Kleinen Wiese German Shepherds

Posted By Sandy Wilson on January 31, 2010

All the sheep gathered as we let our old ewe, Gwen, from her jug today with her little lamb.  Once out of the jug, little Ebony followed her mom closely and Gwen also called her little one.  All the other sheep in the barn came over and checked out the baby.  It was like a bunch of mom’s gathering at a baby’s birthday party!  They all wanted to see the new little one!

Black Border Leicester Ewe Lamb "Ebony"

 Here is Ebony up close and out and about!  She is  doing very well and mom seems to have a good supply of milk for one lamb, even though she is an older ewe, but she is enjoying the benefits of some wonderful tasting grain. 

Ebony is a beautiful black lamb with a silver colored fleece underneath – I can’t wait to see how she matures – her fleece is going to be just wonderful.  I am sure she is going to look much like her daddy, Smokey!

I think with the size of some of the ewes right now, we are going to have lots of twins.  They are looking pretty fat right now!  Everyone has been wormed prior to lambing now and we are ready to have lambs soon.  I am hoping by next month a wave of lambing will begin.  Then it’s going to be so much fun watching all the little lambs jumping around in the barn and having fun!  They are so cute to watch.

I am sure the dogs are going to go a little crazy too – just seeing all the excitement going on.  Our little Delta hasn’t seen this type of activity before, so it will be quite exciting for her to see little lambs jumping and playing.

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Posted By Sandy Wilson on January 30, 2010

Aiko as a little pup of only 8 weeks old – sable – he has changed so much since then.

Just looking at my boy as a mature male GSD and remembering when he was a wee puppy.  Aiko was so adorable as a pup, and wow has he ever changed into a beautiful , mature boy!  He is so handsome and such a joy to have!

Sable GSD’s change so much and you just never know how they are going to look when they get older – it’s always a mystery!

Aiko - About 5-6 months old - big change in coloring!

Above Aiko is so dark and his coloring looks more of the grayish sable in his father, Diesel.   But boy has he ever changed – his coloring now is more red and his markings somewhat of his mother.

Aiko - 4 years old!

Love this Dog!

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Tags: A-Litter, Aiko, Aiko vd. Kleinen Wiese, German Shepherd

Posted By Sandy Wilson on January 29, 2010

Last night we had our first lamb and it was a surprise, as we didn’t know the ram we sold this summer had bred any of our ewes!  We’ll as things turned out, there must have been some cool nights in which were right for breeding.  Our oldest gal, Gwen, and our first Border Leicester that came to our farm, had a beautiful single black lamb.  We named her Ebony! 

We didn’t think our Gwen would lamb any more so this was even a bigger surprise, but we are glad she is giving us a beautiful black lamb for this year’s flock!

DELTA IS 7 MONTHS OLD – WOW HAS SHE GROWN!

Now what else is happening on the farm; well our little Delta is not so little anymore – she is growing and with her growth has come more confidence and definitely she has real spirit.  This pup is a little ball of fire and really gives  the other dogs a run for their money!  She is maturing into a beautiful little gal.

Delta (Arla vd. Kleinen Wiese X Hawk v. Eichenluft)

Delta is a fun loving dog always ready for action.  Right now she is into retrieving her ball and all the other dogs’ balls too!  She is a bit of a ball hog, so there is alot of competition when the ball is thrown.  It’s a good thing we have more than one ball around the house and yard.  She is so quick and agile, she keeps right up with the big dogs!

Delta & Arla - sharing a gigle ball!

Delta running full speed ahead to get her ball!

Delta has many of her mothers’ talents and also I can see her beautiful movement is much like her mother Arla.   I can also see a difference in her that is perhaps the influence of Hawk in these combined genetics.  Delta definitely is confident pup and she also has the beautiful tight feet and pigment of her handsome daddy.  I am waiting to see as she matures how she turns out for herding as this was a first time breeding with Hawk v. Eichenluft.  Certainly Arla and Hawk’s similar body types have passed down to all the pups and Hawk brought quite a bit more bone to these combined genetics.  Some of the male pups out of this most recent breeding I think would  make some fine working dogs.  They have that confidence, biddability, intelligence and the williness to work. 

Delta & Mama Arla - she loves her mama!

I hope to have more on the other puppies in the litter as I hear what they are doing.

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Tags: Delta, German Shepherd

Posted By Sandy Wilson on January 9, 2010

Border Leicester Sheep at Little Meadow Sheep Farm

Here are just a few shots of the girls and our new ram.  The ewes are getting pretty thick in the middle, so hopefully we’ll be lambing in a few months and have lots of twin lambs and a bigger flock for the dogs to herd in the Spring.

"Bubba" - our new boy!

Above is Bubba, our newest ram.  We’re hoping he is going to bring us a nice lamb crop this year with our ewes.  Bubba is a  purebred Border Leicester ram.  His wool is absolutely beautiful and has a personality to match.  I think he is going to be one of my lead sheep this year, as he loves to come over and be petted and also he loves the grain we feed him.   He is always the first to come over and greet me in the barn. 

One of my favorite ewes! "Jersey Girl"

Then there is Jersey girl, she is just one of my favorite ewes that was born here on the farm.  Her mother was a beautiful ewe and since past, but I am so glad to have a baby from our old ewe Emma!  Jersey girl has a little black spot under her eye that reminds me of her own mother and that is how I could always tell who she was in the barn.  You can really get attached to all these critters.  They are much like the dogs – all have their own little personalities.  

More to come when we have lambs – that is always an exciting time for us and also for the dogs to see the new lambs – they are always so curious about the dogs.

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Posted By Sandy Wilson on January 2, 2010

Arla and Delta are pictured here enjoying the first real snow of the Winter!  Certainly our dogs love the cool weather and the snow.  They play hard all day and then at night they are content to lay by the woodburning stove, keeping warm and spending time with the family.    Time has really flown by since Arla had her litter of pups.  Delta is already 6 months old now – wow has she grown.   She can keep up with the big dogs now!  She is showing us that same biddability her mother has and also some interest in the sheep that we had not seen before – so can’t wait to see what she does when she is actually put to some early herding training and exposure.

My Aiko looking like a proud boy!  Here we have much less snow, but at least we are out of the mud season.  We had such terribly wet weather this Fall and I truly have looked forward to the Winter months.  The ground is finally frozen.  Even our sheep have been out of the barn and out in the pasture to enjoy some of the last remaining grass in our pasture.  In a few months we’ll be getting ready for lambing season and hopefully by then things will be warm and we’ll have nice green pastures.  I am sure our dogs will be thrilled to get out and really start working again.  

Winter is nice and the snow is beautiful, but what is even more enjoyable is the coming of lambing season.  In a few months, we’ll be having some lambs! 

Here was our first set of twins born last year – purebred Border Leicesters!  They are so cute and very curious!    The ewes can be quite protective of their lambs, but they are used to being handled and so they let us around the lambs to do chores.  I am very excited to see what our new ram, Bubba, produces.  Hopefully lots of twins!

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Tags: Aiko, Aiko vd. Kleinen Wiese, Arla vd Kleinen Wiese, Delta, German Shepherd