Feelin' a bit sheepish...

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Building fence on the big field we leased next door. It's a bright and sunny day, but a tad chilly at 31* with a windchill of 12*. Good weather for working! Got insulators and posts put in on one whole side and one end and started on the other side these past few days. Should be able to finish the posts and insulators for this field today. Can't WAIT to get the sheep on that big field!

 

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Well, Blue came out of the fence twice today.....it's a mystery as to why he's all the sudden leaving his duties. Maybe because he feels the pup is big enough to guard now and he's free to range or is it just male hormones kicking in? Who knows? But, it earned him the tire drag of shame. I felt sorry for him, but also couldn't stand the thought of losing him to the road or the neighbors...some shoot first, ask whose dog this is after.

We'll see how he manages the tire drag in that brush filled paddock. Poor Blue.

 

[Baymule]

Oh Blue! He just wants to chase the truck predators away! And for being so brave and chasing that bad ol' truck away, he gets the shock collar! Poor Blue!

Our dogs chase trucks, but they are inside the fence. We are known as the people with the big white dogs. People who jog, walk or ride bikes bring their dogs, who run up at the fence to bark at my dogs. This incites them to a frenzy, since they can't reach the bad dog on the other side of the fence, they turn on each other and fight.

We were outside last week, working on the front gate when a car came by, real slow. The rear window came down, their dog stuck it's head out and barked at my dogs! Of course my dogs chased alongside of the car, barking back. So these nincompoops drive their dog over to our place for some "fun" to bark at our dogs??? WTH??

I wrote the above yesterday, but my computer wasn't co-operating and it wouldn't post.

Is the fence not shocking Blue when he goes through it? Would extra strands of hot wire help? His male hormones may be kicking in. I got really mad at Trip because I couldn't keep him in ANY fence, he wanted to go romancing the neighborhood, so I had him neutered. Then it was his turn to be mad, he turned on the vet and techs, trying to bite them, he was a different dog for about a year, but finally returned to being the dog I knew and loved. I should have had him neutered sooner. Maybe extra strands of more powerful hot wire will help.

 

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I haven't investigated yet, but Blue is currently lying outside the gate, sans tire drag. Don't know how a dog gets a chained on tire drag off his body without losing his collar but I suppose I'll find out.

Guess it's time for a tether setup. Sigh. We'll be buying a Sport Dog type fence to go around the acreage this week, but can't really put it in until we get that big field completed.

 

[Beekissed]

Oh Blue! He just wants to chase the truck predators away! And for being so brave and chasing that bad ol' truck away, he gets the shock collar! Poor Blue!

Our dogs chase trucks, but they are inside the fence. We are known as the people with the big white dogs. People who jog, walk or ride bikes bring their dogs, who run up at the fence to bark at my dogs. This incites them to a frenzy, since they can't reach the bad dog on the other side of the fence, they turn on each other and fight.

We were outside last week, working on the front gate when a car came by, real slow. The rear window came down, their dog stuck it's head out and barked at my dogs! Of course my dogs chased alongside of the car, barking back. So these nincompoops drive their dog over to our place for some "fun" to bark at our dogs??? WTH??

I wrote the above yesterday, but my computer wasn't co-operating and it wouldn't post.

Is the fence not shocking Blue when he goes through it? Would extra strands of hot wire help? His male hormones may be kicking in. I got really mad at Trip because I couldn't keep him in ANY fence, he wanted to go romancing the neighborhood, so I had him neutered. Then it was his turn to be mad, he turned on the vet and techs, trying to bite them, he was a different dog for about a year, but finally returned to being the dog I knew and loved. I should have had him neutered sooner. Maybe extra strands of more powerful hot wire will help.

Who does that??? This world is full of some real weird folks, isn't it?

Blue and most any dog I've met, can time the pulses of the high tensile and slip under the fence in the seconds before the next pulse~Ben did it, Murphy did it and Blue can do it. With the way our fencing is and how the land is, there's no way of putting a wire any lower than we have it currently. It's 10 in. off the ground and even that runs into problems at times for being too low on this hilly, bumpy, brushy land. There truly is no more powerful high tensile out there that we can afford...it's 12.5 gauge wire with 9K volts running through it, which would work if he didn't slip out quickly between the pulses. We use a Cyclops low impedance charger, so it stays hot even if there has been grounded somewhere by a limb or something.

This week we'll be buying an invisible fence for large acreages but we can't install it until we get that big field done.

 

[Baymule]

I guess my dogs are stupid. They hit the hot wire, yelp, run away from the monster and never want to try it again. But the difference is, we have a permanent fence with hot wire in front of it, so they can't run through it to freedom anyway.

 

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I guess my dogs are stupid. They hit the hot wire, yelp, run away from the monster and never want to try it again. But the difference is, we have a permanent fence with hot wire in front of it, so they can't run through it to freedom anyway.

That makes a huge difference to have hot wire AND a physical barrier in place. I wish we could have afforded good ol' fashioned sheep fencing with an offset of hot wire but couldn't.

Blue is now on a soft tether and I ordered the Sport Dog fencing this evening. It's a bad mamma jamma with 7 levels of correction and a rechargeable collar that has a battery life of up to 2 mo.

I'm thinking that Blue is leaving the fence to smell the scent left behind by female foxes and coyotes coming into heat in our area...this is when they generally come into heat and mate, so the sudden departure from the fencing could lie somewhere in that reason.

Shine has been separating herself the past few days and since we had oops breeding this summer, she could very well be due long before all the others. She's been preggers longer, that's for sure. The upshot is that we don't know exactly when and who got bred at that time but I'm thinking it was Shine and one of the ewe lambs by the name of Lola. Both looked settled back then. I hope she has twins this year but she doesn't look big enough to do so.

 

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Walked Pinky on the same leash as Blue this morning and she did very well. A little screaming and rolling around, getting in front of me, tangling herself around Blue, but pretty soon she got the hang of it. I could tell Blue was thoroughly disgusted with her but I'm proud of him for holding back from giving her a correction.

After I walked them around and around together, giving treats for sitting when I stopped, lots of praise while walking, then I walked her by herself. She did perfectly the whole time, though keeping her head down like she was being beaten. I gave her good loving and petting at the end of it, telling her what a good dog she was....I expect this will get easier from here on out. At least, I hope she retains the lesson enough that it goes better next time...we'll see. She's not the brightest match in the box, if ya know what I mean. Excellent guardian, though, so I consider her a keeper.

 

[Baymule]

Sounds like the Blue “therapy” is working! Go Blue!

 

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Guess what?? This morning I have a beautiful little black and white ram lamb, healthy as can be, following after Shine. I'm hoping she has another...this one was just born and licked off. She doesn't look big enough to have another but her udder is four times the size it was last year....if this is a single, he'll be eating like a king! Got a pic or two but don't have time this morning to upload them.

I'm glad Shine had a lamb before the rest of the flock, as she is teaching Pinky Pie about respectful distancing...and Pinky Pie seems to understand it. She's giving Shine a wide berth. When I approached, Pinky Pie was trying to get my attention and affection and Shine came after her, driving her away....LOVE her mothering instincts. She didn't come after me at all and lets me handle her baby just fine but that dog was in the danger zone.

So very happy it was born this morning, in 33* temps, instead of next week when we will be in the negative digits.