A farmer has taught her rescue sheep to become a proper gentle-lamb after showing him how to shake hands.

Tiffany Davis rescued Barney when he was just five-years-old and has been struck by just how clever the primera/highlander cross is.

Adorable footage shows the 33-year-old hold out her hand in front of Barney and asks him to ‘shake’ to which he promptly lifts his trotter into her palm.

Tiffany taught Barney how to shake hands like a gentleman after only 30 minutes of lessons having watched him how to turn a tap on to get water from a bore.

Tiffany said: “I was so happy when Barney did it. I knew it was possible but I didn't think he would get it so quickly.

“He got a lot of love when he did it and I think that encouraged him to keep going. Now he wants to do it all the time, just so he can get a treat.

“I decided to try to teach him after we saw him turning on the outside tap when he wanted a drink. The tap is turned on by pushing the handle down.

“Barney must have seen us doing it to fill up his water, and then started doing it himself whenever he wanted a drink.

“I thought if he can turn a tap on himself without being taught, what else can he learn. It only took maybe 30 minutes in total.

“I would hold his paw and say ‘shake’ and give him a treat or an ear rub, and then I would just say the word with my hand out and wait for him to give me his hoof. He caught on so quickly.

“We rescued him at five days old, his mother gave birth to triplets and he was the rejected one so we bottle fed him.

“Since Barney we have rescued nine sheep, six drakes who were dumped in the wild and have just finished our 'bird area' so we can start taking in chickens, turkeys and more.”