My Regular Sheep Life

My "regular" daily issues and problems are so different than they used to be. This past weekend, I realized how much my life has changed. Picture this: I'm out in the backyard of a stranger I met on CraigsList, standing with my husband, looking at a large, 2-story wooden children's playhouse/swingset/slide configuration, trying to figure out how to take it apart and transport it to our front pasture in Gunter. It would seem likely we have grandchildren who would love this? But no. We are getting it to solve a problem we have.
I've googled my problem, read blogs and realize I am not alone in this dilemma. Our (three) sheep are eating our (two) Great Pyrenees dog food. The very dog that protects them, herds them from danger and watches over them 24/7. The sheep, who are not meat eaters, are devouring their dog food. Our dogs have actually tried to protect their food, by barking at the sheep. But the relationship between the three sheep and two guard dogs prevails, and the dogs finally say, "Yes, you may have it". The sheep are very persistent. It's a relationship unlike any other I've seen. The dogs instinctually guard and watch over them. The sheep respect the dogs, and "look" to them for guidance and cues on what to do. They have a bond that is unlike any I've seen in life. It's natural, and needed zero training to occur. Granted, the Great Pyrenees protect the chickens and barn cats as well, and they take their job seriously. It's what they live for. We appreciate them so very much! And we want them to be able to eat their dog food in peace. After all, they deserve it!
In our effort to keep the sheep from the dog food, we have tried everything we know of, including the things we read on helpful blog sites, and that we thought might "work". In the meantime, the sheep are eating ALOT of dog food. They are getting too big now, and it's something we have to stop. Despite what the rumor is about sheep.......they are smart. They are puzzle-solvers, creative thinkers and stronger (emotionally and physically) than we ever knew.
What makes this so difficult is that the LGD (Livestock Guard Dogs) and sheep are relatively the same size. What one can do, so can the other. The sheep can, and will get on their hind legs if they need to. The sheep will go through all shapes and sizes of doggie-doors. The sheep will bat their sweet eyes at their fearless leaders for a taste of their yummy food. And the dogs allow them to. That's Levi (brother) and Whisper (sister). The sweetest guard dogs ever. They love kids, being petted and brushed, and behind their fierce bark and "guard dog" presence they have........they are just big balls of love. They will tear apart a skunk in a minute. They do not allow any predator across the parameter of the fence line. They stay up all night making sure everyone else can sleep safely, after all, that's when the coyotes, foxes, raccoons, etc come out to eat. They scare the water meter readers, and anyone who comes to the property, as no one is exempt from their "Go Away" bark routine. The "Beware of Dog" sign is appropriate for them.
But it's Belle. Belle is our hand-raised, bottle fed, diaper wearing lamb whom we nurtured from the Day 1 rejection of her mother. Around-the-clock bottle feedings, 2 (or 3) panicked vet visits, and her living in our home for a couple of weeks with our indoor dogs, have created a cross between a lamb and a dog. She would walk down the gravel road to check the mail with us, like the inside dogs did. She bonded with the King Charles spaniel, as she was the same size and coloring. And Belle learned to do dog-things before she would ever do lamb-things. Ironically, through this process, we never allowed her to have dog food. For several months, she lived this life of not really knowing she was a lamb. We knew we would need to "fix" that.
So off we went, to buy her a couple of lamb sisters to teach her how to be a real lamb. We checked around, and found a farm in Mineral Wells that sell Dorper lambs/sheep. That's what Belle is, a Dorper sheep. David and I have only known one lamb in our life. Belle. And she rides in the back of the car with the (inside) dogs. She walks around with, us like the (inside) dogs do. She stays close to us, and comes when you call her. In her mind, I'm sure the thought she was "one of them" - a dog, of sorts. She was too young to be out in the pasture with the LGD's, so her life was in our front yard with our "regular" inside dogs (who come and go through the doggie-door into the laundry room). And so did Belle.  
Hence, as Belle grew and got older, we knew we needed to teach her how to be a sheep, because we have successfully have her confused about what she really is. Since we were not doing a good job of teaching her to be a sheep, we would buy a couple of "real" lambs her age, who would show her how to eat grass, graze the pasture, and do sheep-things. So as mentioned, I called the Dorper sheep breeder, and we arrange to come buy two lambs. And of course, we would just put them in the back of the car, like Belle.
It was back in April, that we arrive at the Sheep Farm to pick up two more lambs. Belle is waiting back at the farm. Gary (who owns the sheep farm in Mineral Wells, Tx) has instructed me (on the phone) to bring a crate, to put them in, for the car ride back home. But I don't. I will just put them in the back of my SUV - like I do with Belle. We arrive to the sheep farm, and will take the "extra's". We pick a runt from a set of triplets (who got the least milk from her mama) and another random lamb that was considered a "extra" (i.e. not breeding material or possible good meat supplier). We are picking pets, not quality lambs. We pick the ones no one else wants. Gary says, "Where's your crate?". I don't have one, I tell him. I'll just put them in the back of my SUV. He looks at me like I have three heads on my shoulders. "What!? I told you to bring a crate! These lambs will kick-out your windows, and leap all over this car and cause you harm". I tried to explain that's what we do with our lamb.....and our dogs..... but I was too naive to realize these are wild, pasture lambs who have not been inside the house, raised on a bottle with people and dogs around, and that his lambs would not be able to travel in that same manner. Silly me. I felt like a 6 year old being scolded.
Luckily, he had an old crate he was willing to donate to us (it was so beat-up I wasn't sure it would even hold those "wild" lambs and we would all end up dead, in the car). He somehow was able to capture the lambs we "picked" and got them in the crate. That was fun to watch. It was even more fun driving home, wondering when the kicking, jumping and madness he mentioned, would ensue. Despite my tense shoulders the whole way home, we all made it alive. Knowing later......we might laugh about this adventure.
We somehow got these lambs in our pasture, and for the first time, we put Belle out with them. They knew what to do. They had been recently weaned from their own mamas. They knew to graze and how to be a lamb. But Belle? She just cried for us. We are her mama. She calls to us to come to her. This was not going to be easy. Maaaaaaaaaam, she cried. Over and over. It took time for them to incorporate Belle into their world. But they did eventually, and they did indeed teach her how to be a lamb, for the most part. She's still part dog. Part baby. Part our own child. But she lives in the pasture with her sisters, and they love her, too. Belle, Cotton and Eve are a herd now. Who happen to love to eat dog food.
If we are to be good shepherds of sheep, we must stop the madness of our sweet sheep eating dog food. This brings me back to the back yard of a man I do not know from CraigsList, buying his backyard wooded playhouse/swingset configuration. The good news? He put it together, and is going to take it apart, in order for us to take it away (his kids are too old for it now). It's going to be a great sheep house! 3 hours later, we have it apart and loaded on our trailer.
We unload the 459 pieces in our front pasture, where we will somehow re-build this configuration and make a separate SheepLand (similar to DisneyLand, but for sheep), in which they will reside much of the time, and where the dogs can still guard them, BUT the sheep cannot get to the dog food. This new area will be fenced 360 degrees mid-pasture, so the dogs can guard all sides. We will still let Cotton, Eve and Belle out to free range the whole pasture for much of the time, but it also allows the sheep to be confined to a fenced section of the pasture for themselves, while allowing the dogs to still do their job - and eat their own dog food. This new set-up will help control what, and how much, the sheep eat. Basically, it will give us more options for control of the sheep, esp when we go out of town or on vacation.
Obviously, this is a work-in-progress, as the 459 pieces of the 2-story playhouse are scattered about the pasture. We will need to make ramps up to the top portion, too. Sheep are good climbers, so they should do well with this. This new housing unit will give them plenty of shade as well as options for shelter.
And the dogs will get to eat their dog food in peace. I'll keep you posted on how this works out, as we have much work to do to accomplish this.

And now your asking yourself: Do we really need to build SheepLand in order to keep the sheep from eating the dog food? No, of course not. But that's how we do it at The Graves Farm.

Here's to a great Tuesday!
Cyndi