Well, I haven’t been very active lately. Kathy’s been on vacation welcoming her first grandchild, it’s hot, and money’s tight. So tight that my idea to get my own space and own sheep really stopped being an option – and really, when the idea dissipates that quickly, I very obviously wasn’t in a position to do it, so that’s good we didn’t get it going.
So, I kept putting ads out on craigslist. There’s plenty of livestock here, but not a ton of takers, and when they are, the facility or the stock just isn’t right. If I were a badass and my dog was a WTCh, maybe, but we’re just in our infancy of training still so I need to be realistic.
And then Nathan emailed me. Not getting overly excited because I know how this goes, I call him up last night and he’s got the whole thing worked out – the ranch owner is on board with doing this, and he basically is ready to “trade my boots for Nikes” with all the running he does trying to manage the sheep as they wander around the hillside of the ranch/vineyard he manages.
It is a pretty good deal for us both. They want to get a dog and learn how to use it to make their life easier, and in exchange for helping them with that outcome, I get to work their sheep. I made no airs about my skill level and told him straight up that if he wants to start a puppy, it’s not me to do it, we’ll have to take the puppy to lessons. No problem with that. Nathan seems realistic about everything and earnest.
So, this morning, I pack up the truck with all my stockdog books and videos for him to check out, and head out to Adelaida Springs Ranch. It’s not a hop, skip and a jump from SLO, but it’s about the same distance as Kathy is to me – 45 minute drive, and the drive is every bit as pretty – rolling oaks, walnut orchards, lavender lined vineyard, and windy roads.
I drove right on past the turn the first time, but I like it. “Rangeland wines” and “cattle on road” – I really love living where I do. It’s urban and rural at the same time. It’s real – and it was great driving down a road I’d never been, past a Mennonite(?!) Cemetery and so many tasting rooms.
I get up to the ranch and Nathan has told me it’s an automatic gate, but I’ve got no idea how to trigger it and Laird, the owner, has to drive up his truck to manage it. It’s embarrassing. I am still not sure how I’ll activate it on the way back in when I return.
And I follow them down a hillside and I see the sheep opposite the hilly vineyard – a Pyr barking at me . . . so that’s how they’re doing okay out here.
I meet the owner of the property, Nathan – of course, and Shannon – the winemaker. We all stand around talking about what they need and how to make it work. Merits of BCs vs Aussies and what I can and cannot do for them.
They don’t have pens set up for me, but we talk about what to do to make it work. I’d posted on Aussie Stockdog on Facebook about how I’m supposed to make it work like this and the suggestion of just sorting off some leader sheep and breaking them in made a lot of sense so we’ve figured out that for now, we’ll just set up a little round pen off the electric fence on the flat in this photo:
I’ll sort the leadersheep into the pen and see how it goes. I was reviewing Rippa’s “progress” last night on this blog and my pride in her down has totally evaporated so maybe some round pen work to take care of that is what the doctor ordered anyway. Laird and Nathan think the sheep are pretty calm for dogs anyway – his old cattle dog mix gets in there and they don’t mind too much, and of course there’s the two guardian dogs. So we’ll see. Maybe if they’re good, all I need is the round pen to sort sheep and we can do walk abouts in the field. I figured if it’s not good enough, investing in panels that Nathan’s game to build out when needed is a safe bet compared to sheep and property. . .
So anyway, an interesting turn, as we’re talking, I find that both of them like Aussies more than BCs anyway so, being me, I was like, “That I can definitely help you with.” Reiterating that I’m not the person to start the dog, I’ll have to take it to lessons first, they’re game, but it’s a lot of time lost on the ranch, so essentially I’m going to help them pick a nice dog to work their sheep and cattle and then get to start it for them, along with my own dogs. Heaven, and a lot of driving. But that never stopped me.
So, looking pretty great. And I was thinking it would be a few months because they need to get their own dog, but Nathan’s game to start next week, just up to me . . . so here goes nothing.
And in the meantime, if you know someone with an Aussie or Aussie/BC cross (Laird likes hybrids a lot, they’re less “knuckleheaded” is how he put it) that’s older and can be useful pretty quick at outruns and gathers with a big flock of sheep, let me know.
