Looking after hundreds of prized turkeys before Christmas is no easy task.
And with hungry foxes ready to pounce under cover of darkness, farmer John Wright would spend ages getting the birds safely inside each night.
But his pre-festive daily routine has been transformed by his trusty sheep dog Molly, who has adapted her herding talents to dealing with 1,400 turkeys.
Four-year-old Molly runs around and takes just 20 minutes to round up the turkeys – a job that previously could take four people two hours to complete
The four-year-old dog runs around and takes just 20 minutes to round up the turkeys – a job that previously could take four people two hours to complete.
Mr Wright, 27, bought Molly after ‘falling in love with her big blue eyes’ and found she had a natural ability as a turkey hustler.
He said: ‘I took her with me one day because she follows me around everywhere and started throwing apples under the hedges to get the turkeys out because I can’t get under there.
‘As I started throwing them left and right she started rounding them up – so I started shouting a few commands and she just took to it.’
Farmer John Wright’s pre-festive daily routine has been transformed by his trusty sheep dog Molly, who has adapted her herding talents to dealing with 1,400 turkeys
Mr Wright, 27, bought Molly after ‘falling in love with her big blue eyes’ and found she had a natural ability as a turkey hustler
Molly responds to special commands such as ‘go’ to round up those who have been separated and ‘speak’ to get them all moving by banging her paws on the ground or barking
Now the pair work as a team to keep the Bronze turkeys in a tight semi-circle formation as they bring them back to their shed every night at sunset.
Molly responds to special commands such as ‘go’ to round up those who have been separated and ‘speak’ to get them all moving by banging her paws on the ground or barking. She even stops passing traffic as drivers on the nearby main watch her in action.
The farmer said: ‘We have about 12 foxes who regularly come out from Hull and when they attack don’t just take one – they take as many as they can get.
‘But if they see her they don’t come anywhere near. It was a big problem for us in the past but we lose hardly any now.’
Mr Wright and his father John senior, 73, run the 200-acre mixed farm in Wyton, East Yorkshire together. But no one works harder than Molly.
He said: ‘Once, when I was away on holiday, my dad had brought her back in for the night after rounding up with her and she just disappeared. She had gone out and rounded up another 20 on her own.’
Unfortunately Molly does have one failing as a sheep dog – her inability to deal with sheep.
Mr Wright admitted: ‘She’s not interested in sheep at all. She has also had a go at rounding up our ducks – maybe it’s just a bird thing.’
Mr Wright and his father John senior, 73, run the 200-acre mixed farm in Wyton, East Yorkshire together
Now the pair work as a team to keep the Bronze turkeys in a tight semi-circle formation as they bring them back to their shed every night at sunset
Unfortunately Molly does have one failing as a sheep dog – her inability to deal with sheep