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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Tara, go right on handling your rams if you want to
but please be very, very careful...Handled rams are the ones who aren't afraid
or respectful of you, and all of a sudden, out of a clear blue sky, for no
apparent reason, one day, one of them could come from behind and break your
back...not because he doesn't "love" you, but precisely because he does, and
since you have become close, he has decided you need to belong to his harem and
need some discipline and some knowing of boundaries. SHEEP have different
ideas of boundaries and appropriate behaviour for females than most
humans. They also have different ideas of how to react to males whom they
see as a threat, even human males....and they have a lot of testosterone which
seems to shoot into them sporadically and at specific times, but also at
non-specific times. Taming your rams may make them friendly most of the
time, but it also allows for a much greater probability that if you come across
one of those tame rams on a testosterone=y day, you could be crippled for
life. Sheep are meant to be friendly to sheep, and relate to sheep.
Trying to make them puppy dogs is just not heatlhy for you or for them.
It's like keeping a cat declawed and indoors...sweet kittie, but what kind of
life is that for a hunter? Sheep need to be allowed to be sheep.
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>That's just MY two cents. I wouldn't
even bother, because, like you, I believe there are a wide range of choices of
how to treat animals, but I am very concerned that you or your spouse or one of
your children could end up dead because you are expecting your sheep to act like
something other than sheep. You don't scold a bird for catching a mouse or
a bird: they are programmed to do so, as border collies are programmed to
herd. If a ram attacks a human, it is because it sees that human as a
threat or as a potential mate who needs training up. Please don't expect
your sheep to act like a human. They can be very affectionate, thank God, but
they also can be very sheep=y. They didn't name Dodge Ram CHarger trucks
that because they were cute! </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>And, people who don't handle their sheep are
definitely NOT abusing them. Some people believe very strongly that
handling their domestic animals is NOT good policy, not good for them, not good
for the animals. Judge not, lest ye be judged!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> Betty, in Vermont,who now has a blog, thanks
to help from Walter and Linda. See Betty's blog at <A
href="http://sheepwoman.wordpress.com">http://sheepwoman.wordpress.com</A>.</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>