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Having a camera on hand can pay off some of the time. This day it really paid off to be able to
photograph something that had never happened before.
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This photo shows six Herdwick ewes with lambs at foot on a field with
36 beef cattle. I needed to gather the sheep, but as usual,
sheep will run to the cattle to confuse the dog. I put both Jess
and Tay out who are not in this photo.
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This
photo shows the sheep and lambs running in with the cattle.
Jess and Tay, at this time, had been given no command and were
working on their own initiative. Little did I know at this time
what would happen next.
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This photo shows Tay on the left holding back. Jess is in the centre
about to cut in between the cattle and the sheep; Jess paused
before turning sheep to Tay. Jess continued to drive the cattle away
from the sheep allowing Tay to flank the sheep. After the
cattle were out of range from the sheep, Jess returned to assist
Tay to bring the ewes and lambs back to me.
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This photo shows Jess and Tay gathering the sheep back to me, all
this took place without any commands. I was completely amazed as
this was a task that these two had never been asked to do
before. The following day, I went back with both dogs to see if
this was a one time situation. They repeated the exercise
exactly as the day before. Jess and Tay do not get on well at
all; they are both jealous in case one might get more attention
from me than the other. But when working as a team, they work
well together.
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