Sunday, May 21, 2023 - Shetland Islands, Scotland

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Sunday, May 21, 2023 – Shetland Islands, Scotland 

We are in the Shetland Islands today. About halfway from mainland Scotland to Bergen, Norway. As we near our port there is a beautiful sunrise, and we are hopeful it is an indicator for the rest of the day. 

 

We have selected an optional excursion today. It is named “Rural Shetland”, and will include seeing Shetland sheep, Shetland ponies, and see a demonstration of sheep dogs. 

We had a nice little drive around the countryside on our way to the farm where we will be hosted by a man and wife team. They have been working this land for a long time. The headsets for them to use our QuietVox devices were missing so our hostess said she would just have to shout. Her voice carried very nicely. 

We started with the sheep. Two ewes with new lambs just 2 weeks old. There were also a small group of one-year olds that appeared to be full grown and in need of being fleeced. The Shetland sheep have wool in a variety of shades. I think they said there were 64 different colors that have been identified. And yes, the sheep were just about due for their annual shearing. Our hosts said they used to do the shearing themselves, but it is back breaking work and now they hire it out. They have about 300 head. The team that they hire will shear a sheep in about 2 minutes. If they were to do it themselves, it would be about 10 minutes per sheep.

Notice all the different colors of sheep in this pen.
 

We were then introduced to a couple of Shetland ponies. They’ve only been on this farm for a couple of years. They are 24 and 26 years old. We were also told that none of the Shetland ponies are working ponies anymore unless for a kiddie ride or something like that. They are mostly pets.

 

Now it is time for the sheepdog portion. There are a few sheep in a pen and are specifically for demonstrating what the dogs can do. They started with a 4-month-old pup that appears to be a natural. The dogs pick up on what the humans want pretty quickly. When they do something right, they are praised for it and get a treat, when it’s not quite right, the dog is simply ignored. "If you have to yell at your dog, you are doing something wrong."

This pup got treats from both.
 

The next one was 10 months old, and although not fully trained, did great. But wait! Next, we have a one-year-old, fully trained. For this, the sheep are let out of their corral and are allowed to head for the hills. Then the master (using whistle commands) sent the dog to bring them back. My stars, that dog could run so fast and within a few minutes, the sheep were back at the corral. And the dog acted so happy. 

Finally, a fully trained adult and champion. The dog was directed (again by whistle) to herd the sheep right and left between some of the guests that had been stationed on the hillside. Amazing. When that demonstration was done and the sheep were back in the corral, the dog literally leaped into his owner’s arms. Such love between human and animal.

Not many photos as the action was a bit away from us. And both sheep and dog were moving very quickly.

This dog doesn't need treats. His reward is the love of his human.

 

The dogs were allowed to mingle with the passengers and a couple of new puppies were brought out to be cuddled. Our hosts have 12 dogs they are training. One of the dogs immediately found its way over to the pen where the Shetland Sheep were. He just sat and stared at them from just a couple of feet away. Or stood and stared and the sheep didn’t particularly like it. No commands, the dog knows what its job is.

One of our fellow passengers probably wondered why we were taking his picture.

See the dog behind him.

 

After the demonstrations, we piled back on the bus and headed for a nearby inn where we were served mutton soup for our lunch. It was excellent! Homemade bread to go with it. Then shortbread and another sweet along with tea or coffee. This excursion will be one that we remember the specifics of for a long time. So glad we got to do this. I just wish I could remember the names of our hosts. 

Tomorrow morning we’ll be in Bergen. It will be packing day.