Sheep of Palm Cottage Farm

At Palm Cottage Farm we maintain a special group of sheep for dog training. These are "hair sheep;" they have a shedding hair coat rather than wool and thus do not require shearing. They have a characteristic of "lightness." This means that they continue, longer than most types of sheep, to move easily off of dogs without becoming "heavy" and stodgy. We find that this is best for many stages of dog training.

If a student needs large flock work, we have that available as well as "heavier" sheep for particular dogs and circumstances. Our ewe flock is based upon commercial whiteface ewes crossed with a Bluefaced Leicester ram. This has produced good mothers who do well in the conditions here in the Southern Willamette Valley of Oregon. The ewes are bred to a ram known as a "terminal sire" to produce fast growing lambs for market.

This year we have used a Suffolk and a Suffolk / Texel cross as terminal sires. We expect to have a robust lamb crop coming in the winter through early spring.

The Nature of Sheep

I've been working with sheep for a few years now and learned a lot about them. Sheep are not stupid. They plenty of intelligence, though it manifests itself quite differently than the intelligence of humans or canines. Sheep have spectacular memories, including profound facial recognition. Their propensity to react and behave as a group is not an indicator of lack of smarts. Flocking / herd behavior is an important survival skill for prey animals such as sheep.

Learning about the livestock we are working with and honing our skills at "reading" them will help us to become effective and fair dog trainers. Sheep's status as "prey" is something we use every day as they work with us to train our stockdogs. We aim to keep our dogs carefully balanced on the edge of the area known as the "flight zone" of sheep, or other livestock. Ideally, the sheep will move away from the pressure of the dog who remains on the outside boundary of this bubble. Sometimes, with heavy, aggressive stock or with new mothers, more force or power is needed. It's a refined combination of skills for a dog, and it takes quite a while to coalesce.

As we work with our dogs to develop all these skills, it is crucial to remember that sheep need to be handled and treated with respect. They are not dog toys. Yes, they have to endure difficulties as they help us to get our dogs trained, but we must remember to protect them as much as possible. They are the participants in this endeavor that did NOT volunteer.