news about mist

added by David on Tuesday January 17, 2012 at 11:04 pm

Mist is now over eight years old and I’ve certainly been aware that she’s a lot slower now than a few years ago. But over Christmas she her coat seemed to be dull and her eyes runny, she has also certainly lost weight. She’s keen to come indoors at every opportunity, but once inside she has on several occasions raided the larder and pulled sugar bags down, ripped them open and eaten the contents. It all resulted in a trip to the vets last week, and it didn’t take long for the diagnosis to be made which we were half expecting, Mist is diabetic, and she’d been seeking out the sugar to eat which her body was telling her that she was lacking. It’s a bit of a shock, but it could be far worse. Treatment of diabetes in dogs is very similar to it’s treatment in humans, Mist now has to have two meals a day, twelve hours apart, and after each meal she has an injection of insulin.

Already we can see an improvement in her, she seems happier and her coat is already shinning. It’s also been recommended that she is speyed, so they’ll be no more puppies for Mist, but apart from that she should be able to lead a normal active life. And for Mist there is an upside; along with Jake she has now moved into the house, she sleeps in the porch and enjoys the extra attention of being a house dog.  And with any luck she’ll be able to feature in the displays next summer, but she perhaps won’t be working quite so hard.

Mist

fly and alf

added by David on Wednesday December 21, 2011 at 12:14 am

Up until the past couple of years I’ve always had a pair of ‘brace’ of sheepdog who work well together. A good brace team is difficult to achieve, as there are so many different aspects which need to come together. First of all you need two good sheepdogs, preferably of a similar age. The y must be the sort of characters which allow a partner to take on some of the work, with each dog keeping naturally to one side of a flock of sheep. They need to be a similar working speed and of similar temperament, not the sort to be offended if their partner is reprimanded. And on top of that they need to have been trained on different whistle commands from an early age, and be willing to accept only their own commands and to ignore their partners…..all in all it’s a difficult thing to achieve! Ten years ago I was very lucky to have had a great brace, Greg and Swift, who competed for England in the international sheepdog trials.

I’ve always found that pairings work better  if the two dogs get on well, and it’s always been apparent that Fly and Alf are the best of friends. When the y are walked together they like nothing better than to find a large stick and carry it around between the two of them, chasing wildly around the field as they play. At work I occasionally think that I can see the signs that they have the potential for a brace team. Alf is a very steady dog with a great natural feel for his sheep and although he has a long way to go in his training, he seems to be a natural counter to Fly’s over zealousness.

It’s a long way in the future, Fly still needs to calm down (even though she’s nearly four) and Alf has many more commands to master yet. But it’s  a great thought, and I’ve always dreamed of having another brace team like Greg and Swift

Alf and Fly brace stick carrying

pb292083

and brace working

pb292088

raddling the rams

added by David on Monday November 21, 2011 at 3:18 pm

Autumn is always a nice time in North Devon, the grass is still growing which is good for the sheep, the Beech trees have turned  beautiful shade of gold and winter hasn’t yet set in. The Autumn sheep work is all finished and the rams have been joined with the ewes at the end of October, ready to start lambing on the 28th of March. The rams wear a thick paint called ‘raddle paint’ on their chests, so that as they serve a ewe they leave a colored make behind. By changing the color of the paint avery 9  days, I can later sort the ewes into groups which will lamb in either the first eight day period, the second eight days, or the red marked ewes which are the ‘lates’

So every other day I have to catch the rams and hold them to apply the raddle. Rams are strong so it can be hard work, but after they have been raddled a couple of times they seem to get used to it, and usually by the second week, they are quite easy to handle. It’s not always the case though and there are occasions when a young rams takes off across the field with me holding on. Just as well there’s no one but the dogs watching!

raddling-the-rams

fattening the lambs

added by David on Sunday November 6, 2011 at 10:17 pm

This seasons lambs are now 7 months old and have changed beyond recognition in those 7 months. Although most now weigh around 35 to 40 kilos, they need to fatten further before they can be  sold at market. By November the grass of of limited quality and the best fields have been saved for the ewe flock, so there is little chance of fattening the lambs at Borough Farm. Traditionally autumn lambs are fattened on root crops, such as stubble turnips and swedes, and this year I have been fortunate to be able to buy 22 acres of turnips from a neighboring dairy farmer.

It took several days for the lambs to decide that they could actually eat the turnip leaves, so I provided a grass field adjacent to the turnips for the lambs to graze until they became used to the turnip. However once they acquire the taste of the new feed they love it, so much so that the field has to be divided into small sections with an electric fence. Without this the lambs would walk over the whole crop, gorging themselves and trampling the turnips in the process. Every second day the fence has to be moved and  the lambs allowed to eat a new section, and now my arrival in the land rover is enough to bring the lambs running across the field bleating, in anticipation of a fresh section of turnip. Fly and Mist accompany on each occasion and understand that for a change their role is not to gather the sheep, but to hold them back until the fence is moved.

pa312319


horses for gorses

added by David on Thursday November 3, 2011 at 11:28 pm

Although I do like to keep my livestock down to the animals which I understand best, sheep and dogs, for the past few months I’ve been the keeper of a pair of Exmoor ponies. They were introduced by the National Trust to some of the land at Mortehoe, which  I rent from the Trust, with the intention that they help to clear some of the scrub that covers much of  the area. They are beautiful animals,  which are bred to live on the wilds of Exmoor, outside in all weathers. Unlike the sheep they have the strength to push their way through the overgrown paths and amongst the gorse, and it is hoped that over a period of time they will break up the scrub and allow the sheep to graze these areas again.

pb012343

But there is one major disadvantage of having these animals on the farm. They are very inquisitive and every time that I gather the sheep together they appear from nowhere and run through the middle of the flock scattering them in all directions. The dogs react to this in various ways: Mist just ignores them, Fly tries to round up the ponies (the ponies aren’t very impressed and in turn chase Fly) Alfie on the other hand doesn’t know quite what to make of them. He gathered up a small flock this week and was obviously most surprised to find a couple of ponies amongst the flock. By the  look on his face, I think that he’d rather stick to sheep!

pb012336_0

colin and zola

added by David on Monday October 24, 2011 at 5:06 pm

With the summer displays now over I can turn my attention back to all things farming, like preparing the ewe flock for ‘tupping’ and making a start with the training of Zola and Colin. The two of them have had a little training over the summer, but from July they have become increasingly more sheep obsessed. Zola in particular thinks of nothing else than work and tries to take any opportunity to take herself to find sheep.

My wife Debbie has been in charge of walking the pups over the summer. It’s a task which she doesn’t always find pleasurable, as Zola is prone to jumping any fence or gate on the farm in order to seek out a suitable flock of sheep to round up. Having found a flock, she will resolutely keep on the far side in order to avoid capture, a technique which she can keep up for half an hour or so, while Debbie gets more and more exasperated as she tries to catch her.

Colin is a little more laid back. He accepts that walking time is for recreation, but when he goes out for his training sessions he’s just as keen as his sister. He has a very gently way about his work, but has a good feel for his sheep and when he choses to use his speed he can be quite fast. When it’s Zolas turn to train, she’s full of energy, lightening quick and strangely for such an obsessive dog she is very responsive.

So with Alfie’s steady progress and both Zola and Colin showing great promise at this early stage, I’m really encouraged by my current crop of young sheepdogs. There’s a long way to go yet, but hope fully by this time next year we might have a champion in the making

Colin at Work

pa162274

Zola

pa162171


world sheepdog trials

added by David on Thursday September 22, 2011 at 2:02 pm

You may have spotted  that the Sheepdog Society held it’s third (tri-annual) World Sheepdog Trials last week, near Penrith in Cumbria. I made the long journey north on Friday of last week to catch a couple of days a of the competition, not competing, but just to enjoy the spectacle. This was by far the biggest of the world trials so far, with 26 nations competing. As usual the home nations made up the bulk of the competitors, but it was great to see New Zealand, Brazil and even Japan sending their teams over.

Sadly the weather wasn’t kind to the event, two days before the start of competition, gale force winds flattened eight of the marquees. The Friday and Saturday then saw several inches of rain fall, turning the site to a quagmire. However, sheepdog  triallists are a resilient lot and competition carried on without interruption. There were moments of hight drama. We all gasped when Jim Wilson all the way from New Zealand, was disqualified for his dog “gripping’ (biting the sheep’s wool) when only a second away from earning a place in Sunday’s final.

But the whole crowd roared it’s approval when Irishman James McGee and his dog ‘Becca’ competed a near perfect round, in Sundays final. The course for the final is the toughest challenge that a sheepdog can face. Two packets of ten sheep have to be gathered from two different places half a mile apart. After joining the sheep and putting them around a course, five of the sheep which are wearing collars, have to be shed from the rest before being  penned. The shear stress of working with dog and sheep in front of several thousand people for half an hour, is enough to turn many an accomplished handler to a quivering wreck, but James and Becca put on a run which was well worthy of their title as World Champions.

Great sporting events should serve to inspire, and I left Cumbria full of enthusiasm. My three young dogs are  shaping up well so from now on I’ll start the training sessions with “come on Colin,you’ll have to concentrate if you want to be a world champion”

becca

Jame McGee and ‘Becca’

further details of the World Trials can be found at

worldsheepdogtrials.co.uk

or on the International Sheepdog Society web-site

isds.org.uk

the origins of sheepdogs

added by David on Thursday August 25, 2011 at 5:12 pm

I’ve always understood that the origins of the Border Collies that I work with, date back a few hundred years, to a time when various hunting breeds of dog were crossed and slowly the herding instincts of sheepdogs started to develop and become honed into a distinguishable breed. However a visitor to one of our sheepdog displays this summer suggested that the history of the herding dog stretches back far longer than a few hundred years.

Kristin Armstrong Oma visited the display a few weeks ago, she is studying past farming societies at Oslo University, and she bought with her the fascinating photo below. It is of a painting in a cave in Valhaug in South Western Norway. It depicts what is undoubtably a man driving sheep or deer but with the assistance of what appears to be a dog in the foreground. Amazingly this cave painting dates back to between 500 and 2000 years BC.

It’s strange to think that the same instincts that I work with now were recognized and harnessed by bronze age farmers, and I can’t help but wonder as I look at the picture whether the dog in the carving is called ‘Fly’  and the farmer is having dreadful trouble in getting her to stop!!

cave-painting

alfie’s progress

added by David on Tuesday August 2, 2011 at 12:08 pm

I last wrote about Alfie back in the winter when we had worries about his shoulder, I’m delighted to report that his shoulder seems absolutely fine, and he really doing well. He’s a very different sort of sheepdog to his mother Fly. Fly you might remember (or have witnessed if you have ben to a display) is very intense and can be difficult to work. Alfie is far more laid back, and is being a delight to train.

He’s a real natural with sheep, he has a real ‘feel’ for them and holds them together as a flock with movements of his head and eye. He paces his work sensibly, not rushing at the flock and making them run. In fact I did have some worries that he might be a bit on the slow side, bt he’s showing a turn of speed when needed, and as he’s only 13 months old he’s bound to become much faster yet

So although he’s still very early in his training I’m really pleased with his progress and I’m hopeful that this time next he will be able to take Jakes place in the team, and leave Jake to his semi retirement!

And with Zola and Colin showing promise the future of the Borough farm sheepdogs is looking good!

Here’s Alfie in action


alfie

snakes and adders

added by David on Sunday July 17, 2011 at 11:14 pm

I’m fortunate to spend my working life is the wonderful North Devon countryside with its great array of wildlife. Whilst most of what I see during the working week is not particularly rare, it still brings a sense of awe. Gannets are frequently to be seen diving off the cliffs of Morte point, Seals are a common sight and the Grass hopper warblers calling from the scub-land bring a sultry feeling to summers days.

Another summer regular on Morte point is not often seen by walkers and if it was might well bring a some apprehension. The coastal heathland is an ideal habitat for the UK’s only venomous snake, the Adder. If you know where to look they are quite numerous along the cliffs and sand dunes of North Devon, lying on rocky ledges, or in the top of heather bushes catching the warmth of the summer sun. The picture below shows a beautiful brown (female I think) at a spot that I call adder rock. She was to be seen here most sunny mornings throughout May and June, but has recently disappeared, She might have moved on, although the presence of a Raven close by one morning leads me to suspect that she might have met a different fate.

Adders come in an array of colorings, this year I’ve seen black, brown and green. Usually only a couple of feet long although many years ago there was an adder to be seen regularly on the end of the point which seemed to be twice that size!

They are shy creatures for the most part and usually slither away into the rocks or undergrowth when disturbed, but I’m always a little wary of the dogs being bitten, An adder bite is potentially fatal to a sheepdog, but I’m assured by the vets that with prompt treatment recovery rates are pretty good.

p1000135a

« earlier posts