Court Farm Country Park

 Mist starts her Training March 2011

After a lot of thought, Farmer Ed has decided to keep Mist pictured here last summer.All the other eight pups went to brilliant working homes. Now seven months old, Mist has started her training and is very keen with sheep. We have placed small groups of last years ewe lambs in different paddocks around the farm so Farmer Ed can give her short training sessions. Although she has already been introduced to sheep it has always been with her mother Sky watching over her. Now its time for Mist to learn the basic moves of Come Bye and Away.  Her first session was okay with Mist circling the sheep well and being fully focused on her work. The sheep however were not so happy. Hopefully, the sheep will learn to stick close to Farmer Ed to make things a lot easier.

Sky the sheepdog has had her Puppies

On July 16 2010 Sky gave birth to an amazing Nine puppies in the early hours of the morning. She had them with no assistance at all and both Sky and the pups are all healthy. The puppies will begin to be on show in the anaimal barn in a couple of weeks. Sky's partner is a tricolour collie called Eyrie Rock who has appeared in the world sheepdog finals and has been on the English National team for a number of years. All her pups will hopefully go on to be working sheepdogs.

The Pups at Two weeks old

 July 31st - the pups have all opened their eyes now and are beginning to jump out of their box in Farmer Ed's pick up truck on their way up to the farm each morning. Sky is back to work doing all the summer sheep jobs. Her routine is now a mixture of rounding up sheep and feeding a pack of hungry puppies. I think she prefers the sheep.

Sky goes swimming

  After a busy day looking after her pups who are now six weeks old ,Sky had the call from Farmer Ed to help with an emergency situation on the farm. One of next door lambs had run straight into the farms carp pond and was firmly embedded right in the middle amongst some lily pads.  With a crowd watching, Sky leaped into the pond and after being told to "Come Bye" she swam across the pond and after giving the lamb a bite to get it going, pushed it towards the bank where it was caught and returned to its own farm. It's a busy life being a sheepdog !

Sky's Accident

 Unfortunately, Sky was involved in a very nasty road traffic accident when she was 11 months old. She was transferred from our local vets to a specialist vet clinic in Swindon where she had two major operations and emergency blood transfusions. After two weeks she came home and has lots of serious rehabilitation to do. She had one leg in plaster with lots of nuts and bolts helping to mend her legs. The good news is that she is expected to make a full recovery although she won't be chasing any sheep for a good few months. Watch this space for updates on her recovery.