if your dog came across a lamb..

lula

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..while you were walking through a footpath of sheep that was lying down asleep within 2 foot of you with no sign of mum nearby, what would it do?

attack and eat it or sniff it or show some curiosity but leave it alone?

this happened to me today. Darcy had never come across a tiny lamb so close and just sniffed it but it did make me wonder if the lamb had been incredibly lucky as other dogs might not be so gentle with little fluffy things

what would yours do?
 
Dogs wouldnt do anything once I have thrown myself over them!:D:D Anything that moves is fair game to them.... blinking whippets!

Im sure they wouldnt eat them.... definetly chase them but not eat them.....:confused::confused:
 
Merlin, my poodle would probably poke it with his pokey wee nose a few times and then run to me scared if it moved.

Chester, the BT would casually stroll past it, looking the other way to either pretend he didn't see it (in case it might see HIM!) or actually not really see it, as he's really unobservant.
 
Our jrt would mother it! She runs 1/2 a mile up to our lambing shed and goes in with the ewes and lambs and mothers the lambs (and piglets) Its really funny, i think the lambs think she is one of them and try to play with her. The ewes tolerate her although if the collie goes near them they will get very protective.
 
A) IMO your dog should have been on a lead if passing through a field of live stock.


That said my dog JRT would do nothing he has great recall and heals off lead when needed, and knows only Rats/Mice/Rabbits and Crows are fair game.

Have a pic somewhere of my brothers 2 old (now deceased) Labs in a pen with an orphan lamb we hand reared (they used to mother her).
 
My collie cross would be curious and go over for a sniff around but wouldn't harm anything, he would be more likely to want to protect it than anything else. He is lovely with other animals... :)
 
Henry would be fascinated, but he'd be on the lead so we wouldn't get close enough to find out what else he'd do.:)
 
Dog WASN'T off lead, it was on a long flexi lead and lamb was literally 2 foot from the footpath having a doze in the sun and hadnt noticed us.

having said that, if id had any doubt my dog wasn't excellent around sheep and livestock and i didnt trust her implicitly, i wouldnt have even let her get a sniff in.
Im not entirely stupid but thanks for assuming i am just the same Piebaldsparkle.


funny you mention Sweep Slinky, i notice a lot of the collies are acting rather maternal on our farm around the newborns too!
 
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I'd rather not test my dog. I think she'd kill and assume she can eat it.
My old goldie would have sniffed and wagged his tail, love him.
 
My terrier who hates dogs, cats, everything that moves. But seems to have a real love for farm animals- and horses :rolleyes: I fail to understand this..

Kane would probably sniff it, poke it, paw it and try to make it stand up. if it didn't stand up he'd probably prance about it and bark at it and us!

Previous terrier would have walked round it like it was a bomb!
 
I actually have no idea how Storm would react.
My old dog was fab with sheep, she would've had a sniff and walked off. The farmer used to let us in his fields to walk in amongst the sheep as he knew she was perfect with them, never took any interest.
 
Well my first reaction was "it depends on which dog" . . . Daisy would poke it with her nose and then freak slightly when it moved/ran away . . . Fred would want to round it up and may nip at it when it ran, but neither dog would hurt/kill a lamb.

However . . . I would be on both of them like stink on poo if I caught them even looking at a lamb sideways . . . and they both have excellent recall and leave it skills.

P
 
A lamb walked out through the hedge onto the road in front of us one day out jogging. The dogs were on leads but it literally jumped in front of us. One dog grabbed it, I shouted and he turned around and presented the lamb to me by the scruff of its neck, as if it was a retrieve with a toy. Lamb was fine when I put him back over the gate, but a scary experience for the second he was in the dog's mouth and I didn't know what was happening. Very lucky lamb, considering it could very easily have been a car he jumped out of the hedge in front of!
 
I suspect my GSD would sniff it and lick it maternally. She doesn't seem to have any hunt instinct, and gets quite maternal about baby things. She used to lick our cat clean when he was a kitten.
 
Flodden would simply think it was another Bedlington:) I have been asked if he is a lamb, He would have a look and then walk on bye. Poppy would give it a wide berth, and pretend she has never seen it. My old dog Boz would have stood guard over the lamb, licked him all over and then herded it towards me to ensure i could look after it.
 
My border collie would be very excited and sniff it but if it didnt run would be very bored and carry on his way with us. If he was out with me riding the horse he would stay with the horse and ignore all else.
 
Flodden would simply think it was another Bedlington:) I have been asked if he is a lamb, He would have a look and then walk on bye. Poppy would give it a wide berth, and pretend she has never seen it. My old dog Boz would have stood guard over the lamb, licked him all over and then herded it towards me to ensure i could look after it.

a Bedlington!

heh, yes i can see the resemblance with a lamb exactly :D
 
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seeeeee............ is it lamb or bedlington?
 
Well right now I think B would lie down and hope the lamb killed her and put her out of her miserable cone of shame life :o

Usually she would be interested until it moved.... then scared. We stick to lead work around sheep!
 
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seeeeee............ is it lamb or bedlington?

lovely bedlington - mine is currently sporting the " i need a haircut - but its been bit nippy" look

our bedington - he who famously was chased by a fox was also attacked by a sheep last summer - he was tethered at the gate while i did the horses - a sheep took exception to him - walked up & head butted him - screamed like a girl until i went to comfort him - so i suspect that any lamb would be pretty safe:)
 
mine is sporting his 'she is learning to trim me for showing and my hair does not grow fast enough for her experiments' trim :)

Your beddy is an 'alternative' chap, i would have loved to see him headbutted by a sheep, fantastic :)
 
Well we have a Westie and an English Setter and both would probably just sniff it lots. I very much doubt that either would harm it, in fact the Setter would probably try to mother it.
 
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