Shepherd's Way Jedi

Update at age 3:

"I found the description I wrote for you regarding Jedi at age 2. I was amazed. I had forgotten that he ever did most of those things that annoyed me! So I am just going to update you by telling you what has changed with Jed.

I would no longer call Jed “high powered”. Not because I don’t think he could handle cattle (he could), but because he no longer loses control of his power. Nor does he ever border on over confidence and blow me off. He owns biddability! {:^)

His herding capabilities have improved to the point that there is never any question of his competence in this area anymore. In fact a couple of weeks ago Kalee needed to move two does that were unwilling to leave the stall because Jed was in the aisle. Kalee told me that she told Jedi to load up into our Kubota which is parked at the end of the barn. Finally the does edged out into the aisle. By this time Kalee was feeling irritated and just wanted to get on with her chores. She closed the stall door behind them and told Jed “now you put them away and hold them”, and took off for the horse pen. When she emerged back into the aisle the does were moved to the other stall and Jed was sitting in the doorway keeping them from leaving. Amazing! Yaaa, she was surprised.

Chasing cats is such a thing of the past that I had totally forgotten it ever existed. They very peacefully co-exist. He has yet to catch a squirrel, but it isn’t from lack of trying. I think that there is a squirrel that does the “nananana” thing to him because he will whine at the window to be let out and then goes like a bat out of hell after that squirrel. Back in his youth we tried to get him kill a mouse and he was scared of it. This past week Kalee caught a mouse in our milk room in a bucket. I knew she had been baiting the bucket and Jed was very interested in that corner of the milk room, but couldn’t get over to the bucket. I brought the bucket out and told him “get it”. He reached in and grabbed the mouse and took it outside the barn. The mouse managed to sneak under the Kubota. I moved the Kubota out and no mouse. Soon Jed was intently staring at the trash can. I moved it and bam! He had the mouse again. This time I smacked it with a shovel after Jed let it go. He has never killed anything and I am guessing he just wasn’t sure what we wanted. I know Jed well enough to know that if he observes us killing a mouse before long he will be doing it for us."