February 25, 2008: Gathering Starts Again
With lambing time just around the corner, all of the ewes at the 'home' end of the farm had to be gathered in for scanning. The sheep run a little slower at this time of the year so we had the opportunity to take the younger dogs (just turned 1 year old), Sioux and Tina, out on their first gathers. This was their first taste of what it is to be a 'real' working dog. And, by all accounts, they both loved it.

Sioux went with Angie and Roy, while Tina went with Kelvin, Blade, and the ever-present Bailey. Tina had the harder of the two gathers, on a hillier section of the farm and with 100 extra ewes than their should have been. Sometimes it is extremely difficult to get the split right when two hefts of sheep come together. So, instead of bringing in one heft of sheep, Kelvin, Tina, Blade and Bailey got to bring in almost two. Tina quickly took to the task and worked very well in unison with Blade. This is good news as Kelvin is in desperate need of another dog to take some of the workload off Blade. Blade is a fantastic hill dog but even he needs a rest sometimes!

Sioux went with Angie and Roy to pick up a smaller group of sheep on a wetter area of the farm. Although Roy was sent out for the sheep on an easy (400-500 yard) outrun, Sioux took over the task and, on her own, managed to guide the heft around the wet areas and into the rightful field. Once in the field, Sioux was put through her paces by being asked to drive the sheep to the top of the hill, cross drive them across the top of the field, and then bring them back down again (and a few other things in between). She passed this wee test with flyng colours.

All of the older dogs got their turns as well. Angie and Meg were heading off for the training field when they had to step in to help Richard complete a gather. Richard's dog, Rock, hurt a leg and had to hitch a ride on the quad bike. Meg was sent for a group of sheep rapidly making their escape for the top of the hill. Without knowing where the sheep were, Meg went out on blind faith and was successfully directed to their location. Once out there, it was an easy task for her to bring this wayward group in to the remainder of their heft, who were waiting patiently at the bottom of the hill. It can be rewarding to see how far a dog has progressed when they start to go out blind for sheep, and will go back for missed sheep when asked from 700 yards away.

Not to be outdone, Jet got in on the act as well with a couple of days of gathering, and bringing the sheep from the in-bye fields to the sheep pens, and back. Jet is a tremendous worker, always enthusiastic, absolutely tireless, and ever-ready for the job. Although this bitch has been a handful (you know, the 'first-dog' thing), Angie has never given up on this talented bitch and her perserverance is starting to reap rewards. Jet is fast earning her place on Angie's main shepherding team - Jet, Roy and Meg, now forming a reliable threesome.

The ewes have now been scanned, with those having twins and triplets all marked and tails nicely clipped. The ewes at the other end of the farm are yet to be scanned so there is more gathering in store for us soon. The good news is that we have some fresh sheep - at long last. They are wild things too. The older dogs love them - and so do they younger ones, as they are much easier for them to push around than the ultra heavy hoggs. The dogs are all acting like kids in a candy store - they can't get enough.