I've 3 working collies, and wouldn't be without (two of) them. Mrs NeilO has 3 of various types in the house, which apparently don't cost anything to keep.
All that fancy grub from Wynnstay goes into the Collies huh.....
Lambing outdoors- catching ewe and lambs
- Thread starter garfield89
- Start date
All that fancy grub from Wynnstay goes into the Collies huh.....
- Location
- Mendips Somerset
an old friend told me years ago " better with a china dog than no dog at all " and dont the sheep know it , Even if i take my not very good dog , the knowing ewes wont try it on moving them .
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
All that fancy grub from Wynnstay goes into the Collies huh.....
Worse than that, the fancy grub from Wynnstay isn’t fancy/dear enough for for delicate tum tums.
It still finds it’s way onto my credit card though.
Kerrrrist! They have the 30 quid stuff too.... Ours make do with Dr John at around a tenner
exmoor dave
Member
- Location
- exmoor, uk
Been there, got the T-shirt ..... the wife had her spaniels on grub costing £50 a bag...... WTAF
They are on MVF working dog now and seem fine
A clever man would keep an empty bag of the expensive stuff and refill...Been there, got the T-shirt ..... the wife had her spaniels on grub costing £50 a bag...... WTAF
They are on MVF working dog now and seem fine
- Location
- Carmarthenshire, West Wales
started doing rotational grazing, and I'm finding that a dog is far less necessary (have a dog, bought as a pub, however, he does not have enough instinct to train)
exmoor dave
Member
- Location
- exmoor, uk
My accounts say an average of £650/year for 3 dogs---the only thing not included there is the cost of buying a pup occasionally ---I bought one last year at £350 , so add another £120/year i guess
= £250/year/dog
CopperBeech
Member
- Location
- A Welsh man lost in England
Bought my main dog for £150 as a pup. She is irreplaceable sadly. If I could pay to have another her I dread to think what i would be willing to pay!
Can't believe all this talk about how much to keep a dog, who else would do as much work for so little? My old dog cost me £2500 when he was 2 years old, sold as 3/4 broken in best money I ever spent. Also have a 5 year old dog who is very useful and training a 18 month old, wouldn't be without any of them
CopperBeech
Member
- Location
- A Welsh man lost in England
What I find interesting is how cheap a man with dogs is. A man without a dog is probably not much more than £5 less. For £5 an hour or less you get a highly trained animal operative, if someone was bringing something like a trained protection dog or security dog to a job they would charge a decent premium.
- Location
- North wales
Having spent 30 mins this morning sorting 40 ewes and lambs that had mixed with another group of 120 ewes and lambs with the dog on the field how on earth anybody can get by without a dog is beyond me. Catching sheep , moving lots of sheep through a field with another gang of sheep in it, being lazy and not closing the gates down the yard because you know the dog can head them all things you can’t do without the dog!
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
Trickiwoo would definitely notice the difference.....apparently.
One of our ‘house dogs’ is a deaf 17 year old Jack Russel with cateracts. She has fancy food to try to keep her appetite up, yet is waiting for me every night so that I’ll give her a handful of the Collies’ working dog food.
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- Location
- Fife
They're self replacing. In the current climate they can easily turn a healthy profit.
- Location
- Fife
I'm a shepherd so I can work my dog. The dog is the key part.
- Location
- North wales
exactly unlike the mule or quad bike
- Location
- Montgomeryshire
I’ve just moved a mob of 250 ewes & their lambs with my three. If I could just train them to open the gate I could have stayed on the quad watching them.
- Location
- Fife
Ran a mob of 2200 stores behind rappa 3 strand last winter. The thought of doing anything with them without dogs makes me want to vomit.
CopperBeech
Member
- Location
- A Welsh man lost in England
I was just thinking this. If they banned using sheep dogs with sheep tomorrow I don’t think I’d farm sheep any more.
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