Susan Helps Out

While I may not be the most adept at training sheepdogs out in the wide open fields, in the confines of the handling pens I am much more confident. Susan has helped us with several jobs in the pens so far. She's very quick to pick up on where the sheep are to be driven and while she does try to egg the sheep on, she's not so pushy that the sheep are unsafe. An essential balance to have, especially with pregnant ewes like these ones.



On this day we were injecting the ewes against fluke prior to lambing and then footbathing them. Susan and Fly were our helpers. It always helps to train a young dog if they have an older, more experienced dog to copy.









She's getting more confident - sheep can be scary up close.





Fly, Susan and I pushed batches of ewes into the race for their injection.



Helpful Fly.



The last few (they always squeeze into this corner).



Once the injections were all done, it was footbathing time. I didn't take photographs of this because I was concentrating on making sure Susan didn't go into the footbath or drink the acid. After going through the bath twice, the ewes stand on the concrete for ten minutes to allow the bath to do its work. We actually finished just in time as it was starting to rain.

My little helper puppy.





The ewes waiting patiently. After all this they get a fresh field of grass.









I'm really pleased with Sue's progress. Still a long way to go but she's doing great.