This dog deserves a shout out. Today when I went to do evening chores she met me in the lane, out of her paddock with the sheep where she should be. I scolded her to go back and she did, and I fed her her supper like usual. I typically look everyone over and count the sheep to make sure all are accounted for, and I kept coming up one short. It can be hard to get an accurate count when they're all milling about so I probably counted 15 times before I was certain someone was missing. I was immediately suspicious of their most recent bale which last night had been intact and upright, and today was sprawled out in a big messy heap. Sheep were jumping all over it and I had to pull them off to start taking the bale apart and looking underneath. I finally gave up after feeling like there was no more hay to move, and headed back up to the house. The view of our pastures from our new house is pretty good, so I went upstairs to see if I could see any signs of a lone lost sheep (or honestly, a sheep carcass). Instead I saw Lena go over to the remnants of the bale and sniff all around, bark at and shoo away a few sheep (something I have never seen her do except when they are encroaching on her food) and then lay down next to it. I ran back out and dug in the spot next to her, and couldn't believe it when I suddenly saw a head move. The poor stunned ewe lamb couldn't believe it either, but crawled out and limped away. I'm still worried about her because a stress like that can be enough to make a sheep decide to give up and die, but the fact that she's not in worse shape is pretty amazing. And the instincts of these dogs are incredible. Thank you, beautiful, majestic, guardian Lena, for all you do to protect your flock. #livestockguardiandog #livestockguardian #livestockdog #sheepdog #amazingdog #workingdog #interspecieslove #interspeciesfriendship #sheep #flock #balegrazing #grassfed #livestockfarming #livestock #beginningfarmers #farmlife #thankyou (at Finlayson, Minnesota)
