It’s always adorable when our pets make friends with each other, and even more adorable when they befriend the unlikeliest of animals — like, say, a tortoise or a… sheep? We’ve all heard of dogs herding sheep, of course, but what about a sheep herding some dogs? That didn’t exactly happen here either, but this video catches footage of a sheep who has a much friendlier relationship with doggos than you might expect — and we can’t stop watching it.
Posted to the r/FunnyAnimals subreddit, this adorable video quickly gained hundreds of comments. At first, it looks like a fairly typical video of a pet parent playing fetch with their dogs. But along with the four pups chasing after the ball is a single sheep who just wants to be part of the fun. They don’t seem all that interested in actually being the one to pick up the ball — leaving that honor to their friends — but this sheep is more than happy to run back and forth with their canine friends.
And, as you can imagine, Redditors had some jokes. SgtSloth noted, “I don’t get it. All I see is dogs,” which was a common sentiment among others.
User Hexagonalprison mused, “What do you mean I’m not a sheepdog?” while Redditor Aivovapaa commented, “When you’re NOT the black sheep of the bunch.” Another Redditor pointed out that this one dog was “extra floofy” and, certainly, there were all sorts of jokes about what breed that white dog was.
Redditor macnachos reported, “I’m no expert but pretty sure it’s some kind of doodle.” Quityouryob agreed, adding, “Labradoodle, I think.” Redditor First1sfree chimed in with “German Sheepard” while DadJokeBadJoke suggested “Lambrador Retriever.”
Others weren’t all that surprised by how easily the sheep fit in with the dogs. Redditor Yhiofthesun related this heartwarming story from their childhood: “Growing up, we raised one of [my] uncle’s lambs, after mother rejected him. Our cocker spaniel had a strong maternal streak. He babysat kittens whenever he got the chance. He immediately took to mothering Lambsie, who grew up to think he was a dog. Lambsie also used to scorch himself, toasting against the enclosed wood fire (skin insulated by wool), so he had charred bits on his outer fleece. Best pet ever though!”
The best dogs for herding sheep
The history of dogs herding sheep goes back a long time, and these breeds are known for their quickness and agility, strength, intelligence, dedication, and loyalty. These qualities also make them fantastic pets. Not surprisingly, many of the dog breeds known for herding sheep have “shepherd” or “sheepdog” in their name. Some of the most popular herding dogs for sheep include:
- Old English sheepdog
- Shetland sheepdog
- Great Pyrenees
- Belgian Malinois
- Belgian sheepdog
- Corgis
- Australian cattle dog
- Australian shepherd
- Australian Kelpie
- German shepherd
- Border Collie
Of course, while these dog breeds do a fantastic job of herding sheep, we think it’s a whole lot more fun to watch our pups play fetch with their animal friends.
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