[Post originally written on March 1st. We've had 1 more penning adventure with these same sheep since then, and it was (of course) smoother and quicker the second time!) ]
My neighbor currently has 8-10 ewes with lambs grazing part of his property, but they have to be put into a large kennel at night so coyotes don’t eat them. At first they’d go in for grain, but as time goes on, they’re getting recalcitrant. I suggested that Phoenix might be helpful. Neighbor asked if I would be able to pen them up on Tuesday evening before sundown, and I said we’d give it our best shot.
I had an idea of how these particular sheep would act based on last summer, when I had some from the same flock grazing my property. They spread out and split into smaller groups easily. They only bunch together if there is a dog around. If you put a lot of pressure on them, they’re likely to scatter rather than all follow a lead ewe. Last year they were too flighty and Phoenix was too excitable for him to be helpful, so I would herd them all by myself each evening.
I also knew that penning is not an entry level exercise for a green sheepdog. But well, might as well give it a try and have an adventure, right? Neighbor assured me that no one would be home - therefore no one would be watching and laughing at us.
Here’s a diagram of the area they're currently grazing. The kennel had a piece of strong metal fencing leaned against it to help funnel the flock into the entrance. Initially the wheelbarrow wasn’t there, so the flock just went around the kennel in a circle. I immediately realized that I needed to block off that space between the kennel and the electric fence, so I dragged the broken wheelbarrow into place, and it worked for a while.
The flock was initially very spooked and ran as far as they could from us, so we spent time circling around the enclosure. Phoenix was excited and barked when they ran quickly, which spooked the sheep further, which excited the dog further…
He was on a 15’ long line, and most of the time I kept him within 6’ so that I would have more control over his movement. If he had been off leash, he would definitely have just continued to chase the sheep in circles. Because I was able to slow his pace, the sheep eventually calmed down, and we could walk up slowly to move them.
Toward the end I had his collar in my hand so that I was guiding him left, right, forward, or to wait. I was essentially using a dog in my hand as a tool to get the sheep to group up and move more easily than they did just for myself alone. (He got a lot of cheese for being calm during this part.) Hardly counts as real sheepdog herding, but it sort of worked. We got 2/3rds of them in, and I closed the kennel up - knowing I wouldn't get anymore sheep in without that group getting out in the meantime, and having to start over again.
Neighbor asked how to went, and I offered to try again with his help after he got home. Phoenix was much calmer after the one hour break. I was able to give him more room to maneuver on the long line, and he was starting to figure out that we wanted the sheep to head in specific directions and stay off the northern hilly area completely.
I positioned Neighbor at the edge of the funnel, so that he could block the penned ones from escaping, and jump in to shut the gate once we (hopefully) got all of them. At first we had a mishap with some of the kenneled sheep escaping, but soon we had all except 1 adult and 2 lambs in. At one point we had them cornered against the wheelbarrow, and they figured out they could hop over it. Fortunately, Neighbor was strong enough to move the kennel until it was right next to the electric fence, blocking off their path completely.
This was how things now stood.
The wayward sheep huddled where the wheelbarrow had been. I led Phoenix to come in closer to the fence line, to get them out of the corner. They made a break for it to the west, bypassing the funnel and Neighbor, then huddled on the other side of where the kennel was against the fence. It was hard to get them out of that deep V, because their instinct was to push in farther, but finally they came out of the corner. At this point, Phoenix had learned the pattern, and went wide to the west to bring them toward the south side of the kennel again.
Neighbor said we could call it a night, and leave these last 3 to fend for themselves. I said "one more try!"
The 3 sheep huddled in the same corner as before. I needed to move them off the fence slowly, and make sure that they then turned to their right and went into the funnel instead of bypassing it again.
I positioned Phoenix so he stood and put pressure on them to stay against the side of the kennel, and told him to wait. I slowly walked up along the fence and waved my hand, then snapped my fingers in front of the ewe's face to get her to move back.
The ewe stepped back a little. A little more. A little more. I was telling Phoenix to "wait" repeatedly, more than I needed to, but I really didn't want him to get excited and rush forward to chase them. He held his position near-perfectly, just moved his front paws twice.
One of the lambs turned and went into the kennel. The ewe hesitated, then turned and walked in. The last lamb followed her.
Phoenix got a LOT of cheese.
