Evenly matched

Last weekend we had a lamb staying with us.  A two-week-old lamb.   It had been abandoned and wound up living with my daughter and her family.  We had to babysit it while its new family went off to a birthday party that had been planned for some time, in Gore - a couple of hours drive away.

The lamb, Rocko,was surprisingly good, really, considering that it didn't know us, and might have felt abandoned for the second time, by its new family.  He bleated a bit the first night, but once it was dark he settled down on his mat in our glasshouse without any further problem.  Didn't even wake us up the next morning.

Our dog Marley, a two-year-old, was very interested in it.  We thought it was the usual dog curiosity which can turn a bit sour if you don't watch out, but in fact Marley just wanted to play.  The lamb was just the right size for him (the dog, as you'll see, is pretty small) and on the Saturday they got on like a house on fire.  We caught some of their long-lasting game on video.  It involves Marley chasing madly around, exhausting himself (he tries to have a little rest in the middle, but the lamb doesn't let him), and the lamb practicing his head-butting skills.  I think there's a moment of contact, but it's hard to tell, and obviously Marley wasn't troubled by it if there was.