I suppose it had to happen.

Bud has been pushing the sheep around for months, although he and Susie have been on the verge of trying to mate more than once. I guess Suzy is out of heat now, and when Bud got into her face, she wasn’t so lovey-dovey.

She put her head down and butted him, right on his forehead. It was a good, hard shot.

But  was stunned, he shrieked and then ran and his behind me, and then rushed  outside of the pasture and headed to the farmhouse.

I got him back and calmed him down, but he wouldn’t go near the sheep for 10 or 15 minutes. His macho strain seemed to have gotten humbled and I think he learned a lesson about bullying sheep.

This is a lesson all dogs learn when they hang around sheep. Be careful, they love to head butt.

But Bud’s ego is much bigger than his humility, soon he was his old self, barking at the sheep and moving them from one side of the pasture to another. I noticed he did keep his distance.

When a border collie is challenged it that way, they are trained to nip the sheep on the nose, their most vulnerable spot. Bud can’t do that. By the time the chores were done, But returned to his first passion: annoying every animal on the farm, the people too.