Today I was distracted helping the neighbor boy catch a wayward llama while at Cindy's house. We were getting ready to load the sheep and spend the afternoon working dogs on Ronnie's farm.
I was absorbed trying to catch this stupid llama - which was not that stupid - obviously, he evaded capture for a good hour.
I left Brynn in the big field where we typically run the dogs. All the gates were closed. That was a mistake. I forgot she is a monkey. A tri colored, smooth coat, contortionist monkey butt with mondo skill and cunning.
She took it upon herself to squeeze under the gate into the ewes & lambs pen. The ewes all have new lambs and will not hesitate to fight a dog. Our ewe Daisy has sent Beth ass over tea kettle more than one time. The other ewes are not much nicer.
When I saw Brynn was in their pen, I almost had a heart attack. My first and only concern at first was for the well being of the lambs.
Expecting total chaos I was amazed to see she had all the lambs and ewes wedged tightly in a corner. Everyone was calm, some lambs were lying down, others were nursing & apparently healthy. All of the ewes were watching Brynn.
Brynn was laying down watching them from a respectful distance. If it is possible for a dog to smile, she was. Very proud of herself, albeit her tongue was dragging on the ground.
I scanned the pen for lost or dead lambs. Not one was out of place. Every last ewe & lamb was packed in that corner. I called to Brynn, she turned her head. Daisy decided to take Brynn's moment of distraction and use it to her advantage. She charged at Brynn when her head was turned - suddenly Brynn 'snap, snap, snapped' in the air and whammo made contact with her nose. Daisy wheeled around and went back to her corner.
I called Brynn out of the pen. Thankful she was okay, the sheep were all okay....yet still worried about any damage that may result later. I felt like a royal idiot for leaving her in the field not realizing she would find her own job to do. It was entirely my fault.
Shortly after we trucked the sheep out to Ronnie's farm to work the dogs. I kept Brynn in her crate to rest and pulled her out a couple hours later. The results of Brynn's escapade earlier in the day showed with increased confidence & loss of IQ points. Suddenly my little dog that tended to get stuck driving, and looked worried when the sheep turned on her was not having that problem. Oh nooooooo....she is certainly not afraid of the sheep anymore.
Time for a lesson on working WITH me - now she thinks she can work the sheep all by her lonesome.
Au Contraire, Mon Ami, ...the mission this next week is to emphasize teamwork. And to make sure I NEVER do something as stupid as leaving my dog unattended like that again. Yes, that was my Baa'aad.
I was absorbed trying to catch this stupid llama - which was not that stupid - obviously, he evaded capture for a good hour.
I left Brynn in the big field where we typically run the dogs. All the gates were closed. That was a mistake. I forgot she is a monkey. A tri colored, smooth coat, contortionist monkey butt with mondo skill and cunning.
She took it upon herself to squeeze under the gate into the ewes & lambs pen. The ewes all have new lambs and will not hesitate to fight a dog. Our ewe Daisy has sent Beth ass over tea kettle more than one time. The other ewes are not much nicer.
When I saw Brynn was in their pen, I almost had a heart attack. My first and only concern at first was for the well being of the lambs.
Expecting total chaos I was amazed to see she had all the lambs and ewes wedged tightly in a corner. Everyone was calm, some lambs were lying down, others were nursing & apparently healthy. All of the ewes were watching Brynn.
Brynn was laying down watching them from a respectful distance. If it is possible for a dog to smile, she was. Very proud of herself, albeit her tongue was dragging on the ground.
I scanned the pen for lost or dead lambs. Not one was out of place. Every last ewe & lamb was packed in that corner. I called to Brynn, she turned her head. Daisy decided to take Brynn's moment of distraction and use it to her advantage. She charged at Brynn when her head was turned - suddenly Brynn 'snap, snap, snapped' in the air and whammo made contact with her nose. Daisy wheeled around and went back to her corner.
I called Brynn out of the pen. Thankful she was okay, the sheep were all okay....yet still worried about any damage that may result later. I felt like a royal idiot for leaving her in the field not realizing she would find her own job to do. It was entirely my fault.
Shortly after we trucked the sheep out to Ronnie's farm to work the dogs. I kept Brynn in her crate to rest and pulled her out a couple hours later. The results of Brynn's escapade earlier in the day showed with increased confidence & loss of IQ points. Suddenly my little dog that tended to get stuck driving, and looked worried when the sheep turned on her was not having that problem. Oh nooooooo....she is certainly not afraid of the sheep anymore.
Time for a lesson on working WITH me - now she thinks she can work the sheep all by her lonesome.
Au Contraire, Mon Ami, ...the mission this next week is to emphasize teamwork. And to make sure I NEVER do something as stupid as leaving my dog unattended like that again. Yes, that was my Baa'aad.
4 comments:
Naughty girl! I had to sort of giggle, because I've been in a similar situation before. But, the not fearing sheep part is good! Maybe the forgetting teamwork not so much, but the two of you will work it out. :)
Love the pictures.
xoxo
Bailey
Great action shots
I know I've had the same situation...dog where she can get the sheep and work on her own, inattentive handler distracted doing something else...my fault completely. You'll both work it out. ;-)
Just don't let it become a habit.
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