Sunnyside ES
​Sunnyside English Shepherds
Opal
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Opal is such a sweet gal, but between her fair hip tests, combined with her struggle to maintain well while pregnant and nursing, we felt it best for her sake to be retired. As much as it saddens us, she will leave for her new home in Oct, 2023, Lord willing.
Vid 1) Watching me photograph stock Jul 26, 2018
Vid 2) Watching me treat an injured doe Jul 26, 2018
Vid 3) Watching the mini-ex (then she was tied to a tree to observe from a safe place while I ran it) Jul 26, 2018
'Opal'
SSacres B Jazz's Full Monty Opal
DOB 2018-03-19
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OFA hips Fair & elbows Normal.
Opal is also DM clear by testing.
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Opal, shown behind Laddie, is our home grown girl, sired by Monty and out of Jazz. Currently 55 lbs, she is super biddable, gentle & humble in temperament.
She frequently accompanies me on pasture rounds & has impressed me with her calm, respectful, biddable response to the various activities we tackle - from moving animals to treating injuries to watching us move a shelter with a mini ex.
On one of our earlier excursions, when we first went through the gate, a chicken took off right in front of her. She instinctively leapt for it, earning a quick, reasonable correction. Her response was utter remorse. She immediately came to me with an eager to please expression and has ignored the rest of the chickens thereafter.
Opal has nice conformation - parallel leg structure, nice hock angle, and good, even width from shoulders to hip.
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Opal enjoys working with me. She will happily come with me into the pasture to move cows even though she's leery of them. However, she hasn't demonstrated the grit that Jazz and Misty have toward obnoxious cattle behavior. Rather than taking offense at rude behavior and dealing out punishment for such, she's far more apt to skitter out of the way to avoid confrontation.
Well, on Apr 14, 2021, I had to go in to the cow pasture to catch a duck that had managed to escape the poultry area since there are no livestock guardian dogs there to protect said bird.
The previous day I'd had to use Misty to thwart being run over by a pushy heifer. This time, that heifer was drinking water beside the barn in a small enclosure with an open gate and the duck was beside her. By the time I got myself into the main pasture, the duck had moved through the fence into the small pen where the calf and his mom are residing. So I clambered into that pen and moved toward the duck. My concern was that as I pressured the duck with my presence, it would move back over into the pen where the heifer was.
Opal briefly watched me, then voluntarily ran around into where that obnoxious heifer was, moved the heifer out of the way, and quietly parked herself right by the water bucket / shared fence line. Said duck chose not to waddle toward her and therefore couldn't evade me. Clang swish, I had the duck in hand. The minute I picked up the bird and turned to leave the pen, Opal raced back past the bucking, kicking heifer - out of the enclosure, so that she could meet me with a grin as I exited the calf pen.
So. Without my physical presence to bolster her confidence, and without me saying a word, she voluntarily chose to face her fears so that she could help me. She didn't make any noise, nor bark at the duck. She did not chase the heifer unnecessarily, she just moved herself into position to assist. Man. This girl impressed me!
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