Guest PrairieFire Posted March 16, 2003 Report Share Posted March 16, 2003 I purposely didn't put the rams in until late last fall, so didn't need to shear until yesterday... My shearer and I are having a lunch break, and he's pointing to my dog - let me say that the shearer isn't impressed by the local "working" dogs, he usually asks folks to just put them up and he'll handle the sheep...and says something about how my Craig can relax around the sheep - Craig is snoozing in the sun while we take a break... So I mention that Craig is what I consider a real "Shepherd's dog" and we talk a bit about him finding lambs in snowdrifts and calves hiding behind haybales and stuff. Then he says - "Of course, nobody would want a dog that looked like that as a pet". Which cracked me up, of course, and I asked him if he found my grandkids (who were stuffing the wool bags) ugly as well... By the way, anybody lose any sheep? I've done some very severe culling this year and thought I was only overwintering 85 bred ewes - found out I've got about 110 when I actually counted them... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb Scott Posted March 16, 2003 Report Share Posted March 16, 2003 Several years ago, one of my co-workers said my Aussie (who looked like an Aussie) was the second ugliest dog she had ever seen; the first ugliest was a German Shorthair Pointer who belonged to a friend of hers! I'm still waiting for her to have grandchildren so I can say something equally negative! Barb Scot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
haflingerrider Posted March 16, 2003 Report Share Posted March 16, 2003 Pretty is as pretty does! And beauty is in the eye of the beholder. My son commented the other day that a particular woman was ugly. I pointed out to him that what was ugly was her critical personality, her nasty demeanor and the terrible way she treated her family. I bet I'de like your Grandkids, anyone who will help out on the farm is a treasure to be around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tassie Posted March 16, 2003 Report Share Posted March 16, 2003 Aw gee Bill. Well I guess there go your plans for finding a nice pet home for Craig. (as if ... (-; ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nancy Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 And just how attractive is this shearer? Any takers on him for a pet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PrairieFire Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 Oh, he's about as handsome as you'd expect anybody to be who likes sheepherding, spends hours bent over, and works outside with his hands much of the time... Actually, he's a great shearer, I just thought how funny folks can be when they don't fully think through what they say... He uses a heeler to push stock from pasture to paddock on his place, has owned aussies, and is exposed to MANY so-called "working dogs" in his job... But after several years of shearing at ours, was "inquiring" about pups and training before he left - even stopping at our kennels to check out the up and coming pups...so we might have a convert to real working dogs... Which, I must say, makes me darn proud...to have a "professional" stock person - who had been exposed to too many "bad" dogs - turn around and look at perhaps getting a "good" dog - is a very good thing in my mind...and something I work very hard at promoting - thinking it may be more important to the dogs in this country than any amount of trialing... And HR, my grandkids are pretty good kids - but we have to make 'em work on the farm - which thier mom agrees with, after screaming and crying about doing it when SHE was a teenager... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Margaret M Wheeler Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 I've been thinking about your post, and not just because I think Roy is a true craftsman and an all around fine fellow. When I watched Westminster I found myself thinking about how common the recently inducted breeds and the breeds that still do a bit of field work looked up next to the "old" "established" kennel club breeds. Because the JRTCA still shows in conformation and because I was intensely involved in it and I hunted my terriers too, I feel qualified to testify to the absence of any realtionship between the instinct to work/the quality of work and a typy appearance. Or maybe not. If anything I might have noticed an INVERSE relationsip between typiness and a willing effective worker. If this is so it's because breeders have to select for things like distinctive symmetrical markings and heavy bone. And what gets shorted when they do this? Well we all know the answer. We are so priveleged to know these very ordinary lookin miracles, aren't we Bill? They give us a world that a lot of people don't even know exists. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PrairieFire Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 Margaret, it's an honor I sometimes forget...and a blessing I try to count often...and a hope that some may survive - dogs, farmers, and shearers... And people that work at understanding... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura L. Posted March 17, 2003 Report Share Posted March 17, 2003 Bill, Will you be posting pictures of shearing this year so we can see just how your shearer looks? And how about some new puppy pictures and an update on their training? Thanks. Laura L. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest PrairieFire Posted March 18, 2003 Report Share Posted March 18, 2003 Well, my daughter was in charge of pictures this year, so we've got a lot of snaps of her 2 year old - it was her birthday and my daughter was mad that I had scheduled shearing on her 2nd birthday - I told her that we now had a new tradition - shearing on Hannah's birthday... I'll post a few, perhaps this coming weekend... The pups have only been to stock once so far this year...interested and circling, but no training pressure was put on them..right now we (extremely suddenly) had 60 degree weather - melted several inches of snow in 2 days - and have officially started mud season - so the only achievement of the pups currently is getting black and tarry and being quite proud of such a great achievement... Hopefully we can get them back out this coming weekend as well... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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