Bran the Border Collie, had disgraced himself. When our over enthusiastic but under helpful sheep dog had successfully created even more chaos and mayhem than we already had, a decision was made. Around the livestock Bran is going to be firmly restrained on the end of a long lead rope. It isn’t that the super intelligent, smarter than you (whoever you are) dog ( I swear he was a grumpy old man in an earlier life !! ) doesn’t know what he is supposed to do. It isn’t that he doesn’t understand what you are telling him to do….It’s just Bran. Bran clearly knows best and when anything moves at faster than a slow walk, our black and white canine is on the scene faster than a guided missile ready willing and very able to make the situation a lot worse than it already is.
The first days out in the pasture for our ladies and their young lambs is always “interesting”. The formation eating team line up immediately AFTER breakfast ( but not a moment before), noses through the gate, little cloven hooves ready, the ladies are ready to race to the fresh Spring grass. Sadly in their excitement…. with an open gate in front of them and the smell of grass in their nostrils our new moms forget that their lambs (1) can’t run as fast as mom and (2) don’t have a GPS to find the field and the daily rush to the pasture resembles a re run of the Kentucky Derby…..without their tiny offspring! This is where all Bran’s Christmas’s arrived at once, 18 frenzied lambs running around like headless chickens, the air full of frantic bleating and Bran had more to chase than he could ever have wished for. Ears flat against his head, ( “I can’t hear a word you are saying “) tail waving like a banner he chased the black lamb into the fence, he chased the tiny triplets around and around the barnyard, he chased another group of bewildered wailing orphans back into the barn..it was OVER !!! Bran was firmly fastened to the end of a lead rope and like it or not our errant Border Collie WAS going to listen. Can’t treat an old dog new tricks ?…our old dog taught himself some !!
The good news, last night all the moms and the lambs returned together to the barn. No renegade dreadlocked Soay sheep heading off in the wrong direction, no brat pack of lost lambs smacking into the fence, just a nice orderly race back to dinner….and Bran firmly under control.
Got to go, take care, keep safe, M
The first days out in the pasture for our ladies and their young lambs is always “interesting”. The formation eating team line up immediately AFTER breakfast ( but not a moment before), noses through the gate, little cloven hooves ready, the ladies are ready to race to the fresh Spring grass. Sadly in their excitement…. with an open gate in front of them and the smell of grass in their nostrils our new moms forget that their lambs (1) can’t run as fast as mom and (2) don’t have a GPS to find the field and the daily rush to the pasture resembles a re run of the Kentucky Derby…..without their tiny offspring! This is where all Bran’s Christmas’s arrived at once, 18 frenzied lambs running around like headless chickens, the air full of frantic bleating and Bran had more to chase than he could ever have wished for. Ears flat against his head, ( “I can’t hear a word you are saying “) tail waving like a banner he chased the black lamb into the fence, he chased the tiny triplets around and around the barnyard, he chased another group of bewildered wailing orphans back into the barn..it was OVER !!! Bran was firmly fastened to the end of a lead rope and like it or not our errant Border Collie WAS going to listen. Can’t treat an old dog new tricks ?…our old dog taught himself some !!
The good news, last night all the moms and the lambs returned together to the barn. No renegade dreadlocked Soay sheep heading off in the wrong direction, no brat pack of lost lambs smacking into the fence, just a nice orderly race back to dinner….and Bran firmly under control.
Got to go, take care, keep safe, M
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