Shasta

We have a new puppy in our home. Actually, she has been here for a few months. We got her back in October. Shasta is an English Shepherd. She is a herd dog and we got her for working with our sheep. When our dog Boomer was around, we just loved him. He was the best farm dog. But, we decided if we ever lost Boomer, we would get a herd dog. Boomer passed away this past year and we put our name in for an English Shepherd. We purchased her from a gal whom we had sold sheep to a few years ago.

Shasta loves the snow. We were tentative about leaving her outside, but the gal we bought her from said... the dogs get too hot inside in the winter with all their hair. But a puppy? We still watched the weather and how she does and we have had an extremely cold winter, yet she is loving being outside. On these below freezing days, she is outside just running around and playing, not even hinting that she may be a tad cold. So, now we have relaxed and realized she is a true outside dog... meant for our winter weather!


English Shepherds begin to show their herding instincts early on. Around 6 months to a year they actually begin to work with you, rather than just playing with their herding instincts. Shasta is still young and still playing while she works, but sometimes she has been helpful. Dh finds her a great help when he wants to feed the sheep, he loads the hay on the tractor and opens the gate. Shasta keeps the sheep inside the field, not letting them run out the gate, as they wish to do. Here are three pictures of her at work. The one picture you will notice the sheep watching her and some starting to run from her. The second picture, is one of the momma ewes protecting their herd of sheep... stomping at Shasta. She is not afraid of the sheep when they do this, she is a quick little thing and just backs up, scoots around and comes at a different angle until the sheep start to obey.


I think she will be a great dog to work with the sheep, once she learns a few more commands. It will take a little time, but Dh is very pleased with her progress at this time.