H
e doesn’t like being
cold, he hates wind...
and he really doesn’t
enjoy eating grass.
It seems like
six-month-old Marley just wasn’t
born to be in the skin he’s in!
Marley – a Valais Blacknose
sheep – is much happier leading
a dog’s life, so much so that he’s
having lessons on how to be
a lamb.
The woolly youngster was
orphaned and taken in by
mum-of-two Ali Vaughan and
became best mates with her
family dog Jess.
Ali, 34, from Cumbria, UK,
spotted an advert on Facebook
from a local farmer who was
appealing for a five-star home
for Marley to move into.
‘We had a massive garden that
was really overgrown so I
thought a sheep would be ideal
for keeping it sufficiently
mowed,’ Ali tells New Idea.
‘Little did I know it’d be
a while before he chomped
his first bit of grass.’
Ali, her partner Adam,
37, and kids Ella, 10, and
Max, four, took Marley
in and soon learned howto feed him
with a bottle.
But just
two weeks
after
arriving, he
contracted a
disease called
joint-ill,
a common
cause of
lameness in lambs, where joints
can be infected and swollen.
He needed constant care and
was so stiff it would take him 15
minutes to get up on his feet.
Due to limited mobility, Ali
bought Marley his own dog bed
and placed it in front of the warm
cooker in the kitchen.
Marley, a Swiss breed that
should usually be more at home
in the Alps, soon became
accustomed to lying in it.
‘Our dog Jess immediately
took to him and would lie at the
side of him at night,’ Ali explains.
‘It soon became clear that
Marley was picking up traits
from Jess.’ The pair became best
friends and would do everything
together. As the family nursed
Marley back to full health, he
would accompany them on dogMEET
THE
SHEEP
WHO
THINKS
HE’S A
DOG
THAT’S BAA
- RMY!
MARLEY LOVES
L IFE INDOORS
SO MUCH, HEWANTS TO STAY
TH E R E!Ali (pictured) took
Marley in after
learning he’d been
orphaned – and
he soon got used
to the creature-
comforts that came
with living inside.walks up the lane and would
even look forward to their trips
out. Thankfully, a course of
antibiotics helped Marley regain
his strength – and he’s now
bigger than the Labrador.
But there’s a problem – now
Marley loves being inside so
much he doesn’t want to live
a sheep’s life outdoors.
‘Whenever we try to get
Marley outside he puts up
a fight. And he’s so much bigger
now, it’s not an easy feat,’ Ali
sighs. ‘When we do finally get
him outside, you have to be
careful opening the door, if he
notices it’s open he will make
a mad dash to get back in.’
So now the family have got
another sheep, a brown Ryeland
called Bear. ‘I knew we needed to
get Marley a sheep companion.
We want him to know he’s a
sheep and to be outdoors like
a sheep – after all he’s not very
well house-trained,’ Ali admits.
But Marley needn’t despair.
Once he is back outside again
he won’t have lost all his
creature comforts.
‘We do have a barn,’ Ali says.
‘That’s where he should be
staying – and it is nice and cosy.’MARLEY
IS HAVING
LESSONS ON
HOW TO BE
A LAMB
34
REAL-LIFE