Interesting
I took Rory out to where we work on learning how to work stock today. C is out of town, so I helped L with some chores. Rory mostly got to wander around and explore while we cleaned stalls and set them up for occupancy again (stock is put up at night to keep it safe, especially while the lambs are small).
After the stalls were tended, we put the sheep back in their stalls and then did something we've never gotten around to doing: holding one of the lambs for Rory to sniff. The lamb is probably close to her height. Her behavior was interesting. She really wasn't sure what the heck to do with it, and her body language said she was both very interested in it and very concerned about what it could do. Although she kept her teeth to herself, she did hit it like she does the adults. She also did a lot of poking it hard with her nose. I ended up holding the lamb in a standing position in front of me, and Rory did not want to come near it. If I took her by the collar, she would struggle to get away. I kept asking her to Touch my fingers, and that was very hard for her when the fingers were only a few inches from the lamb. I had to insist repeatedly. I think Rory's brain got pretty full with being close to a lamb that didn't need to move. Soon I'll take her up there when she's already tired and just sit in the stall with her and a bunch of sheep. It'll be fun. And I'd much rather do this on a warmer day than in the dead of winter with cold rain on a metal roof. Or no roof at all.
We've had some discussion on some FB lists about whether or not herding, and especially gripping, is at least partially a fear-based behavior. After watching Rory today, I'm a little more open to the fear-based idea. Again, I'm not sure how much of her behavior is fear of the livestock vs. fear of doing the wrong thing vs. fear of not knowing what the right thing is but needing to do *something.* I know when we are working with stock she will visibly calm down once I am careful to tell her what she's doing right. I also know Rory tends to think if something was right once it will always be right, which can make shaping her behavior challenging.
After the stalls were tended, we put the sheep back in their stalls and then did something we've never gotten around to doing: holding one of the lambs for Rory to sniff. The lamb is probably close to her height. Her behavior was interesting. She really wasn't sure what the heck to do with it, and her body language said she was both very interested in it and very concerned about what it could do. Although she kept her teeth to herself, she did hit it like she does the adults. She also did a lot of poking it hard with her nose. I ended up holding the lamb in a standing position in front of me, and Rory did not want to come near it. If I took her by the collar, she would struggle to get away. I kept asking her to Touch my fingers, and that was very hard for her when the fingers were only a few inches from the lamb. I had to insist repeatedly. I think Rory's brain got pretty full with being close to a lamb that didn't need to move. Soon I'll take her up there when she's already tired and just sit in the stall with her and a bunch of sheep. It'll be fun. And I'd much rather do this on a warmer day than in the dead of winter with cold rain on a metal roof. Or no roof at all.
We've had some discussion on some FB lists about whether or not herding, and especially gripping, is at least partially a fear-based behavior. After watching Rory today, I'm a little more open to the fear-based idea. Again, I'm not sure how much of her behavior is fear of the livestock vs. fear of doing the wrong thing vs. fear of not knowing what the right thing is but needing to do *something.* I know when we are working with stock she will visibly calm down once I am careful to tell her what she's doing right. I also know Rory tends to think if something was right once it will always be right, which can make shaping her behavior challenging.