Livestock Guardian pups are most often purchased during lambing
season there are young lambs for the pup to grow up with. So the
first time she is left alone with lambing ewes is around the age
of a year - a time when her own development is still incomplete.
The following story is common: The sheep grower comes out to the
pasture and finds a ewe who has recently lambed. Her nose and
ears are torn and bleeding, and the rancher's first thought is
"dog attack!" The livestock guardian dog is found, often with
blood on her fur and an uninjured lamb nearby. The rancher's
first thought is usually that the dog has "smelled blood and
gone crazy." Many potentially good livestock guardian dogs have
their careers cut short at this point. However, had the sheep
grower witnessed the "attack," this is the most likely A ewe -
usually a yearling at her first lambing - gives birth to a lamb.
Confused, she wanders away to give birth to its twin. The
livestock guardian dog finds the apparently abandoned lamb,
licks it clean and