Kip the Sheepdog

03/12/2026

Kip’s been enjoying the weather and helping move the lambs to their new pasture.

03/05/2026

Their shepherd called and this time there would be no stragglers or strays. Because Kip heard the shepherd too and knew what that meant.

Get everyone moving together. Keep the lambs in line. Sniff all the things. Come back for pets when the job’s done. ✅ 🐕
Those last two may not be in the job description but he would probably argue they should be.

02/14/2026

Update on our good boy, Kip 😃
Here's what he's been up to recently:

Sorting and putting up chickens, which is possibly his favorite job, 🐓
Running circles around me on our walks, 🐾
Keeping the goats out of the chicken feed, 🐐
Diving through the woods just because he can,🌲🪾
Enjoying the weather no matter how cold it got (I might have frozen on some of those walks but he never stops moving so he's all good!),🧊
And meeting the lambs and baby goats. 🐑

And when he started getting bored, we began working on a whole new set of tricks for his second trick dog title.

12/12/2025

Lambing season has almost finished on Humble Shack Farm. Kip’s current job: Twice a day he guards this spot so the sheep don’t leave. And turns them around if they try to strike out for freedom.

He lays down and stays still, even letting me check the sheep for signs of parasite problems (doing good!). Or walk into the pasture to take pictures of the lambs.

Then he returns all the finicky sheep to their babies. The ewes need to be fed where the little lambs can’t get their food and choke on the big corn pieces.

11/25/2025

11/06/2025

Kip says “Don’t forget to stock up for winter with square hay bales from Humble Shack Farm!”

10/20/2025

Kip’s happy face 😊

10/16/2025

Just have to wait for the sun to go down and then it’s time for a walk and lessons with the sheep.

10/13/2025

Sheep chores with Kip 🙂
It takes a team to care for this many ewes. When it’s not Kip’s turn to help, he’s either runnning an empty pasture for fun or laying at my feet.

The sheep have been split into two flocks. The expecting mommas will start getting hay and grain to supplement their grazing.

There’s not as much grass growth this month but we were able to put up plenty of hay and everyone is fat-and-happy from the summer grass.

The younger ewes and our older ewe won’t need grain until later when the grass is gone for the fall/winter. Kip will have herding lessons with them now and we will definitely enjoy the cooler evenings.

10/08/2025

A foggy evening with Kip and the Sheep. We’re a few weeks out from Lambing season! 😊🐑

The ewes all get extra attention at this stage - hoof trims, calcium, vitamin and selenium supplements to prevent deficiencies and pregnancy toxemia.

We’ve had to learn which things our soil/grass and water are deficient in so we can support the ewes and lambs best.

And bit later they’ll get some grain and hay to keep up their energy and encourage a good milk supply for the lambs. For now they’re keeping fat and happy on the last of the summer grass.

Kip’s job tonight was mostly supervision and making sure everyone came in from pasture. And then taking them back out to fresh pasture again.

10/01/2025

Beautiful last bit of the sunset tonight while working the sheep with Kip.