Small Victories

Two more lambs were born yesterday, twins from one of my two oldest ewes. They are both ram lambs, which is awesome because this ewe is a terrific wether producer (strange side note: I just had to tell my spell checker that wether is a real word - it's not that obscure, is it?). That means, to put it more bluntly, that her lambs, um, make great lamb chops.

They had a rough start - they were born in pouring cold rain and got thoroughly chilled and were slow eaters. I went ahead and supplemented them with tube feedings through the day yesterday - they just needed a wee topping off and that did the trick. By this morning they were bouncing and following their mom around and were able to get out and enjoy the sunshine we had today. Small victory #1 today.

Two small victories actually. Psst. Hey mom - we're gonna stick around if you don't mind!



Speaking of bouncing, is there anything cuter than lambies bouncing? Possibly lambies yawning, but I favor the bouncing since it shows their mamas' milk is really hitting the spot.

http://www.vimeo.com/3008339

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14eovadlB7M


The Tedlet had a small victory too. He learned to handle the ram without either backing down, or cowboy tactics. Our ram is an honest guy but he will not move just because a dog is "there." He waits to be invited, and he'll test a dog's nerve the first time. He's a pretty big boy - his head's more than half the size of Ted's whole body!

Fortunately, he tends to use psychological warfare rather than throwing his weight around. So all it takes it for a dog to stand firm once and he'll move off. He's not interested in ouchy noses.

Before Ted went for training, I didn't have a flank-even-if-it-feels-wrong on him. Today, I played with flanking Ted past the pressure of that ram, and making it clear that he wasn't allowed to opt out. Thanks Christine, for "Do you hear me?" Ted heard that once and said, "Oh, all the sheep, including that rotten ram. I guess I'd better figure this out."

With "Watch his flanks!" ringing in my ears (Christine and Jack) and the memory of a lesson from Robin where she me how to help a dog find that sweet spot on difficult sheep - it suddenly all came together. I could totally see the cartoon lightbulb hovering between Ted's ears, and I saw him relax into his "grown up dog" persona and just take charge. So I let him take them off.

We drove in a big square the length of the yard, down the width, then down the back fence which is difficult because there's barking neighbors' dogs on both corners. This is where I should say, "And he never hesitated," but that wouldn't be true - he looked back quite often with his, "Are you sure?" look. But as Jack pointed out at the clinic a couple weekends ago, "Are you sure?" is a huge improvement from a year ago, where he'd just improvise if I were slow in my input.

Good boy Tedlet! (Thanks to Kristie Urbine for the picture)