× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! As some of you who have followed me for awhile know, I’ve really struggled with the concept of selling animals vs. not selling animals over the last couple of years. For those who don’t know, here are the two posts where I initially announced I would no longer sell animals and then backtracked that spring to say I was wrong and had regained my senses😅:
Category: Dogs
Realistic Expectations for Livestock Guardian Pups
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! I want to take a few minutes to address some common misconceptions about livestock guardian pups and what they can and cannot handle when they first come home. Housing There is an old school of thought that an 8-12 week pup should be immediately placed out with his stock to get to work. Some folks go so far as to suggest these dogs should be minimally interacted with in order to preserve the bond between pup and the stock he’s guarding. This is flawed, outdated and often results in bad outcomes. Just don’t do it, please.
10 Steps to Livestock Guardian Dog Wildfire Preparedness
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! It’s wildfire season again. Up here in eastern Washington, late summer brings us the perfect conditions for wildfires and this year seems to be even drier than normal. A spark can turn into hundreds or even thousands of acres in heart stopping short time. A fire several miles away can be at your back door before you’ve had time to make all the preparations necessary for evacuation. As I write this, we have 15 sheep evacuees and their companion livestock guardian pups taking it easy in a pasture on our place. While they’re resting comfortably, their home remains threatened and we await the news of the final outcome. My heart goes Read More
Creating a Feeding Station for Livestock Guardian Dogs
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! Before we got pigs, we just had a bowl of food out for the dogs free choice. Those days were so innocent, so pure, so carefree. Then came the pigs. <cue ominous music> Now, I’ve had all kinds of livestock for most of my life, but nothing prepared me for life with pigs. They are an entirely different animal altogether. I remember the first time we were moving two of our little sweet adorable piglets out of one pen and into another. Everything was going great, they were following a bucket of grain and we were thrilled with our success. Then they quit coming. I looked back to see those two Read More
Fencing for the Livestock Guardian Dog
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! My heart jolted out of my body for probably the 4,000th time in a month to the sound of a honking horn. In the weeks since moving to our new farm, situated right next to a paved road, it had seemed like one catastrophe after another and the honking horn was a sure clue that yet another disaster was unfolding right outside. Blaze, our benevolent Great Pyrenees, had once again escaped the pasture where she lived and was out on the road stopping cars. This is a 50 MPH road, so you can imagine the chaos that ensued. She would refuse to move, barking at these evident trespassers and nothing we Read More
When Your Neighbor Hates Your Livestock Guardian Dogs
× Looking for minerals and goat supplies? Head over to our shop at GoatCare.com! Nearly two years ago, we packed up everything we owned, including 17 goats and their 2 livestock guardian dogs, and moved to our new home, a beautiful paradise you see in all the photos on this website. It’s the place of dreams, a place I wake up every day and thank God for allowing us to buy. Here, at last, we could fulfill our dream of becoming a sustainable farm, able to withstand life’s financial and social storms. We were so eager to begin that we worked until midnight the day of closing to get our beds moved and sleep in our new home. We’d lived in the house we moved Read More