Shepherd(Metal Maiden‪)‬

The second in a New York Times bestselling author's wildly imaginative series about the nature of consciousness, set on a planet of unusual animals.
When Shep participates in the student exchange program, he finds himself in the body of a man on a rustic colony planet. Then a native sheep comes to the door. It seems Shep must become a literal shepherd, to his dismay. These are very special sheep, deadly, telepathic, and precognitive, and their will governs.
They also recruit a Vulture, a Python, and a lovely Elf girl for a dangerous journey. Then things get interesting. Soon Shep is deep in adventure and love. But he can't marry a native girl by proxy. Or can he? The most important thing he learns is to trust the sheep, no matter how wild it gets. Even when he returns to Earth . . .