April 2009

Over the last couple of weeks my new dog, Roy, has really settled in. At first he was very jumpy around new people and noises. As you may have seen I have fastned him up by the shop from time to time to get him used to the different goings on of cars, deliveries, etc. Spending time at the shop has done him a world of good, with all the different staff around fussing over him he has become much more relaxed, though he is still a little wary of new faces.

Now Roy is a bit more settled he has got a temporary kennel a bit further away from the shop so he has a bit more room to wander and soon I hope to be able to make him a pen overlooking the shop so he has plenty of room for when I have to leave him for any period of time.

Most of the sheep we have at the moment are due to lamb, so I don't want to practice with Roy on them until I get chance to sort out more suitable sheep for us to use. I am just concentrating on getting him fit for working on the moors. As well as being out and about with me on the farm during the day and going for walks in the evenings and weekends he has been with me for a few long runs around the tops, to hopefully get us both fit for the summer.

While the weather is good I am trying to catch up on some fence repairs around the farm and assessing all the fences for further improvements over the summer. With the amount of fences we have this involves walking many miles around the farm with a bit pad and pen. Though I am reluctant to be inside unless the weather is bad, I still have plenty of work to do down at the shop, with general maintenance and renovation of buildings to create more storage space.

Though our cattle sheds are still not finished, we have finally managed to get some cows inside. After temporarily fencing part of the building and putting in temporary water troughs and feeders we have got all last years calves inside, which will give the cows a well deserved rest before they start calving again.