Before and After Glamour Shot

BEFORE AFTER

I would have bet my last dollar there were triplets in that ewe! But heck, two big healthy lambs, udders enough for all!! The ewe lamb looks like a Barb and the ram lamb looks like a Hereford. Go figure.......

This is my friend Adele, she got the honors of pulling the ram lamb. She promptly named him Rambo!

PS....here is a secret shot taken of the mischief and mayhem that happens when bossy, big girl lambs bully little boy lambs! True BFFs in the making!!!!Seize the day!!!!

Editor's Note: Due to the modern technology available in the year 2009, I now know why this ewe was so big. Because her babies each weighed in at 10 pounds a piece.....that is why! We all know who the "alfalfa-hog queen" of the flock is!! Maybe I should change her name from Red to Pig!!!!

Spring is in the air.....

What a beautiful day here in the valley.....definitely a great day to be a lamb at Rocking Dog Ranch. I went out and took a few random pictures. The ewes and lambs have been kicked out of their 5 star luxurious jugs...and are now out in the "roughin' it" shelter and their own special field. Lambs are so amazing.....they come out and are up and nursing in minutes. And within days, they are hopping up on things and making mischief! The moms can not seem to keep any sense of order....and it is only going to get worse!

This is the Clun baby that was born yesterday.

Four more ewes to go....

Seize the day!

I think I'm in loooove!

Happy Valentines day! I don't generally name my lambs but meet 907...Q..is in Q-pid.

And his sister 906...Val....as in Val-entine. I think Val is the cutest katahdin on the face of this planet! Shhh don't tell the others. She is marked like a little appaloosa...with spots on her hind-end.

Here is a picture of the little ram lamb born last night at 9:30. The first lamb I have had to pull this season. First time mom and big-headed boy lamb! Everybody was pretty darn tuckered out at this point...but this morning when I went to check at 4:30...he was looking great!

I've had another set of twin ewe lambs in the early morning hours...and as I left to go home and catch a couple hours of zzzz's....another ewe was thinking about giving up her load. More pictures to come......

Seize the day!

I want some more!!!!

Here are the 3:30 a.m. twin baby boys.....why do baby lambs LOVE laying in feed pans?? These boys are 100% katahdin...and very nice sized!And here is the 7:00 a.m. princess....born to a very experienced mom...this is her third year of productivity.....and yes....this was another one of those "ram busted down the gate ooooppsss babies!"
More lambs to come.....I am sure!

Seize the day!

They're heeere!

This is what greeted me today as I opened the barn door.....

This mom was not due for a few more days so I was very surprised! And I also was not expecting her to twin. She did a great job cleaning them both up...one big girl and one little boy. Not too bad for a first time mom that was an "unplanned pregnancy"!

It is so cool.....when I open the door, I don't have to see the lambs to know they are here...their mom nickers to them and new lambs baby baa back! Now the fun begins.....

Seize the day!

Things that make you go....hmmmmm!

This ewe is NOT the first ewe scheduled to go.....but good golly.....if she doesn't slow down she might not fit in the barn to lamb! I think the woolly girl next to her is a pretender....just wanting the maternity ward vittles and the straw beds! If every gal could just wait until the 10th....when they are supposed to start lambing.....I would be indebted! Off to work with Patrick Shannahan tomorrow......

Seize the day!

Day Tripper Yeah!

Sunday morning, 4:30 came really (REALLY) early! The carrot before this old mare....round two of the winter series for the State of Jefferson.....a much awaited for dog trial!!!! Mother Nature complied with passable roads and as I pulled up to the trial field....this is what greeted me! Now this is what Heaven must look like.....crystal clear day with Mt. Shasta peaking around the rocks.

If you meet this fellow at a dog trial.....be afraid....be very afraid! His wife was off to the airport with their lovely daughter......the wife must be the "better half"............gotta love a fellow that judged the last trial and kept trying to take my dog off to show her the sheep at the horse trailer at this trial! Like Sally would forget there were sheep in the trailer a month later..... Dee and I agreed to set sheep for a while.....here we are taking lambs up to the set out pens....The judge was from Wales and knows Nell's breeding very well. I took her up to set with...give him a sneak preview of what is to come.....in a few years. I thought...heck..it could go really bad and I could be fired....or it could go phenomenally good.....she did me proud. Here she is posing for a shot after setting an open go.....

So the trial.....well, Sally and I did better this time then the time before. We actually put down a score....64 (and that was with a cross over on the outrun). She got her single with just a small bobble...and the pen was nice. I am proud.... and yet, as always ,contemplative. I got to scribe a few runs and it was very fun chatting with the judge. He asked me to think of one quality difference between the really top handlers and the mediocre handlers.....as we watched a few faux pas on a couple of runs and we chatted about my run. I thought about it....well, one big crucial quality I would like to see in myself is quick RECOVERY. The top handlers make mistakes and you never hear it in their whistles or voice (as mentioned by Geri).....they recover..... put it back together very quickly....sometimes so quick that the crowd misses the mistake. For me, after Sally crossed, I never felt like we got a good rhythm until we got to the third leg of the drive and the single.

As I said my goodbyes, and climbed back into my car for the drive home....I had much to think about. Good stuff.....recovery and the art of letting go...sounds like a good chapter title to the book of my life with trialing sheepdogs! Once again, I must express my gratitude to Geri Byrne and all those surrounding her. What a wonderful atmosphere she has created...the sheep were great...the trial course a challenge...to be sure! I've got another month to practice recovery....until then....

Seize the day!