You try it! I dare you…

OK YOU try holding down a 400# sheep while you use EXTRA sharp shears to take off the wool… ALONE… around the entire body of this sheep, including the private parts, ALONE… who wants nothing more than to escape and return to the other sheep!

Oh, and also, get all of that coat off in one large piece. You can’t shear a 400# sheep and do it all in one piece unless that animal sits still.

Very still.

And you have the strength and flexibility to move it and do the job!

It can be done and the shearer I watched? It was a woman, a thin woman.

I have a whole new level of respect.

I went to the Lake Metroparks FarmPark Sheep Shearing Weekend Event for the company, the dinner and the sheep herding demonstration. Nice neighborhood event since one of our neighbors, who is the Director of the Farmpark, invited us to the benefit.

But, the “sheep shearing” event… well, I love farm animals and all… so nice… but it wasn’t the main event for me!

Until… I saw this demonstration.

 

You probably think Wendy used some contraption or chains or whips or something to keep this powerful animal to sit still. Maybe a shock collar?

No.

 

Then HOW?

Wendy Vacik, the sheep shearer used nothing but her own body to handle this huge animal. All she had to do was keep the sheep balanced on it’s back on her foot in a certain position to keep the sheep still. That’s it. It was amazing. Wendy knew how to handle and keep the sheep calm.

Of course, the actual work of bending over and moving the heavy animal was impressive. Wendy has incredible strength and dedication to do this work.

 

But just as impressive… no fear or pain was used to manage and control that enormous animal.

 

So if you don’t already believe it, now do you believe you don’t need fear or pain to manage or control a much smaller animal, a dog?

It’s true. We are smart and responsible beings so it is on us to figure out how to work with a dog without using pain or fear. So like the 400# pig I talked about in my last blog or this 400# sheep, we have no need for shock collars or other painful devices.

We can do better with our dogs.

 

If you want to know more and learn how to improve your dog’s behavior without pain or fear, you can join The Play To Behave Membership or click here to join my FREE community.