Sunday morning presented the opportunity to introduce Belladonna to the grown-ups, since we had the ewes in the barn paddock. She is constantly exposed to the lambs, but has not spent much time off-leash around them because of both their age-appropriate tendencies to run and chase; not good habits for a guard dog. But around the ewes, she was much calmer and displayed a great natural inclination to sit and observe while occasionally investigating a new sight or sound. All in all, the five hours Bella spent with the ewes was a great success, and we will continue her exposure this week with the ewes that were not moved with the breeding group.
Bella was particularly enchanted with our old girl. Curly did not back away at all when she approached, and this certainly intrigued Bella. She spent a lot of time slowly prancing up to Curly, tail wagging wildly. Then she would suddenly spin and run away, looking back over her shoulder as if to say, “Catch me, catch me, if you can!” Quite entertaining.
