Sheep
I breed, raise, and train, three distinct sets of sheep. I raise sheep for various jobs. I raise
them to help train baby stockdogs, to perform in clinics, lessons, tests, demos, and trials. I
raise them to sell as breeding stock. Once I have ascertained that someone is at sufficient
skill level and has proper facilities, I will lease sheep out to be worked by client dogs. Once
sheep are too old to be worked by dogs, I will lease them out for lawnmower duty. My sheep
are not for the meat market.
RAISING AND TRAINING
Sheep need to be carefully selected and trained to be successful in the kind of work I ask
them to do. My breeding stock are selected for physical soundness, and good conformation.
They need to be able to move out of the way of the dogs. They need to be mentally sound.
They are expected to get on a trailer, travel for long hours, get off, and within 24 hours, be
worked by dogs. This is a monumental amount of stress. My breeding stock are the animals
that have successfully negotiated this life.
As soon as the babies are born, they are introduced to dogs. They see them the first day
of life, and every day thereafter. Within the first week, they are being gently worked by a dog
that will help show them the job. Between following their mothers, and the dog, they soon
learn what’s expected of them.
TEST LEVEL SHEEP
My test level sheep are mongrels. They are Karakul, “Black Cheviot” (Whatever that
supposedly is), Katahdin, Barb, Border Cheviot crosses. Although their breeds are wide
spread, they have a few crucial traits in common. The most important trait they hold in
common is temperament. They are unflappable, non-reactive. They jump on the trailer,
handle the hours crowded on the trailer, and at the end, jump out looking for their grain
reward. They are black fleece sheep.
Always looking to improve, I am planning to buy a registered Babydoll Southdown in
Spring, 2008. I am looking for this little guy to give me a few improvements:
1. Improved fleece. Maybe I can actually make some money from the fleece, finally.
2. Small size. The baby dolls have a 24’’ height requirement. The smaller the sheep, the
more I can get on the trailer.
3. Sweet temperament. Babydolls are renown for having sweet, non-reactive, friendly
dispositions.
The biggest draw-back the Babydolls have, is a full fleece face. I am looking to breed back
and forth until I get a small, sweet, open-faced sheep.
HAIR SHEEP
After many years of resisting, I have finally acquired a nice group of hair sheep. They are
Barb/Katahdin crosses. I acquired them because I needed to up my numbers for an event.
But, I have decided to keep them for other reasons.
The vast majority of trialing facilities have hair sheep. This is primarily due to no shearing
costs. For both my own dog’s sake, and students, it behooves me to have like sheep to
practice on. Hair sheep react quite differently than fleece sheep. When put under stress,
hair sheep will flock tighter and tighter until it looks like they are trying to meld their
shoulders together. Dogs and handlers need to learn how to handle sheep that react in this
manner.
When it comes to breeding hair sheep I like the Barb/Katahdin crosses. The Katahdins
give a physical sturdiness and calmer temperament, the Barbs give a more graceful, fluid
movement that can turn away from the dogs better, and they give the classic Black Belly
coloring. My breeding program with the hair sheep will seek to meld these strengths.
BORDER CHEVIOTS
I love my Border Cheviots. I love almost everything about them. They are physically
beautiful to me. They are for the most part, very hardy physically. They are incredibly easy
lambers. In 11 years of owning sheep, I’ve had to help pull three lambs. (They all came from
the same ewe and her daughters.) They have good strong, low maintenance hooves, cheap
to feed, small in size, so I can work on them by myself.
They are a challenge to work. Border Cheviots were developed
to run semi-wild in the Scottish Highlands. They are intelligent, suspicious, and highly
reactive. As they mature, they can read dogs quickly, and accurately. They are more than
willing to go after a dog they perceive to be weak. One of the unique traits of Border
Cheviots is they do not flock tightly. The Scottish Highlands have sparse grazing. Sheep
needed to spread out to find enough forage. When a dog applies too much pressure on the
flock, the flock breaks apart. A dog that won’t back off, will soon have sheep flying in five
different directions. B. Cheviots are great for a handler who wants to check that his dog
knows how to stay out of the bubble, and can cover.
They do have a few draw-backs. They are very heat sensitive. They can’t work for any
length of time in high summer. They have to be worked often and well as lambs, or they can’t
handle the stress of dogs.
If you look at any of my sheep, you will see that each carries an ear tag. On the ear tag, is
written the sheep’s name. My sheep are named according to the letter their mother’s name
starts with. This allows me to know which line any sheep comes from. Rachel was one of my
first sheep. When I look out and see Rajah, a 2007 wether lamb, I know what his pedigree is.
I get razzed by more main stream sheep people. “I’m making pets of Livestock.” Probably
true. But, I find it has one other benefit besides an easy pedigree prompt….it helps students
remember that these are not toys or objects, but living, breathing, bleeding creatures who
deserve respect and consideration.
I breed, raise, and train, three distinct sets of sheep. I raise sheep for various jobs. I raise
them to help train baby stockdogs, to perform in clinics, lessons, tests, demos, and trials. I
raise them to sell as breeding stock. Once I have ascertained that someone is at sufficient
skill level and has proper facilities, I will lease sheep out to be worked by client dogs. Once
sheep are too old to be worked by dogs, I will lease them out for lawnmower duty. My sheep
are not for the meat market.
RAISING AND TRAINING
Sheep need to be carefully selected and trained to be successful in the kind of work I ask
them to do. My breeding stock are selected for physical soundness, and good conformation.
They need to be able to move out of the way of the dogs. They need to be mentally sound.
They are expected to get on a trailer, travel for long hours, get off, and within 24 hours, be
worked by dogs. This is a monumental amount of stress. My breeding stock are the animals
that have successfully negotiated this life.
As soon as the babies are born, they are introduced to dogs. They see them the first day
of life, and every day thereafter. Within the first week, they are being gently worked by a dog
that will help show them the job. Between following their mothers, and the dog, they soon
learn what’s expected of them.
TEST LEVEL SHEEP
My test level sheep are mongrels. They are Karakul, “Black Cheviot” (Whatever that
supposedly is), Katahdin, Barb, Border Cheviot crosses. Although their breeds are wide
spread, they have a few crucial traits in common. The most important trait they hold in
common is temperament. They are unflappable, non-reactive. They jump on the trailer,
handle the hours crowded on the trailer, and at the end, jump out looking for their grain
reward. They are black fleece sheep.
Always looking to improve, I am planning to buy a registered Babydoll Southdown in
Spring, 2008. I am looking for this little guy to give me a few improvements:
1. Improved fleece. Maybe I can actually make some money from the fleece, finally.
2. Small size. The baby dolls have a 24’’ height requirement. The smaller the sheep, the
more I can get on the trailer.
3. Sweet temperament. Babydolls are renown for having sweet, non-reactive, friendly
dispositions.
The biggest draw-back the Babydolls have, is a full fleece face. I am looking to breed back
and forth until I get a small, sweet, open-faced sheep.
HAIR SHEEP
After many years of resisting, I have finally acquired a nice group of hair sheep. They are
Barb/Katahdin crosses. I acquired them because I needed to up my numbers for an event.
But, I have decided to keep them for other reasons.
The vast majority of trialing facilities have hair sheep. This is primarily due to no shearing
costs. For both my own dog’s sake, and students, it behooves me to have like sheep to
practice on. Hair sheep react quite differently than fleece sheep. When put under stress,
hair sheep will flock tighter and tighter until it looks like they are trying to meld their
shoulders together. Dogs and handlers need to learn how to handle sheep that react in this
manner.
When it comes to breeding hair sheep I like the Barb/Katahdin crosses. The Katahdins
give a physical sturdiness and calmer temperament, the Barbs give a more graceful, fluid
movement that can turn away from the dogs better, and they give the classic Black Belly
coloring. My breeding program with the hair sheep will seek to meld these strengths.
BORDER CHEVIOTS
I love my Border Cheviots. I love almost everything about them. They are physically
beautiful to me. They are for the most part, very hardy physically. They are incredibly easy
lambers. In 11 years of owning sheep, I’ve had to help pull three lambs. (They all came from
the same ewe and her daughters.) They have good strong, low maintenance hooves, cheap
to feed, small in size, so I can work on them by myself.
They are a challenge to work. Border Cheviots were developed
to run semi-wild in the Scottish Highlands. They are intelligent, suspicious, and highly
reactive. As they mature, they can read dogs quickly, and accurately. They are more than
willing to go after a dog they perceive to be weak. One of the unique traits of Border
Cheviots is they do not flock tightly. The Scottish Highlands have sparse grazing. Sheep
needed to spread out to find enough forage. When a dog applies too much pressure on the
flock, the flock breaks apart. A dog that won’t back off, will soon have sheep flying in five
different directions. B. Cheviots are great for a handler who wants to check that his dog
knows how to stay out of the bubble, and can cover.
They do have a few draw-backs. They are very heat sensitive. They can’t work for any
length of time in high summer. They have to be worked often and well as lambs, or they can’t
handle the stress of dogs.
If you look at any of my sheep, you will see that each carries an ear tag. On the ear tag, is
written the sheep’s name. My sheep are named according to the letter their mother’s name
starts with. This allows me to know which line any sheep comes from. Rachel was one of my
first sheep. When I look out and see Rajah, a 2007 wether lamb, I know what his pedigree is.
I get razzed by more main stream sheep people. “I’m making pets of Livestock.” Probably
true. But, I find it has one other benefit besides an easy pedigree prompt….it helps students
remember that these are not toys or objects, but living, breathing, bleeding creatures who
deserve respect and consideration.
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