Friday, April 30, 2010

Foot and Mouth disease hits Asia

AN OUTBREAK of foot and mouth disease in Japan and a further outbreak in South Korea have dealt a blow to the Asian livestock industry.

The discoveries of FMD have heightened fears the disease is on the move.

For the first time in a decade, China, Japan and Korea all have simultaneous outbreaks of FMD.

Up to 50,000 animals have been destroyed in South Korea since January as the country tries to control the spread of the disease.

The latest case, found in Chunju late last week, has already seen 12,600 livestock culled in a 3km radius of the affected farm and more animals are expected to be killed this week.

It is the first case to be reported in the northwest of the country.

The most recent cull adds to the 30,000 head destroyed at the start of the month, two-thirds of which were pigs.

Meat and Livestock Australia regional manager in Korea Jim Lim said there was still no evidence that beef consumption had dropped.

A briefing note prepared by Mr Lim's staff said there were media reports suggesting beef consumption had been affected, with consumers turning to seafood, but this had not been confirmed.

"We have not heard that Australian beef consumption or sales have been affected," Mr Lim said.

The Korean Government has asked farmers not to visit high risk areas in China, Japan and Vietnam in a further attempt to stop the outbreak.

Meanwhile, Japan has suspended all beef, pork and related byproduct exports last week after the FMD outbreak was discovered.

At least 11 countries have had FMD outbreaks in the past 16 months alone with the disease endemic or established across four continents.

In 2009, FMD outbreaks were reported in Angola, Botswana, China, Egypt, Nigeria, Palestine, South Africa, Vietnam and South Korea.

So far this year, there have been outbreaks in the same countries as well as Japan and Nigeria.

Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries reported the outbreak on a cattle farm in Miyazaki, the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan.

The last time Japan had an FMD outbreak was in 2000, in the same area.

"The Government will take every measure to prevent the disease from spreading further," Japanese Agriculture minister Hirotaka Akamatsu said last week.

According to MLA data, Japanese beef exports - primarily premium Wagyu beef - grew by 108 per cent over the last two years, to 565 tonnes in 2009, valued at $51 million, or an average of $91/kg.

Japan's major export markets were Vietnam, Hong Kong and the US.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

DeltaBluez Kira Farewell Evening

This was from last night.when Kira got to say farewell to Tess and Nan. Kira is now with Bob and Rochelle in California. Rochelle has DeltaBluez Koko, a full littermate sister to Roo. Koko is an outstanding Open dog and I believe the top ranked red Open dog.

Nan showing her teeth at Kira. Kira loves to jump on Nan and Nan really hates that.

Kira in a moment of not dashing about.

Kira listening to the down.

It's killing her to stay down for a minute.

Off she goes. Now to bug Tess. Nan is doing her best to ignore her.

Oh, something tastes good in the grass. Fresh duck poop!!

All lined up and waiting for a release. Kira has a great home and will be Bob's trial dog. I did warn Bob that she is a lot of dog and will keep him running!! We look forward to their success on the trial field.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Raw Dinner

I've changed my dogs diet. They will be on Dynamite dog food and raw food (2x a week). I am getting them off most grains and trying to help their health. A top performer can not run an Olympian course on garbage food.

So the dogs have been getting raw food twice a week. I will feed them beef and cull sheep as part of their raw diet . So far, so good. They also get bones on Sunday. That has always been their Sunday Special.

Taff is enjoying his raw meat. His coat has gotten shiny!


Roo loves his raw food. His red coat has taken on a nice color and is very soft.
Tess is in heaven. She really enjoys her meal.  She ran and hid with her meal so she could enjoy it at her leisure. She was in retirement but now is going to teach Janet how to run in PN. She will have to lose a couple of pounds as she really has "enjoyed" her retirement. Now the new phase in her life is call the "Teaching Phase"

In case you were wondering, that is a pink bandana on her neck and normally I do not have bandanas on my dogs.  She got a grooming/bath/clipped and came out with a pink bandana on her neck and it just stayed on!!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Babysitter Break

Sometimes ewes just need a break. Those darn lambs sure can be a handful.
This ewe decided she needed a break. She want to eat in peace.

Her lamb was exploring in the woods.

But the little lamb was safe. Kodi, the ever watchful Guardian dog is always on duty. He should be around here somewhere?

Nope, even Guardian dogs need a break from playful lambs. This babysitter was on a break. No babysitter! Quick, someone call the Lamb Babysitter Hotline!!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Balsamic Vinegar and Honey Lamb Chops

Ingredients
  • 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1-2  TB garlic
  • 2-3 TB honey
  • 1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves - packed not loose in the cup
  • 3/4 cup canola or olive oil
  • 8-10 small lamb chops
  • 2 TB olive oil for drizzle
  • 1/2 TB chopped fresh rosemary leaves
  • Salt and pepper 

Directions

  1.  Have grill set at medium-high heat .
  2. Blend the balsamic vinegar, garlic, honey, and parsley.
  3. Add the canola or olive oil until the mixture is smooth and forms a thick sauce.
  4. Season the lamb chops with salt and pepper.
  5. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with rosemary.
  6. Grill the lamb chops for 2 to 3 minutes each side until medium-rare.
  7. Spoon the sauce over the lamb chops. The sauce and be served on the side also.
Add more honey to sauce if you want it sweeter.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Taff, Lambs and other Sunday stuff!!

Today was a wonderful day. I got to work with some good students and saw some great progression. I worked a wonderful Aussie that read his stock well and did some great balance work. The Aussie was about one year old. No bounce and no bark, but good work. I was very pleased to see that.

Later in the day, Tony (Faye) and Kathleen (Emma, Gael) came over and we worked on trial runs. We sorted some ewes and lambs at Nayab's field and ran the course. One ewe would turn on the dog if they got to close and that helped both the dog and handler learn to read the stock far better. Then I had Tony and Kathleen run a Ranch course and they both did awesome. I was hard pressed to knock off 7 points on their runs.

Kathleen and I went out to lunch and had Chinese food. She just got a farm and that is her dream come true. Her dogs hit the Mother Lode with her! She came back and worked Gael in the round pen and Gael is going to a top notch dog. She had a great feel for the sheep, sensible and lots of power. Brave also!!

After everyone left, I worked Taff. I put him on the ewes and lambs. That was his first time and he forgot a couple of lambs but I reminded him and he went back and got them. I worked him using his whistles and he would try to go where he thought that I wanted him so I made him really listen and go where the whistle told him. I also worked on him casting out wider as he flanked, His outrun was quite nice. He did grip once on the drive and got a correction as it was unwarranted. He did quite a few outruns and did spot on with them.

This is our backlawn. There is about 30 lambs and 20 ewes, more or less. A couple of the ewes will smash a dog down if they think the dog is too close. Taff did well with them.

The sheep spread out and he worked to bunch them together. After a bit, he got the idea.

Slowing down and doing the job at hand.

Doing a big flank on the hill. The hill can suck a dog down closer to the sheep but he did well.

The sheep are in the woods and I sent him on a blind outrun. He got them all.

'
Bunched up and bringing them to me.

Tucking in the laggers. He did well and it was a good workout.

Ok, all done now and time for a soak in the pond.

Playtime!!

 Taff swims and will bring the  stick back. He got cooled down quickly and we had fun. Taff has settled in quite nicely and is my dog. He could care less what anyone else tells him - he doesn't listen to anyone else- but when I ask him something it will be done at warp speed. We just hung out together for a while and enjoyed the afternoon.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Kelsey Creek Sheepdog Demo

Janet and I were invited to do a sheepdog demo today. Bonnie Block, Judy Norris, Lynn Green, JB Brick and Brian Ricard also went. Brian was the organizer. It was held in Kelsey Creek Park and is an annual event. They have a sheep shearing demo as well.

Janet picked me up and away we went. We brought Scott, Roo, Nan and Tess. There were over a couple thousand folks who watched the demos. I was praying that my dogs would behave themselves! Judy brought 5 yearling hair sheep.

Our corner seats. Bonnie and Gull. Me and Tess. Judy.


Scott and Roo.

Dogs waiting their turns.

Nan and I waiting our turn. We had to pick the sheep off the setout person, fetch them through two children acting as fetch gates. Then turn around the post and the first drive panels were children as well as the crossdirve panel. The object was to do a course without running over the children! We also did balance work and figure 8 and sheds and pens.

We also did a little balance work to show the natural balancing of the dogs.

Also we did figure 8 around the children.

More figure 8s.

Turn around the post.

Doing a shed. We got it. Also, I did a shed withTess.

More shed work.

Nice walk up.

Roo and Tess also did demos. Tess did two demos as well as a shed. They got lots of pats from children. Janet did two demos with Scott. We had a blast. Afterwards, Janet and I went out for sushi. Janet is a good travel companion!!

Then we got back to the farm and did chores. Janet got to pen the solo chicken who escaped. All in all, it was a fun filled day. Thanks to Janet for driving, bringing me breakfast/latte, demoing and helping with chores. She is a great person!

Thanks to Brian for inviting us. We all had a blast. It was nice to look out and see the site jammed with people watching out dogs.

Our dogs were well behaved BTW.

photos: Janet Thorpe

Friday, April 23, 2010

Home Improvement

Well, I can honestly say this is some of the funniest Home Improvement Projects that I have ever seen. Can you see the mistakes in each of the pixs below?