Formal Introductions

Like a wife and a mistress the sheep and the dogs have known of each other's existence but they have never " met" in real life. Sheep by definition are thick characters who have a talent for banging into things when upset. Dogs often like to chase thick characters who bump into things.
It's the way of the world.
Anyhow, I've gotten a little tired of putting the ewes in the lower field when the dogs arrive in the upper, so today, I thought it time that the two factions finally met.
The dogs split up as they entered the field. The Welsh terriers skipped around in lazy circles, George  tottered off on his own in the hopeful search for eggs and Winnie stood quietly by the gate, watching everything with her sad little piggy eyes.
The sheep had no idea who to go to first.

.....they finally faced off George to start.
I suppose it was a case of pick on the little guy first. 
Now sheep are huge bluffers when it comes to confrontation. They stamp their sharp little hooves and sweep their horns menacingly but will try whenever possible  not to make contact with a threat unless it is moving. If you are small and run, you are likely to be butted
George, is no fool when it comes to confrontation. This is a product of being the lowest in the dog pack's pecking order all of his life. He did what he has done for the past seven and a half years when faced with a threat.. He quietly ignored it and pretended to be interested in something else.
The ewes watched him carefully as he pottered around sniffing absently at the daisies then decided to change tack to face off the Welsh who continued to skip around in circles like excited psychiatric patients at a asylum disco .

Meg backs off

This was the danger point.  Excited dogs and bad tempered sheep , could prove disastrous if things were left to become silly, but I need not have worried. Meg, at almost nine backed off, letting William to run all goo-goo eyed around Sylvia and Irene for a minute or so until he too became bored. Luckily the sheep didn't bolt. Dogs love a chase.

Winnie steams in
And so this finally left Winnie.
Trotting like a pigmy hippo, she arrived on the scene ready for action, and unlike all of her pack mates, she was having non of this gently gently approach.

Winnie's approach to everything in life is to push her way into the centre of things, appear depressed and uninterested, and wait for a reaction
Think of Buster Keaton running right up to your face with an off stage trumpet of " TRAAAAAADAAAA," as way of fanfare and you will get where I am coming from..

It was the final straw for the two pea brained ewes. As I dished out the layers pellets to the chickens and filled the water feeders with fresh cool water, they put their heads down to graze as Albert walked past, and sniffed at them.

It was the right day for formal introductions.
An anticlimax all round.



45 comments:

  1. Way to go Winnie !

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  2. Do you 'dip' your sheep?

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    Replies
    1. What a rude thing to ask.

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    2. It wasn't meant in a Welsh gumboot kinda way!

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    3. Pity....you know that if you get them on a cliff edge they push back harder.....

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    4. I shall ignore all of those sheep shagging jokes

      To answer you cro.... No..... I don't, after advice from the sheep farmer down the lane....

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    5. Yes, good advice. You would be shunned by the community if you were caught.

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  3. More drama than Downton Abbey!!

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  4. winnie is NOT a pigmy hippo, she is just big boned. :)
    (says the fat girl)

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  5. Winnie is so much like my dog Wassay. The same behavior.

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  6. Anonymous9:06 am

    Thanks for the laugh. That was so brilliantly funny my stomach is full up and I won't need breakfast.

    Yes, if only we learnt from animals' ways how to tackle fellow swines - and keep the peace.

    U

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  7. 'Skipped around in lazy circles' - I like that! You describe the scene so well John. I am glad that it didn't all kick off and now you won't have to worry about moving the sheep to another field. Next time of course, it could be another story!

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  8. Lovely pictures on an idyllic autumn day. Went off sheep when I got bitten trying to administer some medicine. Have only been bitten once - so far - by a dog and it was a cooped up alsation in a grotty flat (old social service days)! Current encumbents all far too well mannered. Phew!

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  9. Guess you are glad you made the intros!
    Do you ever shear your sheep? Seems a shame to let the wool go to waste........

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    1. No...their wool generally has been shed by now...
      Next year I plan to hand strip them

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  10. Anonymous10:56 am

    Phew...crisis averted.

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  11. Everyone was better behaved then I would have guessed,

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  12. Your adjectives were perfect! Great story.

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  13. we wanted to adopt a dog a few moons ago , but as he was locked up for a bit of sheep worrying and we live rurally we couldnt have him, despite pointing out that the only thing there was to worry was an awful lot of sugar beet and a herd of bullocks who would win any argument he cared to put there way .

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    1. It's taken many months for the dogs to get used to the sheep here..... I wouldn't have taken a chance otherwise

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  14. Anonymous12:10 pm

    'skip around in circles like excited psychiatric patients at a asylum disco'
    Had me in stitches! Thanks for painting such a vivid picture.

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    1. They reminded me of those " forced social evenings" when I was a student registered mental nurse in the early 1980s
      Thanks for that

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    2. Me, too - I Laughed Out Loud, honestly

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  15. I see tension in the pictures. Glad they all recognized a truce is best.

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  16. fun down on the farm :D

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  17. Animal experiments...I'll have to send the anti-vivisection people round...

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    Replies
    1. What would they think of the headless rabbits?

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  18. Oh goodness, I'd thought they'd met! Pics do show some tension. Glad it's over.

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    1. Not all together Sharon
      Winnie has met them briefly I think I took a video of that a while ago

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  19. Anonymous2:12 pm

    Pigmy hippo...hahahaha

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  20. So does this answer the old question of 'can't we all just get along?'.

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  21. Just one big happy family

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  22. Such good doggies! I would love to meet them.
    You're a wonderful storyteller, John. :)

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  23. Pleasepleaseplease come help us integrate our cats!

    I'm glad it went well.

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  24. Your descriptions are, as always, priceless! Love imagining Winnie as a Buster Keaton–like pygmy hippo.

    So glad YOU didn't end up with any injuries. That's what I was expecting this to be about.

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  25. What a great story !
    My Scotties do that most of the time, pretend to be interested in something else and ignore. I find that one of their endearing qualities.
    Except thehamish who always meets the world head on. But then he is sightly crazed and half Westie.

    cheers, parsnip

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  26. Gorgeous. I was reminded of some of our politicians face-offs - and finished reading thinking 'if only...'

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  27. I must say we could do with your four when we have to round up our sheep - a nice gentle stroll is whay is needed, not a mad, frantic dash.

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  28. Excited dogs and bad-tempered sheep - sounds a bit like the Scottish Referendum!! no avoiding that either. God help us all! x

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    Replies
    1. It doesn't look good for the " no" vote! Does it?

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  29. Well done. It's always tense introducing new herd members.

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  30. Thanks for the laugh. You described this so very well, I saw it all.

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