Author Topic: Do I keep going or do I call it a day? (Read 10623 times)

Porterlauren · « **Reply #30 on:** June 26, 2015, 02:59:00 pm »

Fully working at 10 months . . . . . . . .

Don't believe all you read.

But then, my young bitch is only 12 months, no where near fully trained, but has a half decent outrun, a very good stop and walk on, and will come away from the sheep on command, and I would be buggered without her!!!!!

Me · « **Reply #31 on:** June 26, 2015, 03:36:26 pm »

They reckon a year under each leg before fully trained/peak of their powers. I will have to book Taff in for an amputation

Dogwalker · « **Reply #32 on:** June 26, 2015, 09:31:17 pm »

Quote from: Porterlauren on June 25, 2015, 09:38:23 pm

Find a friend with a good dog. . . . . it'll take the hassle out of it!

Not really,
my ram is limping but since being rounded up for shearing by my neighbour with his dog I can't get near him and there's no way I can get him out of the field into the yard and possibly then into the shed on my own now.
So he'll have to carry on limping until the farmer can come back with his dog, probably not until Sunday afternoon.

43 ewes, lambs and shearlings no problem I call them and rattle a bucket they come running down. They haven't been scared by a man and dog.

Porterlauren · « **Reply #33 on:** June 27, 2015, 01:24:34 am »

You are kind of just confirming my point.

If you had a decent dog, you would be able to get your limping ram in, whether he fancied it or not.

With the bucket method, not only is it quite impractical in many situations, and also relies on feeding your sheep (which we don't). . . . . but it is entirely dependant upon all of the sheep fancying playing ball!

Serious sheep farming with no dog is my idea of hell!

But that's maybe just me!

Dogwalker · « **Reply #34 on:** June 27, 2015, 08:07:13 am »

I wasn't commenting so much on having a dog or not but the idea of relying on another person with a dog.

It's more the having to wait for help that's a problem.

I only feed mine around lambing time.

kanisha · « **Reply #35 on:** June 27, 2015, 09:30:56 am »

Quote from: Hillview Farm on June 25, 2015, 09:27:43 am

My biggest problem is will my life be empty with the time freed up?

Seems to me that you need to find a way to downsize but still keep your hand in. No suggestions plenty of others have commented BUT Managing your time will reduce stress and maximise enjoyment. If its just a question of handling speaking as a single hander without a dog, having a good system for rounding up and handling sheep will make a huge difference to how you can feel you can cope.