SageHill Ranch Journal

SageHill · Friday at 1:00 PM

Out and grazed a lot this morning. Gotta get when the ground is green !!!

Heading out - I turned around - dogs and sheep are right.

Zo tells the sheep -- you must go slowly,

so you can "trim" the sides of the ranch road...

Obi says - this is the start of their morning breakfast...

Yes, the boys do stay still for a bit....

Miss Piggy and Calico - roadside munchers.

This just never gets old.

drstratton · Friday at 1:04 PM

SageHill said:
Out and grazed a lot this morning. Gotta get when the ground is green !!!

Heading out - I turned around - dogs and sheep are right.

View attachment 124333
Zo tells the sheep -- you must go slowly,
View attachment 124334

so you can "trim" the sides of the ranch road...
View attachment 124335

Obi says - this is the start of their morning breakfast...
View attachment 124336

Yes, the boys do stay still for a bit....
View attachment 124337

Miss Piggy and Calico - roadside munchers.
View attachment 124338

This just never gets old.
View attachment 124339

So peaceful!

Baymule · Friday at 7:06 PM

Lovely. A perfect Christmas, holding the baby

. Then a beautiful day grazing with the sheep and dogs.

SageHill · Saturday at 12:36 PM

Defensive Grazing...............

So this morning started out all peaceful, happy, cool and normal. I decided to graze on our north slope. The greenery there is nice and lush and not too tall yet. The sheep like it knee high and not so much when it's shoulder high.
They're happy as little kids in a candy store all spread out....

The boys are all calm and happy watching.
We that slope for ~maybe an hour-ish. Then I decide to move on down to the meadow. I barely take a few steps - the sheep are still on the slope, the boys just starting to move into position to move to the meadow when I hear BARRRUUUK, BARRRUUUK --- It's Murphy. This is not his normal good morning bark. It's all business. What's more is he can't see us, we can't see him either. Strange. Very strange. I climb up to the ranch road and look way down into the meadow and see a black and tan German Shepherd running along our side of the fence, then Murphy charging along his side of the fence. Both dogs disappear. I can hear Murphy so I know about where they are.
Abandon the meadow grazing thought and move on to Plan B. Grazing the west point. Up high to see if the dog comes back. Pistol in hand. The sheep graze, though in a fairly tight group. The boys are not comfy, they know. On and off in the distance I can hear Murphy, but it's not the business bark of earlier. I make decisions on what to do - put sheep in the pasture? Nah - that dog could come back. Which way to the barn? I decide the way we came from would be best, and totally avoid pastures where sheep would likely try to go. We're up high, I can see Murphy's ground. And then -- there's Murp in stealth mode -- maybe 50 ft off the fence line, moving parallel to the fence. Then I see his target -- but it's on our west ranch road. A black German Shepherd a different dog (there must be two). It seems to know that he's safe from Murphy because of the fence. He looks up the slope and sees the sheep, sees me. He stops and watches. I'm ready, pistol in hand. Take aim, pop, then dog takes off. More than likely hit my mark judging by the time between the pop and the dog's take off. It's a pellet pistol - so probably got a sting at best.
With all the herding training I've done, the worst damage to sheep I've seen - and way more times than I care to count has come from German Shepherds. They can be great dogs, but also some of the worst. I could only guess what could have happened, and that more than likely would also have included my dogs as well as the sheep.

drstratton · Saturday at 1:19 PM

SageHill said:
Defensive Grazing...............

So this morning started out all peaceful, happy, cool and normal. I decided to graze on our north slope. The greenery there is nice and lush and not too tall yet. The sheep like it knee high and not so much when it's shoulder high.
They're happy as little kids in a candy store all spread out....
View attachment 124356
View attachment 124357

The boys are all calm and happy watching.
We that slope for ~maybe an hour-ish. Then I decide to move on down to the meadow. I barely take a few steps - the sheep are still on the slope, the boys just starting to move into position to move to the meadow when I hear BARRRUUUK, BARRRUUUK --- It's Murphy. This is not his normal good morning bark. It's all business. What's more is he can't see us, we can't see him either. Strange. Very strange. I climb up to the ranch road and look way down into the meadow and see a black and tan German Shepherd running along our side of the fence, then Murphy charging along his side of the fence. Both dogs disappear. I can hear Murphy so I know about where they are.
Abandon the meadow grazing thought and move on to Plan B. Grazing the west point. Up high to see if the dog comes back. Pistol in hand. The sheep graze, though in a fairly tight group. The boys are not comfy, they know. On and off in the distance I can hear Murphy, but it's not the business bark of earlier. I make decisions on what to do - put sheep in the pasture? Nah - that dog could come back. Which way to the barn? I decide the way we came from would be best, and totally avoid pastures where sheep would likely try to go. We're up high, I can see Murphy's ground. And then -- there's Murp in stealth mode -- maybe 50 ft off the fence line, moving parallel to the fence. Then I see his target -- but it's on our west ranch road. A black German Shepherd a different dog (there must be two). It seems to know that he's safe from Murphy because of the fence. He looks up the slope and sees the sheep, sees me. He stops and watches. I'm ready, pistol in hand. Take aim, pop, then dog takes off. More than likely hit my mark judging by the time between the pop and the dog's take off. It's a pellet pistol - so probably got a sting at best.
With all the herding training I've done, the worst damage to sheep I've seen - and way more times than I care to count has come from German Shepherds. They can be great dogs, but also some of the worst. I could only guess what could have happened, and that more than likely would also have included my dogs as well as the sheep.

I'm glad you were prepared and all are safe.

SageHill · Saturday at 2:53 PM

drstratton said:
I'm glad you were prepared and all are safe.

I'm always ready, but huge thanks to Murphy. While he's not mine and doesn't have access to our ranch I've always appreciated him. Knowing the difference between different barks was huge as well. Add in all I've learned about Anatolians here on BYH and I really know what an asset he is. OH -- and I texted his owners on what a great boy he was today.

Baymule · 2025-12-28T07:44:37-0600

You are wise to learn the different barks. Even in my rural county, there is a leash law. Many let their dogs run loose, dogs get shot that way and not with a pellet gun. I'm known as the lady with sheep and those big dogs.

SageHill · 2025-12-28T09:40:19-0600

Yeah know the different barks is always helpful. It's something that I've been able to do since I was a little kid. When it comes to animals and especially dogs I notice a lot of things that others don't. ROTFL -- guess that's my super power! :lol: