It's become a yearly tradition that when the ram lambs at Hog Dog are ready to be sold I take them up to Amanda's place in PA. What this involves is a very tricky loading session followed by an amusing drive. I suppose if we ever end up with more than a handful of lambs I will have to think of a new method but for now I clear out the back of my truck (it has a Leer top ;-)), put down some rubber mats, and in go the lambs. It sounds pretty simple but let me assure you it can be an action packed event. First I had to catch one of the 4 lambs from the holding pens (a feat in itself!) and then carry it to the back of the truck. Then with one hand holding both hind legs secure I open the top door and let down the tailgate. In goes the lamb and then slam goes the doors before he decides to jump out! Each time it gets harder for the obvious reason...I now have sad lambies in there and they want out! If I hadn't had Taylor with me to work the gates while I sheep wrangled it would not have been possible, but with the two of us the job got done and off we went. I suppose when you live as close to DC and Baltimore as I do it's not every day that you see someone driving down the road with a truck full of lambs looking out the windows. I think it's hilarious to watch people do a double take on the highway! By far the most fun though is when we stop to go through the Burger King Drive thru. The lambs start calling and people with their windows down can't figure out what is happening :-). This year's group were good travelers though and did very little other than try and keep their balance. 2.5 Hours later they were quite happy to unload from the truck and meet their new pasture mates (3 of Kelly's ram lambs :-)). I am always relieved when the delivery is done and we can get down to the fun part...working dogs!
3 weeks and 2 days post injury Diva and I were back in the pen and ready to work some cattle. The plan was to stay calm and just let Diva just move the cattle around so I could gage if she had any confidence issue we needed to resolve. Because she is out of shape after her lay off and I didn't want to have her covering a lot of ground so I had her working in the HT field. Diva came in strong and never really looked back. Actually a little too strong for my liking. She was all charged up and getting in close on the heads! There were a couple of times when I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying anything that would distract her as she had gotten in very close quarters stirring things up. At one point she ducked a kick to the head and I thought for sure that she might check her bravado but nope, right back in she went hell bent on making a point.
We only worked for about 10 minutes but it was enough to show me that Diva is not only feeling good, but she is in a good place mentally. Her confidence on cattle continues to grow and I may be looking at some point having to start telling her to take it easy, lol! We ended our day at Amanda's working the call ducks where Diva was having enough fun to blow me off. I can't even be mad about that because I am just so excited to have her back working again :-). Last night I kept watching her, waiting for any sign of stiffness from the days events, but she was moving great and acting fine. It's the simple things that mean the most and yesterday was a wonderful day for Diva and I!
*Sorry, no pics or video this time!*
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