Part of yesterday’s sheep-handling adventure was sorting out a group of ewes to serve as a training flock for Cass and Chloe.

The natural choice was the group of 9 ewes from Wendy Warner — their lambs, born in February, were pushing 100lbs and in no danger of starving if denied access to their mothers’ milk.*

I’d been meaning to hold aside a group of training sheep, but Cass’s meltdown on Sunday while we were loading the trailer gave me added impetus.  Cass has a tendency to ignore me when we’re working the flock, believing instead that she knows best.  In a training session, I can focus on letting her know what’s appropriate and what’s not, ignoring the sheep.  When we’re working, though, especially on someone else’s property, my first priority is making sure the sheep don’t go on unauthorized adventures,** so I often can’t stop and have a discussion with Cass about a finer point of acceptable herding behavior.  Both Denise and Fiona recently scolded me about letting Cass’s bad habits slide, lest I lose all the progress we’ve made; I’m hoping I can fit in regular training sessions for both Cass and Chloe to get back in their good graces (and have reliable herding dogs).

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*Despite the rotund state of the February lambs, they screamed their heads off for almost 24 hours at being separated from their mothers.  Things are finally calming down.

**The previous owners of my farm became notorious around Sullivan for their haplessness in keeping their animals confined to the property.  The police were regular visitors, responding to reports of cattle in the road, and at one point an arrest warrant was issued — turns out you can get charged vicariously for disorderly conduct.  This history has given me great motivation to be an exemplary citizen with regard to animal containment.