It's The Sheep

Great minds must be thinking alike. Several of the other sheepdog-bloggers are visiting a similar subject right now...like what makes sheepdog trialling?...well, it's the sheep. And how do we handle those sheep with our dogs to keep them at  walk (Lora). How do we learn to handle them that way better,more efficiently (Jorgen) with less of a learning curve. Keeping the sheep in the sheepdog (Monique). I love this topic. Rock on, folks, let's hear more. For those of you who grew up with livestock, you can take a break and go read some of the bloggers on my page who write about other topics (Brian for example, who is exploring time travel right now). LOL!

For those of us who did not grow up with livestock, we have to study, study, and study it some more... until we can "just do" and not "think" when we are handling sheep with dogs (or just moving them ourselves without a dog). I don't know any quick way to learn it, any more than I know a quick way of learning how to handle a dog. Maybe I'm slow. I have gotten to know a few people who are amazing to watch around animals, and whenever I can, I try to study what they do. Recently I've noticed a few others who have this gift and I watch for them too. I do know that some sheepdog training and handling methods and ideas work better for me than others. I know that there are some training practices and ideas that click for me and there are others that I won't tolerate. So I don't choose to work with trainers who do those things that I can't tolerate. I gravitate towards those who make sense to me.

As for bloggers and blogging...I have a list of blog links on my page that is really for me, as a shortcut to those blogs that I want to keep track of. Blogs come, and blogs go, from my list. (Amazingly, not every link on my blog list is about sheep or dogs! Oh my!) Recently I removed a link to a blog that is quite popular. I figure that anyone who wants to find and read that blog knows how to do so; they won't need my little link to find it. I realized that while at first it was sort of a fun farming soap opera, that more recently I was sort of shocked by the things that kept happening with this person's sheep (and other animals).  I've added and subtracted blogs from my list all along. But this one was the first that really bothered me. So it's gone. You all know how to find it if you want to. I have a lot of blogs on my list, and many of them are written by friends. Some of them are just links that I want to keep, for me. Several are written by people that I've just gotten to know in the sheepdog world, and those folks write quite well and take nice photos. They are worth keeping on my list! It's my blog; so be it.

This is a Navajo Churro lamb. I don't remember who took the photo! :-)