[Jacob-list] Breeding, dogs and silly things (long)

[Pam Kern]

Hi, I am fairly new to the list I have two ewes & a
ram that were registered (yes I still haven't gotten
them registered, Help) I have had them for three years
now. So this year I had lambs in Jan and late feb. The
ewe that delivered in Jan. Has gone and bred again and
is due in sept. We did have a warm spell in the spring
and then it got cold again ( even had snow in late
May). I guess she has done this before, but this is
the first time for me. Besides the Jacobs I also have
Shetland sheep and the shetlands to my knowledge have
never bred more then once a year. If the weather
doesn't cool off I have a really hard time getting
them to bread at all. One other thing the rams (jacob
w/jacobs shetland w/shetlands) are with the ewes year
round.

On the dog thought, it does seem that every situation
is different. I live near a goat dairy I moved last
fall and the new place has no shelter but trees so
this winter when it was time to lamb I moved all sheep
to the dairy where they would have a barn to get into.
So here is the thing, I have this cocker, mind you she
has not a clue that she is just a little cocker. Her
bark sounds like a big dog so that's what she thinks
she is. SO when we got the first sheep Jacobs she was
not afraid of them and they just ignored her. ( I know
this is long but ...) Ok maybe the jacobs were even a
little intimidated by her execpt when they had new
lambs. The next year I got a handful of shetlands A 4,
& 3, year old, lamb ewe and 1 year old ram. Now
shetlands might be little but they are NOT fearful so
the poor dog got a beating from the ewes. Yes the
cocker is fine and it hasn't stopped her from going
into the pasture with the sheep. They have come to
except her some.  Alright back to point, before we
moved next to the dairy, our neighbor had 2 huskies
and if they got out they'd run. One day the dogs got
loose and headed our way. Of coarse it was on a day
when the ladies were out mowing my lawn. Well you can
imagine what took place dogs chasing sheep. only that
didn't last very long really not at all because the
oldest smallest shetland was not a bit going to
tolerate such a thing. By the time I get out the door,
gun in tow, I have 2 dogs running for their lives with
a herd of Shetlands on their heals and a herd of
jacobs in tow. I finally got the ladies home only
after they had chased the dogs down through the riven
and well out of our yard.
Back to this jan. when I move the ladies to the dairy.
I was a bit worried about what would happen they have
a great pyrenne. I'm sure you can guess the poor dog
was raised with sheep and lives with goats, but she
got a whooping and know she stays clear of them. It is
a sad thing to see a 80 lb sheep keeping this big
massive dog at bay. I guess maybe I should start
selling guard sheep, lol    

I know it was long but I really wanted to share. 
Pam at the Sugarhaus
English angora rabbits, Shetland sheep, Jacob sheep
and Nubian goats.

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