It's officially Lambing Season!
We have our first lambs - Peaseblossom had twins this morning! Welcome to Washington and Adams. Artie did very well during the actual lambing - she patrolled the area around Peaseblossom to let everyone know she was going to protect her, and then settled down a few feet away to keep watch. She got more interested when we put little Washington in the sling to get him and mom to the barn, but stayed pretty cool. We put mom and lamb into one of the pens and continued our morning feeding routine; Artie went with us as usual. When we got back to the barn, little Adams had arrived, and Artie was most interested.
traderjack and I divvied up the duties (molasses water, iodine cup, etc.). When we got back to the barn with the "stuff," Artie was frantically trying to get to Adams. This was her first lambing, and she was trying to figure out if the lambs belonged to Peaseblossom (first impression, for obvious reasons), or to traderjack and me (since we had "taken" the lamb and brought it to the barn), or to her since we had decided we didn't want it (because we put it down in the pen and "left" it, which makes her think it's hers). We read the riot act and did our best to make the point that the lamb belongs to Peaseblossom (which Peaseblossom will most enthusiastically enforce as soon as she gets out of the 5' x 5' pen.
Artie needs some repetition to set the pattern that lambs are born to ewes, then we take them up to the barn, but the lambs still belong to the ewes. The ewes will help with this in a very forceful manner. Artie's breeder says it should sink in with just a few repeats - yes, we were confusing the poor puppy with all these pseudo changes of ownership, and she's really trying to understand who really owns the lambs, but she will catch on pretty fast.
traderjack and I divvied up the duties (molasses water, iodine cup, etc.). When we got back to the barn with the "stuff," Artie was frantically trying to get to Adams. This was her first lambing, and she was trying to figure out if the lambs belonged to Peaseblossom (first impression, for obvious reasons), or to traderjack and me (since we had "taken" the lamb and brought it to the barn), or to her since we had decided we didn't want it (because we put it down in the pen and "left" it, which makes her think it's hers). We read the riot act and did our best to make the point that the lamb belongs to Peaseblossom (which Peaseblossom will most enthusiastically enforce as soon as she gets out of the 5' x 5' pen.
Artie needs some repetition to set the pattern that lambs are born to ewes, then we take them up to the barn, but the lambs still belong to the ewes. The ewes will help with this in a very forceful manner. Artie's breeder says it should sink in with just a few repeats - yes, we were confusing the poor puppy with all these pseudo changes of ownership, and she's really trying to understand who really owns the lambs, but she will catch on pretty fast.