if your dog came across a lamb..

My OH has shot dogs that people wouldn't believe would harm the sheep. They can be the most domesticated and docile dogs in the world but at the end of the day they have the same instincts as wild dogs and i wouldn't trust any dog (barring working dogs who have been trained) walking through a field of livestock.
 
Doby x would just ignore them- I know this as in an old house, some fool had broke a fence down & we came across a few loose sheep in a narrow lane. Terrier I used to have would have tried to mother it. Except rats & mice, she mothered any young animal. (used to rat at the same farmers that had the sheep, & he was quite happy for her to be around them)
 
It could go either way with my Boston terrier. There are no sheep farms within shooting distance of NYC, so she's never seen a lamb. She leaves horses and cows well alone, but she is a terror around rabbits and such, but loves cats. The pug would likely befriend the lamb and invite it over for coffee :D
 
I'd be terrified to find out so she is kept well away from sheep/lambs etc and if I even think there are some near she's on the short lead. She's meant to be a failed sheepdog but her eyes and ears when she sees any tell me there's more to it than that.
 
Iggy ( Staffy) would want to play with it, Boo ( rotti ) would probably want to shake it , Ruby ( Staffy) would either completely ignore it or would want to kill it I would imagine.
 
Barney would join it for a snooze if it was lying down or chase if it was running and probably kill it. He's getting incredibly good at killing his toys but leaves the cat alone but he does get his chase instinct back when outside
 
My BC would ignore it as he does not even see sheep at all and just walks past, JRT would be iffy and my elderly husky cross would have his BBQ out in seconds!
 
I have introduced Dylan to some orphan calves and he licked it and tried to play chase (was on lead so chase never happened). However like others even Teal who heels like a dream would be on a lead in a field of live stock.

However answer to question:

Buster (OES) would fall over it, flat on his face.

Dylan would pick it up/ attack it/ try and play with it

Teal, honestly no idea with a lamb, sheep he will leave, but I honestly dont know
 
If it was one of our lambs on our land Dylan (lab) would lick it's face in a hope that he would find some milk (he cleans the faces of any bottle fed lambs or calves that we have). Tecwyn border terrier) would try to play with it. He's less than a year old & hasn't encountered a young lamb at close quarters yet as our sheep haven't started lambing. It's training he will go through with our own later this season.

However, my sheep are used to my dogs so don't tend to over react & my dogs expect to see them where they are. I couldn't promise that other people's livestock in other locations would get the same response. They are always on short leads if we are crossing other people's land with livestock close by. I know where everyone keeps their livestock locally, who has good fencing & who's animals escape etc. At this time of year I avoid their sheep fields.
 
Well Lil and Rols met their first lamb this morning.

Lil licked it's face while wagging her tail furiously whereas Roly jumped a mile every time it moved :o so I reckon the lamb is safe.

The lamb is a damn site safer than any dog of ours who touches a lamb the wrong way! They'd be on the roof somewhere about 10 miles away after connecting with OH's boot I imagine :D
 
I can be pretty confident that one of my dogs would try to play with it like it was a puppy, while the other one would eat it without a moments hesitation :o

So, I am super super careful and have the dogs on short leads when walking through or near sheep fields. In fact, I would be this careful even if I was just walking the dim witted playful one - the potential consequences are just not worth the risk...
 
Mine would walk past it, maybe give it a glancing look and then go and find some sheep s**t to eat quickly!!
I do trust her with my life that she wouldn't chase/eat any form of livestock/youngstock. Cats, on the other hand..... :eek:
And she is a whippet X.
 
The best thing about a field of lambing ewes is the placentas your labrador can hoover up. Gross! The lambs were quite safe. (and dog was on a lead).
 
In lambing season my dogs would always be on a short lead in livestock areas even if I cant see the sheep. One is good with livestock (border terrier), the other not (Doberman) - I know as we have sheep of our own, but I wouldnt expect the farmer to give either the benefit of the doubt and even being chased a little can cause heavily pregnant ewes to abort.

No long leads or off leads in lambing season is the plea !!! - 3 lambs were killed a mile from us just last Thursday - dog seen doing it but couldnt be caught only chased away, it was a small black and white spaniel - and we have lost a lamb to a dog in the past too, and we are in a very rural country area where you would expect people to know better.
 
We don't come across any sheep locally so not sure, I certainly wouldn't risk having either dog off lead near livestock. Hattie would either try to take it out or be wary of it and I suspect Throp would try to play with it, my granddad has a sheep & 2 lamb garden ornaments and he play bowed them and sniffed their butts before realising they were inanimate.
 
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I imagine the Bad Wolf would run away from it. If he was feeling particularly brave, he might sidle up to it and snog it :cool:
 
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