One of my favorite things to do on the ranch is just watch the animals. There is such a sense of peace and quiet watching each animal, or the whole herd as they go about their day. The way the older ones have a sense of purpose and will go from grazing to resting, to checking on babies. The way the young seem to have a sheer delight in just being, as they try hard to follow the elders’ lead but get lost in play and exploring their world.
While I get lost in many of these small and large interactions, my absolute favorite relationship to watch is that of the livestock dogs (our precious Turkish Boz) and their young charges. The above video is a bit hard to see but if you watch closely, you can see something special happen. What the video doesn’t capture is the first part in which Charra (the Boz) is sleeping next to one of our ewes with a brand-new baby tucked between the two of them. The momma ewe got up to go eat and left the baby tucked into the heat of Charra’s warm coat. The baby got up shortly after to go nurse.
After a quick snack, she walked back to Charra. In the video, you can see the baby (the one with the black head and white body) nuzzle Charra and then curl back up in her favorite spot tucked into her belly. Out of camera view, the other baby lamb is happy playing in the snow while Fira, the other Boz’s and Runa patiently watch to make sure he is safe. Content that her baby lamb is back under her protection, Charra can rest and get some much-needed sleep after their hard night of guarding the flock! These dogs never cease to amaze me in their compassion and devotion to their herds!
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