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Sheep therapy

Hope

I think sheep are very relaxing.  I love the sound of them munching the grass, their baahing, the way they look at me with their smiley faces, and the sheepy smell. Whenever I am in a field of sheep, my anxiety levels slowly start to go down until I get to the point when I begin to feel at peace. I know that horses are often used in therapy, but could research be done on 'sheep therapy'?

  • There is a petting farm in Hampshire called Millers Ark.  They have open days throughout the year.  All the animals (including sheep) are hand reared and you can sit in their stalls and brush / stroke them for as long as you like.

    Lovely place, well worth a visit.

  • Hello, I am not autistic, or high on the spectrum at least, but I wanted to respond to your lovely post about research into sheep therapy. I don't know of any research, but as I was just Googling 'sheep therapy' myself, I want to add this. I am stock checker or 'Looker' for a countryside conservation project in Surrey. It's a volunteer role that I have been doing for about 4 years. I look after sheep once a week for about three months at a time whilst they are grazing a particular site. I have learnt so much about sheep in this time from spending time with them, observing them, and doing the health checks I volunteered to do. I am sure if you or anyone wanted a get a little closer to sheep then there would be an organisation, usually a charity, one of the wildlife trusts or a project linked to a local council, who would absolutely love you to be involved. I haven't met a sheep yet that hasn't made me happier by just being in their lovely presense and I can highly recommend 'stock checking' as a way to get a little closer to nature and sheep :-)

    I don't know if that helps at all but I wanted to share with you just in case. And I would love to do research into sheep therapy :-)

    Ok, that's it, I hope that helps in some way.

  • Funny, I would have expected that the point of reincarnation was that you get to see life from many different points of view so you get "well rounded", and you should expect to be reincarnated as something as different from a sheep as possible...? But I wouldn't know.

  • If  reincarnation exists, then I would be reincarnated as a sheep because I share many attributes with them: I am timid, easily startled by objects in my environment, always on high  alert, independent, but needing company. And I love eating!

  • I go and see the sheep casually in the countryside, on my own, every Saturday. I live near the countryside, which is a 15 minute bus ride away.

    I was just thinking that organized trips could be arranged on a similar principle as horse therapy.

  • Do you have some sheep in your neighbourhood and you casually visit them? Or do you mean, you wish there was a regular trip offered to where the sheep are?

    I would consider spending time in the countryside (anywhere away from noise and people) relaxing too, and sheep or other calm animals would just be a plus. Smile I bet having more parks and animals in cities would be a simple solution for several human stress issues (even for NTs). Instead they fill every last bit of space with buildings and streets... oh well.

    Someone here mentioned last month they wanted to start a vacation farm, maybe get in touch with him? And somebody else recommended becoming an assistance dog trainer for puppies; for the trainer it's like a free therapy, and for the dog agency it's volunteer work, I guess that's how the person got the job. And think of Temple Grandin who liked to work with animals and turned that into her job, too. I never saw a job opening for sheep trainers though. If you could work as a shepard (does this occupation still exist?), then you'd get all the sheep you'd ever want and you'd even get paid. :-) 

  • have you thought of having another dog (or cat) they can be quite theraputic? I don't have one but think I might one day.

  • I like Golden Retrievers and friendly breeds that I have been introduced to, but I have a severe phobia of 'aggressive' dog breeds and guard dogs and snappy dogs. I used to have a dog of my own, Jessy, who I grew up with. She was a welsh spaniel cross welsh collie, and was red and white with a long bushy tail. She was a medium sized dog, and was very friendly. I loved her so much. I would spend hours cuddling her, kissing her, holding her paw, tickling her tummy, stroking her floppy ears. She died when she was 16 and I was 15 - she had to be put down because she had kidney failure.

  • I like cats and dogs (friendly ones). I feel more comfortable with them than their owners.