Belle working her sheep in the big field

It looks like a mess, but Belle is trying to bring the sheep to me. They just weren't cooperating. They are young lambs, just about 4 months old. Not very "people broke", let alone "dog broke". Belle tried very hard to do her job. NOTE: you might want to turn down your speakers. BJ was trying to give Belle directions from the side lines. :)

BJ's turn at sheep work--woking in the round pen

I told you this was going to be a BAAAAD day!

Here comes that Border Collie. . .

Continuing sheep work

Belle learns to fly . . .

Belle thinks she is supposed to FLY after her sheep. . .

Here are some various pictures of Belle and I learning to work the sheep. It's not as easy as it looks. Thank God for patient trainers!!!

Puppers and lambs

Here are some fun pictures of the Dice working the sheep and the new lambs.

Belle's Daddy and one of her sisters

Belle got to see her Daddy and one of her sisters. She had fun playing with her sister, but wasn't too sure about her Daddy. Her Daddy is Slate and Her sister is Dice.




This is one of Belle's sister's, Dice.



These are some of Belle's new friends. She learned a lot from them. Especially how to be a GOOD Girl. :)



This is Belle's Daddy, Slate.

More herding. . .

This was Belle working in the round pen. It sure was different from her first time on sheep. She actually started to work them and showed a lot of instinct. She wanted those sheep all in a row.

Goooood Girl!!!!

Our backyard . . . sigh

So here are some pictures of the backyard, just a few short months (10 months to be exact) since the yard was fenced. As you can see, there is not much grass left. There is now a "track" around the back side of the house. Belle is showing you how it is used. Smart little girl isn't she???

Maybe someday we will have grass. HaHaHa!!! Not as long as we have dogs that run as fast as then can, then come to a screeching halt at the fence, pushing the sand up in front of them as the stop. They look like a snow plow pushing snow out of their way.

We got to work SHEEP finally!!!

That was exciting. BJ wasn't too sure what to do at first. He got down in his play bow and wanted the sheep to play with him. Hmmmmm. . . the sheep where not impressed. But as we kept walking about the pasture and following the sheep, he finally figured out (and so did the sheep) that he really did understand that they weren't there to play with. It will be a lot of fun to get his natural instincts brought back up to the surface where they belong. He is still doing GREAT in agility. His favorite piece of equipment is the A-Frame. He literally flys over it without touching the top. It's amazing.

Belle did great on the sheep too. We just walked and walked around the pasture following the sheep from corner to corner. There were times that she would take off running after the sheep, get just so close, stop and bark at the sheep, then come running back to me as if to say "Ok, now what do I do with them???." She has a LOT of natural ability and will make a good stock dog. I actually think I might be able to do some trialing with her in a couple of years. That would be something.
Here are some pictures of the day from the sheep farm.