Two men traveling through desert with sheep, older one holds water in mouth to reduce thirst and blows tobacco on sheep to remove ticks

Question

This was a fictional story about 2 men travelling through the desert with a herd of sheep.

I remember one of the men was much older and wiser. He knew how to survive in the desert. He explains at one point the best way to drink water to minimize thirst is by only drinking a couple mouthfulls at a time and holding the water in your mouth for a while before swallowing. Also, I remember a scene where the old man uses tobacco smoke and blows it onto the sheep to get rid of ticks. Possibly took place in North America, maybe around Utah. I read it in middle school no later than 2004 but it might've been published decades earlier.

Answer 1

I am certain that this is "Old Ramon", a short novel from 1960 by Jack Schaefer, the author of Shane. It deals with the relationship between an old shepher, Ramon, and the son of his employer who has been sent by his father to learn from the old man as they move a herd of sheep across the Mojave desert to their summer pasture.

The advice Ramon gives about drinking is something I have often used myself on hikes:

“Two mouthfuls,” said Old Ramon. “That is enough at the one drinking. To drink often but only a small bit at the one time is the way to make the water last and do the most good. And you should hold each mouthful in your mouth for a time before you swallow it.”

As the poster recalls, at one point the sheep have a tick infestation. Ramon deals with it by lighting his pipe and blowing tobacco smoke through the fleeces of the affected animals:

“There is that in the smoke of the tobacco which kills the tick. But I will be puffing and blowing like this through most of her wool. Perhaps you will see how you can do as the preparer of the food....”