Clean sweep for brothers' woolly mates

Ollie (with Spider), Ethan (with Chilly), Jacob (with Sweet)

Mary may have had a little lamb, but the Larsen brothers have the prize-winning lambs around here!

The three siblings made a clean sweep of the championship lamb category at the Ngaere School pet day last Wednesday, with each brothers winning his individual age group in the championship lamb category.

"We're pretty proud of them," says mum Kelly Larsen, who says the boys are also pleased with their overall success. All three brothers agree it is all about putting lots of time in with your pet before the day itself.

"I spent a lot of time with my lamb Sweet, says Jacob (8).

"I lead it once a day every day and practiced calling it a lot."

Jacob says it is also important to keep on working with your lamb, even when things get hard.

"Never give up. That's the only way you can win at the end."

Ollie (5) says he also practiced with his pet lamb Spider a lot before the day, but thinks some of the credit goes to the lamb.

"Spider is awesome."

Ethan (10) says he worked a lot with his lamb Chilly in the lead up to the pet day, practising calling and leading, but also checking condition.

"You need to give it lots of time, check the collar and also make sure the lamb is happy."

Choosing the right lamb in the first place is also important, and the boys say they all spent plenty of time doing so when they went to choose them from Mr and Mrs Blackwell.

Jacob says his choice wasn't only a good one, it also helped him prove his dad wrong.

"I wanted Sweet, who was one of the biggest lambs, and Dad said it would pull me around too much but it didn't!"