Posie's Blog. Tales of island life on a hebridean hill farm

Posie's Blog. Tales of island life on a hebridean hill farm

Tuesday 17 May 2011

'Sheep Poo Field'

Ruby is settling in well to life on the farm.

She seemed to have read the puppy manual from cover to cover before her arrival and until yesterday she had been the ‘almost’ perfect pup. Of course I may be ever so slightly biased here and have had my rose tinted specs firmly pegged on the end of my nose, naturally, but she has been doing really well.

I decided the other day to introduce Ruby to her lead and take her on the short walk to school, doing my ‘bag lady’ duty, as I carried all the school paraphernalia for youngest as she cycled off into the distance.

Ruby was the picture of perfection. She walked beautifully to heel, head proud and tail in the air. No pulling, no hindering, she kept perfect pace, and just snuggled in tightly to my heel as the ferry traffic hurtled past. School bag and packed lunch delivered I decided to walk Ruby back through the happy farmer’s field to introduce her to the sheep and lambs and let her have a run off the lead.

As she scrabbled through the gate you could actually see a huge grin spread across her chops, so excited was she by the contents of that field. She did not however even blink at the sheep, appeared not even to have noticed them. No, from the moment she entered that field her nose was glued firmly to the grass as she ‘hoovered’ up every piece of sheep poo she could manage to get between her jaws. It was a case of so much poo and so little time, as I shouted, she shovelled and rolled, delighting in the smelly fragrance, covering herself as thickly as possible in the gooey poo. So engrossed was she, that when she came nose to nose with a sleeping lamb it took her completely by surprise and she bolted in the opposite direction. The lamb jumped up and joined in the game, chasing after Ruby, bleating away. The lamb’s mother was not too impressed and began stamping the ground in a threatening manner, calling to the lamb, and the next thing I knew Ruby and I were both being chased by one lamb and a very angry sheep.

The happy farmer was highly entertained to see his wife and her dog getting chased across the field by a sheep and a lamb. Being a farmer's wife, I get it wrong every time when it comes to anything to do with farm animals, from bulls, cows, piglets, sheep and now lambs, I have been chased by them all. One of these days I will learn not to run, and one of these days Ruby will learn not to roll in and eat sheep poo….maybe.

Until next time…

9 comments:

Thedarkerside73 said...

Lol brilliant! A bit of that Benny Hill music where everyone used to chase him and the scene is set! lol.

Ewww what is with dogs and poo. A dog we used to own was always on the sniff for fox poo. Oh and when he found it it was like Mana from heaven to him. Daft hound. He always ended up in the bath after.

I do love your stories about life on the farm.

Hope Ruby is behaving herself today.


MBB x

Elizabethd said...

Oh yuk, Posie!
You will have to do some serious dog training there!

Martha said...

I can picture this all so vividly!! Silly pup!!
Cute lamb! :o)

potterjotter said...

Oh, Ruby looks so sweet and a bit kind of gangly - like she needs to grow into her legs?

Chris Stovell said...

Very funny for us, but not quite so great for you!

Molly said...

Ruby is gorgeous. And she knows very well that sheep poo is a wonderful hair conditioner (not that I've tried it, you understand :(

Bluestocking Mum said...

I have a labrador so I know all about the things these dogs like to eat ;)

Ruby looks like she has her feet well and truly under the table. Good to see she's settling so well.
x

Swellbelle said...

This so reminds me of my staffy years ago when 'dealing with a feral pig'. He approached the pig all bravado and hackles but the closer he got to the pig the lower the hackles and tail went. When he finally touched noses with said pig he promptly turned around and marched away, proud as punch that he had done his duty. Whatever that was.

Frances said...

Posie, you have made me smile with this report of your return home from the school walk/run.

Wonder just what it is that draws young pups to such attractions that we do not share?

Hoping that your pup likes being washed? xo