English Shepherd cow dog
Feb 8, 2017 20:00:05 GMT -5
simplynaturalfarm, treatlisa, and 11 more like this
Post by thystledown on Feb 8, 2017 20:00:05 GMT -5
Last night the cow and her 6 month old calf ran around to the other end of the barn when I went to put them up. Tess, my English Shepherd is 20 months old and has helped me with the cows and goats for some time now. But she really hadn't learned to get around them and bring them back to me on command. She just came off a lay-up while she was in season, so pretty keen to be working again. I sent her after them. I couldn't see her or them around behind the barn. I heard a yelp and then the cow and calf burst around the corner of the barn barreling for the open barn door at this end with one p-o'd cow dog on their heels. Apparently Tess got kicked and needed to teach them a lesson. I slowed her down and praised her as we put them into the barn and into their places.
Tonight I took her with me to get them and they pulled the same stunt of running off down the side of the barn and around back instead of going in the barn. It was 40 degrees and they were feeling frisky. I sent Tess again. This time they came out and tried to dodge her and go another way. She blocked them at their heads and turned them, then hustled them back to the open barn door right on their heels, but not moving them too fast. I just stood at the gate where I let them out of their daytime paddock the whole time. When I got to the barn door, Heiferlump was in her stanchion, even though she had no grain there, and Beastie the calf was standing in her tie stall. Tess was sitting on the barn floor right behind Beastie to be sure she didn't move. I closed the stanchion on Heiferlump and walked on down to the opposite end of the barn where Beastie is tied at night and snapped the tie chain to her neck chain.
When I reported to my family how well she was doing, my hubby rolled his eyes and told me the last time he'd done this job by himself, he'd had to get two rattle paddles and chase them all over outside and in the barn. He was stiff and sore from a fall and not very pleased with the cows. Tessie makes short work of the job. THAT is why we have cow dogs and THAT is how an English Shepherd should work.
A little background: I am so relieved because I placed my last English Shepherd with my mother when he was 2. I had him shipped in from the mid-west and was so excited. I grew up with English Shepherds. My grandfather was a breeder and my father and uncles all had them, worked them, and bred a few litters as well. When sent, the dogs would go miles away out of sight and bring the cows home for milking while we went on and got ready to milk. Grandpa's dogs would also bring his team of horses and leave the cows if asked. I had a couple of phenomenal English Shepherds as an adult, but then I got into other breeds that I could show, and since I wasn't on a farm, that was a better choice at the time. When I got back on a farm, a few trips plodding after livestock in the pasture, and I knew I needed another English Shepherd. But finding one wasn't so easy. And then that first one was such a disappointment. So my relief and joy about how well Tessie is working required me to share this. A good cow dog is so worth while! Dad used to say they were as good as a hired hand. But they are not easy to find. There aren't a lot of working homes for pups and many people are breeding ES who have never even seen one work stock, and when the breeders do have working dogs, they don't all do the same kind of work. I thought I had done my homework in getting the first pup, but failed. That makes my pleasure in Tessie even greater! Her dam didn't work and her sire was just beginning, I didn't know the lines well, but I got pick of the litter and had opportunity to observe the pups myself as they grew. For me that was key. Most breeders want to pick the pup for you these days. I understand their rationale. But I have generations of ES ownership behind me as well as growing up actually working the dogs. Of the two phenomenal ES I had as an adult, one was selected by my father and air shipped to me and the other I selected as choice from several litters on a dairy farm. So I felt more confident selecting the pup myself. But I still didn't know if I'd get a good working dog. I have. Her vocabulary continues to grow. We have to spell things now. She understands so much! Yep, a real English Shepherd.
This is Tess checking out the kids last year. She isn't working and she does rather look like a border Collie in this pic. But she really doesn't work like a Border Collie at all. And I prefer sable and white or tri colors, but she happens to be black and white. But a good dog, like a good horse, is never a wrong color. Love her.
Tonight I took her with me to get them and they pulled the same stunt of running off down the side of the barn and around back instead of going in the barn. It was 40 degrees and they were feeling frisky. I sent Tess again. This time they came out and tried to dodge her and go another way. She blocked them at their heads and turned them, then hustled them back to the open barn door right on their heels, but not moving them too fast. I just stood at the gate where I let them out of their daytime paddock the whole time. When I got to the barn door, Heiferlump was in her stanchion, even though she had no grain there, and Beastie the calf was standing in her tie stall. Tess was sitting on the barn floor right behind Beastie to be sure she didn't move. I closed the stanchion on Heiferlump and walked on down to the opposite end of the barn where Beastie is tied at night and snapped the tie chain to her neck chain.
When I reported to my family how well she was doing, my hubby rolled his eyes and told me the last time he'd done this job by himself, he'd had to get two rattle paddles and chase them all over outside and in the barn. He was stiff and sore from a fall and not very pleased with the cows. Tessie makes short work of the job. THAT is why we have cow dogs and THAT is how an English Shepherd should work.
A little background: I am so relieved because I placed my last English Shepherd with my mother when he was 2. I had him shipped in from the mid-west and was so excited. I grew up with English Shepherds. My grandfather was a breeder and my father and uncles all had them, worked them, and bred a few litters as well. When sent, the dogs would go miles away out of sight and bring the cows home for milking while we went on and got ready to milk. Grandpa's dogs would also bring his team of horses and leave the cows if asked. I had a couple of phenomenal English Shepherds as an adult, but then I got into other breeds that I could show, and since I wasn't on a farm, that was a better choice at the time. When I got back on a farm, a few trips plodding after livestock in the pasture, and I knew I needed another English Shepherd. But finding one wasn't so easy. And then that first one was such a disappointment. So my relief and joy about how well Tessie is working required me to share this. A good cow dog is so worth while! Dad used to say they were as good as a hired hand. But they are not easy to find. There aren't a lot of working homes for pups and many people are breeding ES who have never even seen one work stock, and when the breeders do have working dogs, they don't all do the same kind of work. I thought I had done my homework in getting the first pup, but failed. That makes my pleasure in Tessie even greater! Her dam didn't work and her sire was just beginning, I didn't know the lines well, but I got pick of the litter and had opportunity to observe the pups myself as they grew. For me that was key. Most breeders want to pick the pup for you these days. I understand their rationale. But I have generations of ES ownership behind me as well as growing up actually working the dogs. Of the two phenomenal ES I had as an adult, one was selected by my father and air shipped to me and the other I selected as choice from several litters on a dairy farm. So I felt more confident selecting the pup myself. But I still didn't know if I'd get a good working dog. I have. Her vocabulary continues to grow. We have to spell things now. She understands so much! Yep, a real English Shepherd.
This is Tess checking out the kids last year. She isn't working and she does rather look like a border Collie in this pic. But she really doesn't work like a Border Collie at all. And I prefer sable and white or tri colors, but she happens to be black and white. But a good dog, like a good horse, is never a wrong color. Love her.