R. I. P. "Willie"

Will is the Dorper Ram (Black head)

Tonight we had to "put down" our dorper ram.  He has been with us 5 years and had personality galore..plus...he was the leader of the pack. Louie the cheviot is the eldest of "the boys" however he let Willie call the shots. Whatever will wanted he got, wherever willie went they all went!!(Not limited to sneaking the neighboring fence for the green grass).

Tuesday Willie went off his food, we noticed he was not urinating.  This happened to the eldest "Louie" about 3 years ago, so "we had the supplies". Confidently he was drenched each night with ammonium Chloride and given antibiotics. Up until last night he was back and forth on his food and still willing to "fight the drench". We decided last nigh to bring him to the barn; we didn't want him sick and in the cold wet weather.  He ate some last night, however this morning he was DOWN...not only down but wouldn't budge. We watched him all day, and when we went to feed his head was flat on the floor and he was shaking in discomfort. Ron and I both knew he had hit the  suffering in pain point. One more injection... and no change after 4 hours. Breathing was labored, eyes had the look of pain..

We had to make the choice; he wasn't going to die on his own heart was far too strong,  if he was going to die he wasn't giving up easily. He would have suffered through the night and the end result was going to be the same. With heavy hearts and tearful eyes..the gun shots rang...Thank god Ron knows what he is doing and Willie would suffer no longer.

Just remember when things always look of rainbows and roses, you visit, pet, work...the behind the scenes operation is not always fun and rarely rewards the hardest of hearts or the softest of hearts. Again we press on and will seek out a new boy, however it will be hard to find one that can fill these hooves.

RIP Willie...Dodge and Louie will be lost without you.

Time winds down..

Happy

Day!!!! 

Traditional Turkey Day at the Ewers...brings friends and family from afar!! We will have a feast, however "Leo" (as shown above) will be spared! We will have 20 or so people for the feast Ron will put the turkey's in the ground pit which will be just DELISH!!! So from our house to yours..I hope you have a wonderful, thankful, day!

Ours for a month...

View of our trial field

As most people know Ron and I have a full time ranch hand at Canines N Ewe. Why? (sometimes I even wonder) ...but we have him because...WE WORK! We have a full time kennel, 100 head of sheep, and plenty of "other creatures" big and small! Is the job difficult? Well no if you have 8 free hours of the day. Daily duties consist of checking sheep in the morning, grazing sheep in the afternoon, and letting young dogs out to relieve themselves once daily...Leon does a mediocre job of taking care of the sheep, does a great job at handling and caring for dogs...(that's the reason he has a job...still). Every year we give Leon the month of November off so he can go home to New Mexico and visit family..

Babe our dinner

Llucy our "flock guard"

So....This is it!! Ron and I are in charge!! Yeah for a whole month, I don't have someone besides Ron in our house YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!! Menu for dinner will be fish sticks and fries !!!  So yes it's a big busy month, besides having the ranch to ourselves, which brings a tremendous work load, we are lambing, we have a clinic, students on Wed. and Sat., we are having 20 for Thanksgiving Dinner, and don't forget we are trying to get the logistics of the Snowbirds Trial underway!! We never complain about work load, but I am happy to say, I cannot wait to see my hubby at the barnyard, for some well needed laughter and fun!!