Looks "Sheepish" to me!
This is my first post, but I have been reading on the forum a little and have decided to join. As my signature line says, we have had Sheepdogs for about 25 years now. All pets, no show dogs. We got our first from a pet store in MO, and he had all kinds of health/behavior issues, but we loved him. We had two more after that which were purchased from individual breeders, and one more we saw at a pet store and couldn't bear to leave her there! We now have 2 1/2. I should probably explain. One of our dogs was purchased as a puppy from a breeder, and the other two are rescues. One when she was 18 months and on her third family. I guess people didn't know what to do with her. The other my wife saw running loose in a pasture. She stopped and opened the door of the van, and he hopped in! We took him straight to the vet (he stank TERRIBLY!) and found out he was severely malnourished. The vet thought he had been on his own for a couple weeks. He had been in multiple fights - the smell was the maggots and necrotic tissue of his multiple bite wounds. He was matted and the vet thought he might not make it. We shaved him, bathed him, and now his hair is grown out, but I don't think he is 100% OES. Here is his photo, and I think you can see why we thought so at the time. His name is Elwood. 
I'll post other pictures later. Nice to meet you all! 
Ken |
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| Hi Ken,
Welcome to the forum! You've seen us for a while, but it's even MORE fun when you're a member. I look forward to hearing all about your years of shagginess! ...and your fractional dogs!  |
| welcome! and bless you for taking in this OES. Hope all goes well. Looking forward to pics. |
| I love his pic - very cute! Welcome! |
| Welcome to the Forum. |
| Very cute!! Welcome! Tell us more!!
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| Well, let's see...
Here is a photo of our youngest dog. She is two years old now. She had been in three homes by the time she was 18 months old. I saw an ad on the bulletin board at our vet's office. You don't usually see ads for OES, especially in small town Texas! I called and visited. They had an Australian Shepherd they dearly loved who had recently died, and so they decided to try another breed. They told me they got her from a lady who was in an apartment and had to move, but this girl may have been mistreated. She would not come off the linoleum kitchen floor; would not venture into the rest of the house. Most of the time she cowered under the kitchen table. They had her for three months, and decided to get rid of her because she "had no personality."  Does that sound like a sheepie to you?! Me neither!
Anyway, we brought her home, and she acted like that at our house for a while, but socializing with our other OES kind of brought her out of it. Its like she said, "Oh, so THAT'S how I'm suposed to act!" She still doesn't really play fetch or pull or any other sheepie games, but she loves to be petted, and if you sit on the floor, you will have her in your lap! Her name is Hanna, and here is her picture... 
That's my son and daughter with her. Who says she doesn't have any personality!? |
Welcome to the forum! Great pics  |
| Here is dog number three. Well, actually he is probably number one, because he is both the alpha dog in the crowd (even though he is physically the smallest) and because he was here first! This is the one we bought from a "breeder" who my daughter saw advertised in the Dallas paper. It was really a lady in a trailer who had two dogs and a BUNCH of puppies. He's no show dog, but he's one of the most fun dogs we have had. He loves to play, although if you wrassle with him, he can get rough and bite a little too hard. He loves to pull, to fetch, and to run. He is an awesome watch dog. His name is Wimbledon, or Wimbley for short.
Last Easter we got six of those colored baby chicks the feed stores have, and when they got bigger, we had to decide what to do with them, so I thought of the dog kennel. We have a fenced back yard, but we also have one of those 6x10 kennels like they sell at Wal-Mart which we got to contain our dogs when we were moving. We put the chickens in the kennel, which is in the fenced back yard, where the dogs are. No problem, right? These are herding dogs, not hunters. They shouldn't bother the chickens. The first time I went out and found a dead chicken in the yard, I couldn't figure out how it got there. It was dead, but not chewed or messed with in any way. Then I found a second one, and I finally figured out what was going on. HERDING! If a chicken, or anything, moves or is out of place, a sheepie will herd it back where it belongs. Its just that with chickens, they sometimes step on them... oops.... I know this to be true because one day I went out into the yard to feed the chickens, and I let them out of the kennel to get a little exercise. Four full-size chickens scurried out into the yard and started pecking around. Then Wembly went into stealth mode. You've seen the half-crouch, slow motion sneak attack. Suddenly, he started chasing the chickens around the kennel until they all scurried and flurried into the gate, at which point, he sat there and wouldn't let them out. I thought, That didn't really happen, did it? I've seen Babe. Sheepdogs are supposed to herd sheep into pens at sheepdog trials. Would they do it with chickens? Let's try this again. Put Wembly in the house. Let the chickens out... Turn the dog loose. Instant stealth mode. Sneak up on chickens, and BOOM! Chase them around the kennel until they run into the open door. Total herding time, about 2 1/2 minutes. But its only four chickens. Yes, friends, these are herding dogs! But I don't think there's a big market for chicken herders! Here's Wembly: 
Sorry if these posts are too long. I'll be quiet now... |
| Welcome! I loved your stories, share more with us any time. The chicken herding story made me LOL |
| Welcome from MN. We have Bart, our 2nd OES. He is adopted, about a month ago from MN OES Rescue and is going to be 3 in July . We missed the cool sheepie personality and had to get another one.
Thanks for the stories, esp the herding chickens. Our Ollie did herding, and we had such fun! |
| Welcome to the forum, all of your babies are beautiful.. Elwood looks like he may be full of the "badness".. hehehe.
Bless you for saving him. Brenda, Dudley and Murphy |
| Welcome to the forum. Love your pics and stories! Bless you for rescuing these babies. |
| Welcome to the forum from PA! Elwood looks like full sheepie to me in that picture, and I just LOVE that frog lay-down position - typical sheepie!
Hannah is a beautiful girl just coming into her own. Bless you and your family for taking her and showing her how good life can be with love and caring. And Wembley is adorable, too! What a funny story about the chickens! We too have been owned by sheepies for a LONG time - got our first one in 1979 and from there, there was no looking back! |
| Welcome! Your pictures and stories are great! I love the picture of your little girl "riding" the sheepie. I couldn't help but laugh at the chicken story. I'm looking forward to more! |
This picture is about 18 years old. That little girl is now a junior in college. Needless to say, the dog (that one was Archie) has gone to the great kennel in the sky.
I posted it not just because it was so cute (which it obviously is) but to encourage the person in the behavior forum who was so concerned about their sheepdog biting a neighbor kid. My point was, simply, how patient and tolerant they can be. Ken |
| Welcome to the forum from Louisiana. I had to laugh at the chicken story and wonder if either of my two could do that.
Nah....don't think they will let me keep chickens living in the middle of Baton Rouge. Oh well, keep the stories coming - I always love a good laugh. |
| Love the chicken herding story. The first picture sure looks enough sheepie.......would have to see the whole body. But gee, I've got maybe 2 1/2 too. Harry is a total unknown even tho the shelter said OES mix.
Love the other pictures too. Welcome to the goup. susan |
| Welcome to the forum!
Your pack is lovely! I got so caught up in the story I forgot to pay attention to how you got 2 1/2 
Going back to re-read... |
| Great introduction! Love the pictures and the stories. Welcome to the forum! |
| Love the pics and stories. Great to have ya join the forum. We look forward to more pics and stories. |
| Your sheepies are adorable. I love the names too. We tried sheep herding once like your two ducks it didn't end well. I'll save that story for another time though. Welcome! |
| Hi and welcome....the chicken story just cracked me up....cant wait to hear more stories! |
Welcome Ken and family, greetings from the land downunder 
You have a gorgeous pack of 2legged and 4 legged |
Quote: I forgot to pay attention to how you got 2 1/2
What I meant was, that two of them are purebreds, and one is a who-knows-what. (that's the half) That's Elwood, but he looks pretty sheepish to me! (Hence the title of the thread) One other thing about Elwood: he has a tail! I had forgotten how dangerous those things can be! He can clear a coffee table with a single swipe, or take out the cat and not even know he's done it! Elwood is elderly, though. Vet thinks over ten. His teeth are kinda yellow and well worn, and his eyes are beginning to cloud. He is our "Grumpy Old Man." He is food protective. Wembly never cared about his dish, until you put some people food in it, but when Elwood starts in, he has to defend himself. He has been known to take Elwood DOWN! It isn't pretty. As I said earlier. He is the alpha dog. |
| Welcome! I really enjoyed reading your chicken story.
You have beautiful sheepies! |
| Welcome, you have adorable sheepies and children. What fun stories. We have Sheepie mix too. Not sure what he's mixed with but he has part of a tail that was docked but looks like a Jack Russell tail. All Sheepie, half sheepie, part sheepie any sheepie's fine by me. |
| That pic with the little girl is a beautiful pic |
I had a sheepie-mix for 11 years and she had a tail too. http://www.pomeroys.com/EmmaDarby/Nikki/Nikki.htm A tail on a sheepie is very strong!  |
| World Champeen Chicken Herder!
Throw him a curve... add 1 Rooster. |
| What great pictures and stories!! I love it! |
| Loved the chicken herding... welcome!!! |
| Welcome to the forum!
That first pic is just awesome! And your chicken herding story is hilarious. |
WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOVE your stories!!! LOVE your sheepies!! WELCOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  |
| you are really a very kind man. thanks for saving Elwood and giving Hanna a new happy life. and the chicken herding is really so funny.haha.
all your dogs are so cute. and your children are so pretty, happy family. and looking forward to more about your dogs' stories |
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