Kip the Sheepdog

Kip the Sheepdog Kip's training from puppy to working sheepdog on Humble Shack Farm.

A foggy evening with Kip and the Sheep. We’re a few weeks out from Lambing season! 😊🐑 The ewes all get extra attention a...
10/08/2025

A foggy evening with Kip and the Sheep. We’re a few weeks out from Lambing season! 😊🐑

The ewes all get extra attention at this stage - hoof trims, calcium, vitamin and selenium supplements to prevent deficiencies and pregnancy toxemia.

We’ve had to learn which things our soil/grass and water are deficient in so we can support the ewes and lambs best.

And bit later they’ll get some grain and hay to keep up their energy and encourage a good milk supply for the lambs. For now they’re keeping fat and happy on the last of the summer grass.

Kip’s job tonight was mostly supervision and making sure everyone came in from pasture. And then taking them back out to fresh pasture again.

Beautiful last bit of the sunset tonight while working the sheep with Kip.
10/01/2025

Beautiful last bit of the sunset tonight while working the sheep with Kip.

09/23/2025

Down and back. Practicing taking the sheep through the fence and bringing them back. 🐑🐕 Working both directions is important.

This combines flanking, wearing (the side to side movement to keep the sheep together), and droving.
Droving is when dog and handler move the sheep to a point from behind. The other option is Driving - where just the dog moves the sheep to a location. Or a Gather, specifically bringing the sheep to the handler: our next goal!

It’s all small-scale and close teamwork but that’s perfect for our farm. Don’t miss Kip jumping for his bite of egg once we get the sheep moved 😅

We took some videos tonight but I won’t know if they’re any good until I go through them 🙃 so in the meantime here’s a p...
09/20/2025

We took some videos tonight but I won’t know if they’re any good until I go through them 🙃 so in the meantime here’s a picture from moving the sheep and keeping them in the gate while we moved their shade into the pasture too.

I realized I hadn’t posted anything in a while. Kip is still being a good boy and has had a variety of tasks around the ...
09/18/2025

I realized I hadn’t posted anything in a while. Kip is still being a good boy and has had a variety of tasks around the farm to help with. 😄

We’re currently trying to figure out the next lesson with the sheep from our herding book. When we have some idea of what we’re doing out there I’ll take the camera out again 😅

Kip has done a lot of work driving the sheep from behind. 🐑🐕🚶🏼‍♀️Now it’s time for him to learn to get out there on his own and bring them to us. 🚶‍♀️‍➡️🐑🐕

Playing in the hay field tonight. It will all be baled tomorrow, but Kip had to get in some fun jumping over the piles f...
08/28/2025

Playing in the hay field tonight. It will all be baled tomorrow, but Kip had to get in some fun jumping over the piles first. 😃

No videos today, but Kip has been practicing daily. He’s been a big help bringing in the new ewe lambs every night for t...
08/18/2025

No videos today, but Kip has been practicing daily. He’s been a big help bringing in the new ewe lambs every night for their grain. They just haven’t decided to come in on their own yet, but they need the feed so it’s important they come in for it.

He also helped move all the flocks around twice. It’s his job to get everyone moving the right direction and keep them together. 🐑

Matching look - just wet 💦😅 the grass is waist high and soaked with rain or dew most days so we both come back soaked too.

08/07/2025

Last night after helping with the lambs we practiced moving a larger flock through the gate, using a whistle, and keeping the sheep off me.

Kip helped us pen some new lambs so they could get their feed and supplements. I think Kip liked the little ewe in the s...
07/30/2025

Kip helped us pen some new lambs so they could get their feed and supplements.

I think Kip liked the little ewe in the second picture.

It was humid, hot, and the lead ewe turned ornery. But we made it work. 🙃

04/20/2025

Celebrating the Resurrection of our Good Shepherd today!

Matthew 28:5-6 The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said.”

Didn’t have the camera on for this move, but Kip took the flock from one end of the property to the other tonight. He ke...
04/20/2025

Didn’t have the camera on for this move, but Kip took the flock from one end of the property to the other tonight.

He kept them from turning the wrong way, did a great job listening to me and watching the sheep, took them through multiple gates, dealt with the fussy one, and did some nice down-stays while I closed gates.

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Wilmer, AL

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