Meridian Jacobs

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Practicing herding wtih 4 ram lambs My recreation these days is to go to sheepdog training once/week and work with Rusty at home. My goal is to be able to handle the whole flock with him. But my sheep aren't "dog-broke" and would rather turn and stamp at him then do what he says to do. It can be quite intimidating for a young dog to be faced with a group of aggressive horned ewes. Some of them have no qualms about bashing a dog in the ribs. Now that they are heavily pregnant it is not a good time to try to force the issue of learning to be herded by a dog. So we spend our time herding these 4 ram lambs who were born last August at State Fair. I am always amazed at the Border Collie's instinct...and brains. Rusty knows when the lambs are apt to run for the barn or a gate. Then he not only needs to keep the lambs moving, but keep them from running ahead.