The flock has moved onto stockpiled forage. Where they graze is not fenced however recent snow limits how eager the ewes are to travel afar. Each evening I move them into a smaller paddock for the night.
With the limited forays of the flock and the night penning the guardian dogs have it pretty easy right now. There is a great deal of barking going on each evening but otherwise the dogs seem bored. The flock is also close to the yard at the moment and Sox, the young fellow has taken up the habit of joining the Kelpies and I for walks. He and the cream Kelpie have become quite fond of each other.
When he started showing up I was torn about letting him continue but I never did put a stop to it like I have for other guardian dogs. I prefer guardians not come for walks with us and its definitely not allowed when they are pups growing into their role, however he’s a two year old and he’s a Kangal cross, a super athlete of the guardian dog breeds, and the workload is slow right now. With dogs every choice is made on a case by case basis and in his case I prefer he expend energy running with Kelpies rather than playing with or killing sheep. He always returns to sheep and I know he’s an active guardian at nightfall so we seem to have a good compromise going.
All in all we seem to be settling into winter’s pace. The flock still feels so very small and it will take me some time to adjust to that. Outside of sheep and dogs there isn’t much that draws me away from the ranch right now. In between morning and evening chores I’m content with doing the tasks required to take care of home and person and otherwise settle into the studio to see what can be done there.