December 12, 2007: Gathering in the Snow
It's been a quiet week here on the farm. On Saturday Angie and Roy gathered in the last of the tups and, along with Hugh and Moss, put them out with the girls. It was raining when we first left the farm but as we went up the road depositing tups in various fields, the rain turned to sleet and then to snow.

We had just about finished the job when we noticed 13 ewes on the wrong side of a fence. Angie and Roy set off to find how they had escaped and to put them back in their rightful place. Their escape point was obvious. An old gate had all but disintegrated through old age. As soon as the wily ewes saw Angie and Roy coming, they bolted back in the gate. Well, that is, all but one ewe. The last ewe decided she didn't want to go in the gate and off she sprinted over the burn and up the hill. This ewe is no stranger to escape. It is the third time this week that Angie has had to put this ewe back in the field.

After mending the gate, Angie set off along the burn counting her lucky stars it was Roy who was chosen for the task today. While Angie had wanted to give Roy some experience working tups, the opportunity for him to work very quietly and resolutely with a single ewe was welcomed. Roy's determination was sorely tested this day. The ewe gave Roy and Angie all sorts of grief just getting her across the burn swollen with several days of rain. She refused to go in the gate gaping wide open for her and, instead, ran to one of the marshiest areas on the property. After wading through knee deep water, another gate was opened for her and finally, through Roy's persistence, she went in the gate and back to her flock. I'm sure we have not seen the last of this ewe. Roy passed his tests with the tups and single ewe with flying colours.

With the weather as bad as it was on Saturday, the rest of the dogs had a day off and we managed to have a rare day reading books.

The weather finally turned nice again on Monday and all the pups got a turn on sheep. It was one of those 'top-of-the-world' days when everything went right and all the pups did really well. It is very heartwarming to see pups learning new things: knowing they are really 'getting' it; seeing 8 and 9-month old pups confidently driving sheep on their own; and watching them realize that they have the sheep under their control. It would be wrong of us not to thank Bobby Dalziel for the progress of our pups for it is he who has changed the way in which we start our pups, given us some skills in which to do so, and urged us - no, demanded of us - to be more thoughtful and methodical in our approach. It is by no coincidence that Bobby Dalziel has won the International three times!

Yesterday we were up the hill with a friend (a 'good' handler) who had brought his dogs over to extend their experience. With all the sheep in the in-bye fields at the moment, we have free-run of the hills to train on. We had a great time on the hill, each dog getting a turn to drive the sheep up the hill to an imaginery set out post, and then outrun and fetch the sheep back to us. Jet performed admirably for Angie showing her enviable outrunning ability, taking every lie down asked for (amazingly!), and fetching nicely - if still a little quick. As we wandered along, we chuckled a lot about how one day you can be 'top-of-the-world' with your dogs and the next day you can be in the depths of despair. How true that can be! Let's hope today is another 'top-of-the-world' day for us - and for you, also.

Archives:

December 4 , 2007: Rain, Rain and more Rain

November 20, 2007: A Day to Forget

November 13, 2007: Back out Gathering

November 6, 2007: Some Down Time at Last.

October 26, 2007: A Day Out at the Tup (Ram) Sale.

October 22, 2007: Pheasant Shooters.

October 15, 2007: Trials, Trials and more Trials.

October 2, 2007: Back to Work.

September 17, 2007: The International Sheepdog Trial, Ireland

September 12, 2007: Foot and Mouth Again

September 4, 2007: Blackies go to the Beauty Salon

August 25, 2007: Sheep Spa and Nationals

August 14, 2007: Roy goes Gathering for the First Time

August 7, 2007 Foot and Mouth Scare

August 3, 2007 Country bumpkins go to London

July 28, 2007 Whales and Wales

July 21, 2007 Blood sampling ewes.

July 16, 2007 A week of gathering sheep