. They seem to instinctively know where the good places are. The sheep know this too. When I'd "pick" a spot for the sheep to graze early on in this, I seemed to never picked a good place. It would look lush and green - but the sheep, as well as the dog (Obi at that time) knew better, they would all (Obi included) look at me and stand and stand and stand. And people call the sheep lawn mowers - ha ha ha. I've learned to find areas that either the dogs put them in, or I can see the "look" of the sheep wanting to go into an area. It works for us that way and with no wasted time trying "areas that look tasty to me".
The dogs. OMG -- I know this end of it so well -- or I thought I did. Training, teaching, trialing and judging, that's a lot - 40+ years of it. But not enough. The dogs know this stuff. Well, the good dogs. I've long said if a farmer/rancher had to put the time into a dog training it that the "sport herding" people did, they wouldn't have keep that dog. I still stand by that. There are not enough hours in a day to put that kind of training in AND run ranch. That doesn't mean I'm not about training, because I am, but I want to train a dog that wants to be trained, be a team player. No training = a tool without a handle. We all know how good a hammer or a screwdriver is without a handle (or worse a broken handle). I've watched Obi, and now Zo disappear around thickets, through brush to come out in the most perfect spot to control the sheep on the road (sometimes not even knowing the path they are on), I've watched them working the road side brushing sides with the sheep and no one speeding away and all staying on the road (our dirt "ranch roads"), watched them change the direction the sheep are grazing without me telling them. I look at all this and am totally in awe of their skill and the true ability of them and the flock knowing what to do and how to react. It's such a cohesive working group. I've watched both the dogs work over and through extremely rocky boulder filled ground - some complete with cliffs. And this is one of the places where trust is of the utmost. I have to trust that the dog is right, I can not tell the dog to stop, or change direction, or pretty much anything else. Why? MY feeling is that if I interrupt what he is doing he could easily take a wrong step and get seriously hurt. For the record I have felt this way since I first saw Obi go into a rock/boulder field - and every single time, every single time he has been right, things happened as they should - sheep were right, dog was right, I was cringing. No one got hurt. There are a few areas on the ranch like this - so it's a fact of life. Going back to the herding trials - while they can be a way to showcase a dog's training and a handler's ability they are extremely artificial. I just see a ranch dog as a thinking dog, a working team member - and many of the trial dogs can be robot machines of their handlers.
Lovin' The Life.
- and I enjoy it. It made for a short grazing time though, and with a sorted out flock. I wanted everyone sorted so the "working" s
heep would be ready to go.
I think that the dryland pasture mix that we used on the cut and fill slopes for the arenas a couple years ago are sending the starts of alfalfa to other areas of the ranch. Not complaining at all. The sheep have found it quickly - they love a fresh salad!
I've been working on printing out the Wild Graze posts so I've got a printed journal of it. I may keep that at the barn as a handy ever growing reference.
End of year reflection........
Since I've started all this "sheeping" here I've realized that I do things differently. I knew it when I started, but didn't truly realize the scope of it. I'm still a babe in woods, a newbie at all this and am constantly learning - love that.
I've learned that the sheep are pretty darned smart - well - there are "those" days when I think not so
- but ya' know most of those days happened when I was giving lessons at a big facility. Little did I know when I got into this here how things would evolve. The plan was to have a training facility - small scale. Well - kinda have that, but smaller than originally thought.
That evolved into some sheep for training, breed some for training and meat - that's in progress - 5 lambs total, 1 in the freezer (check mark - did it, no regrets, and enjoy the product).
Animal crackers - I did the herding, herding training, teaching, trialing starting back in 1982 - and until I found you all I never thought of giving sheep treats! Seriously. I mean I've had horses and did the apples, carrots, horse treats when they started making them - but NEVER thought of giving treats to sheep. My sheep thank each and every one of you. Animals crackers, snacks from the garden, squash, pumpkin - they are happy.
Names - well I did occasionally name a few sheep through the years - "Dog Killer" an old Suffolk ewe, "Ol' 22" ear tag number, and maybe another or two? Fourty years and 2 names? Now they all have names, more to keep track of who's who - but names none the less and the lambs tend to know their names. Petting sheep - ah yeah, do that too complete with ear rubs sometimes. Talk to them - of course, though even in the teaching at a facility I'd say "thank you" to the sheep as I put them away.
The work - aka grazing. I have learned so much with this. My dogs are much smarter than me. They seem to instinctively know where the good places are. The sheep know this too. When I'd "pick" a spot for the sheep to graze early on in this, I seemed to never picked a good place. It would look lush and green - but the sheep, as well as the dog (Obi at that time) knew better, they would all (Obi included) look at me and stand and stand and stand. And people call the sheep lawn mowers - ha ha ha. I've learned to find areas that either the dogs put them in, or I can see the "look" of the sheep wanting to go into an area. It works for us that way and with no wasted time trying "areas that look tasty to me".
The dogs. OMG -- I know this end of it so well -- or I thought I did. Training, teaching, trialing and judging, that's a lot - 40+ years of it. But not enough. The dogs know this stuff. Well, the good dogs. I've long said if a farmer/rancher had to put the time into a dog training it that the "sport herding" people did, they wouldn't have keep that dog. I still stand by that. There are not enough hours in a day to put that kind of training in AND run ranch. That doesn't mean I'm not about training, because I am, but I want to train a dog that wants to be trained, be a team player. No training = a tool without a handle. We all know how good a hammer or a screwdriver is without a handle
(or worse a broken handle). I've watched Obi, and now Zo disappear around thickets, through brush to come out in the most perfect spot to control the sheep on the road (sometimes not even knowing the path they are on), I've watched them working the road side brushing sides with the sheep and no one speeding away and all staying on the road (our dirt "ranch roads"), watched them change the direction the sheep are grazing without me telling them. I look at all this and am totally in awe of their skill and the true ability of them and the flock knowing what to do and how to react. It's such a cohesive working group. I've watched both the dogs work over and through extremely rocky boulder filled ground - some complete with cliffs. And this is one of the places where trust is of the utmost. I have to trust that the dog is right, I can not tell the dog to stop, or change direction, or pretty much anything else. Why? MY feeling is that if I interrupt what he is doing he could easily take a wrong step and get seriously hurt. For the record I have felt this way since I first saw Obi go into a rock/boulder field - and every single time, every single time he has been right, things happened as they should - sheep were right, dog was right, I was cringing. No one got hurt. There are a few areas on the ranch like this - so it's a fact of life. Going back to the herding trials - while they can be a way to showcase a dog's training and a handler's ability they are extremely artificial. I just see a ranch dog as a thinking dog, a working team member - and many of the trial dogs can be robot machines of their handlers.Lovin' The Life.
Baymule
Herd Master
What a tribute to your dogs and sheep. It’s a tribute of gratitude for your self. Acknowledgement of what your dogs and sheep have taught you, tells me that your heart and mind are open and finely tuned to your animals. It’s been informative for me, watching your journey in open grazing. You, dogs and sheep are awesome!
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Oak or hickory are the best for crooks. My original crook - also old like yours, sounds the same. But last time running sheep through chute DS1 used it to hold back ewes and it cracked
I will glue, clamp, and add a screw to keep it together. I have another Premier "Aussie: crook but that heavy wooden one is my favorite. I wonder if I could get another for backup. This one was ordered from Jeffers I think.- Thread starter
- #726
SageHill
Herd Master
Another day, another target. 'Tis life on the Wild Graze. Barely out with the sheep, walking the ranch road annnnd, yup, again. Coyote. Because of the hills they aren't always visible until they're closer than anyone would want. This one appeared at the crest of one of the hills - just happened to be the hill next to that part of the ranch road. I did the typical command to Obi "STAY" as I dropped stock stick and gloves and grabbed the deterrent. As I aimed it did a flinch, like it thought about leaving - YES I like that, means I've been on target so to speak in previous encounters. Smacked it again, just barely before it took off. Baby steps in the right direction. Stronger deterrent is on the way. I think I may change that command to "Coyote" or "Yote".
I've also been noticing lately that the dogs make their "grazing fence" closer to the sheep (without the sheep being disturbed) when coyotes are close. From all the detection work I've done, I'm pretty sure that it's not based on sight alone. Some days they make their "graze fence" way off, and others it's in close. Even in the same areas. Trust the dog. 
Looks like we may start the new year with something new.....
Things have been pretty easy all along so far,
it continues, but "the little bird" on my shoulder is peeping that
I'll be in for "adventures" in '24. Not necessarily fun ones, but learning ones.
With the previous post I mentioned the no-so-safe areas that the dogs must navigate. So today, while I know what they look like and where they are I thought I take pics of some -- here is one of the "safer" cliffs (min 6 ft drop off edge)
Area of rocks - I can't truly walk through w/o trouble. There are places like this
that cover large areas. Thank God the dogs have four feet because my guess is if
one "misses" it just skips a step while the other three take the weight and momentum....
OH and the sage is blooming
I've also been noticing lately that the dogs make their "grazing fence" closer to the sheep (without the sheep being disturbed) when coyotes are close. From all the detection work I've done, I'm pretty sure that it's not based on sight alone.
Some days they make their "graze fence" way off, and others it's in close. Even in the same areas. Trust the dog. Looks like we may start the new year with something new.....
Things have been pretty easy all along so far,
it continues, but "the little bird" on my shoulder is peeping thatI'll be in for "adventures" in '24. Not necessarily fun ones, but learning ones.
With the previous post I mentioned the no-so-safe areas that the dogs must navigate. So today, while I know what they look like and where they are I thought I take pics of some -- here is one of the "safer" cliffs (min 6 ft drop off edge)
Area of rocks - I can't truly walk through w/o trouble. There are places like this
that cover large areas. Thank God the dogs have four feet because my guess is if
one "misses" it just skips a step while the other three take the weight and momentum....
OH and the sage is blooming
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Always!
People think of California as sandy beaches and flat sandy deserts. They don't realize that our "hills" are steeper than some of the eastern mountains, and mostly rock.
Baymule
Herd Master
Good on the coyote warning. You do have some beautiful scenery on your place.
- Thread starter
- #729
SageHill
Herd Master
Thanks
. It's our little corner of paradise. The biggest thing that would make it perfect is making the state turn red.
We are blest to be here.
Ridgetop
Herd Master
California is beautiful, has great weather, and all the crazy liberals flock to it. Governor Gruesome is worried about tax income loss for the state now. Apparently, those illegals he welcomes into the state do not pay taxes so do not contribute to the state's income. People with any income are leaving the state. After all, why pay exorbitant taxes to live in a state where you can't get police protection from crime, can't protect yourself from criminals, can't get enough water, can't get enough electricity to charge the electric cars you are forced into buying, and anything you can get you are paying more and more $$$ to obtain.
I love living on top of our hill - the views, the privacy, etc., but once you leave the safety of your place you have to watch your back.
However, HAPPY NEW YEAR! We hope everyone has a wonderful year full of happiness and health. Until Biden and his Bidenomics are gone we won't have any prosperity, but at least we can be healthy and happy and enjoy our friends and our own personal pieces of heaven.
I love living on top of our hill - the views, the privacy, etc., but once you leave the safety of your place you have to watch your back.
However, HAPPY NEW YEAR! We hope everyone has a wonderful year full of happiness and health. Until Biden and his Bidenomics are gone we won't have any prosperity, but at least we can be healthy and happy and enjoy our friends and our own personal pieces of heaven.
