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Jeanne, I wish you and your dog Emily the best of your lives in the coming year. Bless you for caring and loving her so much.

Lydia, I didn't work with a lots of LSGD's but the advice I got was,until the first years of these dogs,they are supervised and interfered 24/7. If you can't,they are put away. During lambing with my Akbash (on pasture),I put a chain on her and tied it to myself,keeping chain long enough for her to get away just in case the ewe may take it the wrong way. If she moved close enough to sniff a lamb,she got a "NO" from me and a nasty look from the mama. I sat through 160 ewes lambing with her,halfway through,she was most interested in dangers lurking about. Once she lost interest,I unclipped the chain. She started to go out of the band of sheep and patrol madly. Her approaches back to the ewes with lambs were with tail dropped,shoulders sagged, head down without eye contact and very,very slow. When a ewe charged her,she dropped on her back and exposed belly. I thought she was becoming trustworthy and I gave her a couple of orphans when I wasn't able to sit with her,that was a mistake. She tried to mount the lambs and got a shake of her life from me. Second year,she was completely trustworthy and an experienced lamber,to this date,I know her different bark for a "lambs are coming" and she'll rush to warn off the invisible snapping turtles in the pond to stay clear of their lambs. So,basically,unless your dog is supervised and corrected by you,never leave her on her own. You could chain her away where she cannot watch and get frustrated either. Put her away with rams,at 15,they should learn their boundaries and rams are more than happy to display that.

Julie, At trials,I don't let my dogs (ones I'm about to run) to spot sheep behind fences,etc. Got burned bad once by this,brought the dog just as they were exhausting sheep with the rest and when our turn came,he simply didn't get why he should go gather 3-4 for there were so many right over yonder behind those trees. I do,however,take youngsters and tie them to fence lines for correction purposes. When they think about getting a bit unruly or whiney,what could be a better than timing in corrections.

Lydia, Molasses in warm water is the way I would go too. Don't get to worried if the ewe lamb seems like she's not producing too much milk,new borns don't drink a whole lot. Also,high temp on lamb could be the flash. Lambs and cats are the only species when streesed,their body temperatures rises in a falsh to the point of sweating. Cats known to calm down but lambs will continue to do so when handled by strangers. Placenta retaining,over 24 hours after lambing requires different medication than Oxytocin. You could only get the required amount from a large head veterinarian. As long as ewe is eating,she should be fine. If she'll start to stand up a lot while others are flocked/eating and/or grinds her teeth,then you have a problem. Score her body condition,if there's quite a bit fat layer covering her back bone and spine,I would start CMP (Calcium therapy) right away and in great amounts. Good luck.

Amy, I have ewes forced walked around about a mile a day as they near their whelping time. I do this with Rex since he's natural pacer but the idea is to stress the ewes inorder to pinpoint any unexpected ailments,mainly ketosis. Ketotic animals,when stressed will fall behind the herd and eventually stop and/or hit the ground. Immediate treatment sure saves them,otherwise once they lamb and go off their feed,you are looking a dead sheep standing. I wouldn't work youngsters in their last trimester though.

Funny fellow that cgt of Utah. There was a scene in "Blade Runner",picture turning and exposing what could not be seen by naked eye. If we put that picture into same perspective,we may actually see a Border Collie about 20-30 yards away controlling those sheep. Or,they are using AKC's finest peanut buttered butt sheep. Anyway,back to Kim's question. Sounds like the sheep discovered the safe haven by the fence. Andrea gave you some good advice,try them. Other thing I would do,look for signs of strong eye in your dog. Strong eyed creature don't really care where they hold sheep as long as they are together. Does your dog have a solid down? If he does,down him about 10-15 yards prior to reaching sheep to give sheep an escape space. Don't stand out to hold the pressure on them,move closer to your dog. With both of you away from their path,they'll easily peel off from fence. Once they do,don't let your dog run to cover them. Keep him down,walk about half way and towards sheep and give him the flank to run along the side of the fence. Most strong eyed,young dogs will try to cross and bring sheep right back to fence line,if yours will try that,put him on a long line until he gets what he supposed to do. I'm quite tired,I could see the whole thing in my mind but putting on words may not make much sense to you. I could draw it and send it on if you want me to.

Vicki, An Akbash breeder out in Kansas spays or neiters her pups prior to shipping at 10 weeks. Her husband is a veterinarian and they see no reason why they shouldn't be. OTOH,I wouldn't dare,especially with male pups since their plumbing is far more complicated than females. One thing you can do is to hold the paper until spaying or neutering. Mennonites care whole lot for papers not for only breeding purposes but the way I understood their reasoning was,papers equals known animal. This was in the case of horses but will give you an idea how they feel. Also,you could start exposing your pup to the outdoor elements prior to going to the new home. Start with crate filled with straw,after his walks,put him away in a shaded area or after dark for few hours at a time. You could also add some peanut butter to his meal or biscuit to give him extra fat to convert into heat energy. May get little runny for few days. Oh,well. Good luck on whatever you'll decide but your pup will have a very clean home with Mennonites.

Oh,oh...are we into throwing rotten eggs to my sis "totallyterry"? Get off that watching the tube adverts,it's teaching you some nasty things,sis....I mean,like,you know.... Now,where was I...right,puppy food. Pups eat what their mama's eat. If the mama doing good on an adult feed,she would be upchucking that feed to her puppies,well at least in the wild or in some more primitive breeds. So,from the time pups could lap up some food,they eat what's fed to mama with higher moisture. When a vet tells you to feed "puppy chow",ask him to feed his own kids(under the age of 3 months) lamb chops or 12 oz. steak chop instead of blended food,sit back and watch his face. Most vets are only interested and know a great deal about what's going on under the fur and skin,they know "nottin" about what to feed cats or dogs except what the canine feed companies pushes by sending their reps with a pizza box during their lunch time.

Vicki, Not to generalize the Mennonite population which we have in abundance in this area,including our next door neighbours,I would definitely shy away from letting them take an animal who isn't spayed or neutered. They do really take care of their animals,pups are checked by our local veterinarians as of 2 weeks and they really bring them in every week until they are 8 weeks old. They also breed the s*** out of them,like in every cycle. I know these people by their first names and I really like and respect many things about them,however,they do operate in another dimension when it comes to making a living from stock (cattle-sheep-goats-horses-dogs-cats) or land.

Vicki, Hard to know what you're dealing with,without actually working the dog. It sounds as what a young dog would do or the one who's never seen or made to work all. When a young dog does something like that,I stop all the action and turn him/her to the one left behind. Do it every single time and not letting the dog get away with,they get the idea pretty soon. as for not facing a challenging ewe,again,stop all and concentrate to the one he fails to face until getting some reaction from the dog. If your friend could take a single sheep to an enclosed small area and put the dog on her and see what happens and report back to you,it would be more helpful. BTW,mention your friend not to take two dogs to fuel each other,it makes some sheep fight the dog all the more. It sours the sheep,eventually they'll refuse to move from the one who take a cheap shots but they also know the dog cannot face them.

As Deb wrote,there isn't much information about Fescues. Fescues,especially in pastures are the least likely grazed grasses by sheep. They'll eat everything around it but will leave fescues to grow tall where it becomes highly unpalatable. Even in hay form,they'll pull the fescues out and will consume weedy grass.

Hi Sam, When I bred Ana,next day after she settled, she was out braking cattle for the next 4 days.Didn't stop her from dropping 6 little squirts 2 months down the road. OTOH,Sarah's Gnat didn't settle at all when she ran after mating few times and gave birth only when she was retired from running for few weeks. I guess,every bitch is different.

Most of the dogs are checked at Candace Terry's kennel. 3 old ones at the local vets where they require medical attention,2 are at my brother's and 1 at the orthopedic surgeon's office. Husband not OK and I have to stay in Pittsburgh where they flew him. He came through his surgery with flying colours but they won't send him home even after his vitals are back to normal. For his 50th birthday bash,he was supposed to be sailing the Caribbeans,so he wants pictures of the blue waters hanging in his hospital rooms. Poor fellow. Suppose Maddie wanted a bra for herself and was trying to get you see that by gobbling it up? Get the girl a training bra. What if....she'll win the Nursery Finals? you'll still sell her? Naw,me thinks you'll have a change of heart. Bye all,heading back to Pitts and be back sometimes Monday or Tuesday. PS: Glad all the lambing is done and are fed very well by 3 very skilled stockmen.

Ha! You think you two have problems with a mere 3 1/2 months olds? I dropped a 8 months old at the vet's office,I keep getting calls on my cell on "how to's". Darn thing,she does it outside but hold a little back for the crate. IMHO,they're not stupid,they just want to see us bend over,scrubbing kennels all the time. It could be worse though,like having no dogs. I feel so sorry for myself,all my dogs are gone. I should cherish the moments,no scrubbing kennels,runs,no walks,no feeding. Instead,I'm feeling like an useless rag,staring at walls.

As a pet owner,try to put an end to people who breed their dogs to achieve certain criterias other than working abilities.Take a look at your own dog,most probably was bred to be a "pet and pet only" before jumping into conclusions ( breeding of working dogs may end up in wrong hands and in rescues). For one printed material of working dogs,there are 100's of breeders who breed cr*ps for pet purposes,try to find those in your area and flush them out by arranging an interview yourself. As a pet owner,you will never understand what working dogs are all about and trying to voice your opinion based on pets,I believe you are getting a bit ahead of yourself. As for the newspaper article,nothing wrong with it. If it fails to give the whole picture,it is most likely due to the fact that,reporters are limited to so many words and they try to edit "spoken words between parties" to what they think may attract the general public's interest. Working dogs and their achievements are not meant to fit into 1 1/2 columns to give the full picture. Even books aren't enough.