Category: Animals

Baby Valentine Update

Our sweet little Valentines Day present is doing well. She seems to be putting on some weight, although she is remarkably smaller compared to my Saanan nanny goat babies.
I tend to be overly alarmed with every detail when it comes to babies but she is still doing well.

We are building a new “play pen” for nannies with babies. Hopefully it will be ready for them to venture into soon. I can’t wait for the typical baby goat playful acrobatics! I hope I can catch her in the act on video for you all!

Small critter and gate training time!

I’ve enticed 2 of my more adventurous male kittens into the main pen with the dogs, on 2 separate occasions. I wiggle a string on the end of a stick just cleverly enough the kittens can’t help themselves. They come pouncing through the open gate, enchanted by the squiggly prey.

On day 1 I stood 2 feet from the open gate, playing with the kittens and watching the pups reaction closely. Each time any pup became too curious to ignore the playful kittens I gave them a firm and sharp “NO”. Occasionally, I stomp my boot closely by them for added effect. Most times the verbal is all any of the pups required for direction.

The older pups of course learned quite quickly. Each of the boys needed only 1 verbal. The girl preferred to watch the others and learn from their scolding. The younger pups took several repeats before they would lose interest in the kittens and return to puppy play instead.

On day 2 I stood about 8′ away from the gate open 2′ wide and with the same playful kitten temptation. The older pups did not approach the kittens, but instead noticed them for a brief moment, then quickly returned to safe puppy play with other puppies. The younger pups required much more follow up from me. This was to be expected. None of them were interested in the open gate.

I always train my pups to only play with each other or other dogs, but not any other sort of animal. It’s too dangerous for the other animals, to allow these large breeds to play with your domestic or farm animals. I also train them NOT to jump on humans.

Briefly open gates should not be a worrisome issue with properly trained LGD’s. With the gate open about 2′ wide, I watched carefully for any curious pups and gave a good verbal direction for that too. They were much more interested in the kittens then the open gate, I will say.

This would be due to the fact that I’ve been doing repeated gate training with them twice per day at each feeding time for weeks now.

Kefir Cheese

I made some extra soft, creamy kefir cheese for sale tomorrow! Mild flavor so delicious. It won’t last long. Bring a glass jar to transport it as it is made with LIVE kefir beneficial bacteria and heated to only 98 degrees. So most of the bacteria is still living in there and will contribute to your health!

I enjoy mine spread on toast or homemade crackers with fresh chopped herbs or garlic. I love it in ravioli’s and lasagna or just a bit of it with some sliced peaches. Mmmmm what are some of the ways you enjoy your spreadable kefir cheese?
It is .75 per ounce

A Pup’s Heart

This video is a little sad because it shows the other twin baby goat that was still born. The reason I’m showing this video is to demonstrate how even these young pups understand instinctively that small creatures need protection. This pup does not quite understand that the baby goat is already dead, but he knows it’s sick or hurt and needs to be protected. He keeps the horse, the Billy goat and all the other dogs away from it. Gently licking it and nudging it to try waking it up. He only allows ME to tend to the frail little body. A VERY intelligent dog right here.