For The Sake of Good Dogs
I bought our first sheep because of a dog, a border collie mix, so it feels fitting that as I consider exiting from keeping sheep, dogs are once again a key player in my decision.
Currently, I have more stock dogs than livestock guardians; although four of the six stock dogs are now living out their senior years and only do modest work if any. And my livestock guardian dog team is at a bare minimum of three dogs.
Relying on three guardian dogs isn’t particularly wise since it is the guardian dogs that we rely on to maintain the balance with coyotes who would otherwise prey on the sheep. The areas we graze are large, and challenging in terrain and ground cover. Three dogs are stretched thin particularly since one of the dogs does more work guarding me and the yard than he does the sheep. Yet even knowing the consequence of this imbalance as firmly as I do I am hesitant to procure another livestock guardian. And if I do not purchase another livestock guardian then it is not fair to maintain a flock this size or add more to it without help for the current dogs.
Trouble is, I have not made any decisions about selling sheep either. Although by not procuring more working dogs I suppose I am deciding, albeit without conviction. But something I know for sure is that I do not wish to have more sheep. I wish to have far less of them. The reason I know this is because my focus is no longer on them. When we began this journey into keeping sheep two decades ago all energies and thought and money went into building a flock of sheep and procuring the dogs and the knowledge needed to do grass based ranching. All my energy was on the animals and the land, specifically in regard to returning it to grass. And we’ve done all we set out to do. We live in a place of grassy forage and trees, and natural prairie, and wetlands. We’ve paid for all of it and then some, in money and in emotion. We have had a very, very good run with sheep – as full of successes and heartbreaks as any livelihood can be.
And now,… now my focus lies elsewhere. It is as simple and as scary as that. But I know that whenever the decision gets made I’ll keep some sheep around because there is one guardian dog here who needs sheep, possibly a second, although I suspect she would make the adjustment to having no sheep around better than he would. So I’ll keep sheep for the sake of these good dogs, which will also serve to keep the two younger kelpies in good working stead and me on my toes, with the added bonus of having plenty of subject matter for artwork.
We accept each other in a way that makes for a very solid relationship. It’s not like this with every dog. With other dogs there is a subtle, mutual annoyance about our faults always casting shadows over our relationship. He’s the only Kelpie that was born here so we’ve known each other since that day. I don’t have enough experiences rearing and keeping puppies on to know if those first eight weeks of being with a pup make that difference or if we’ve just hit it off. Lucky for me either way.