What did you do today?

[Charlie Horse]

I had a dog encounter the other day. My neighbor has two dobermans that he treats like kids. Oh he's proud of them but they're young and love to chase. When doing so, he no longer exists to them and all the shouts in the world won't bring them back 'till they're good and ready. Out here we have a lot of rabbits so dogs that like to chase can get plenty of practice, yet never catch anything. Well, these dogs saw Victoria out front and came for her. I was working on goat shelter floors in the driveway and went over to her and straddled her while the dogs circled. She was a good girl and stayed in my protective bubble. Then the dogs spotted the rest of the goats in the back yard and it was a Benny Hill chase scene. Shelby, Bacchus, and Victoria grouped together and showed horns and stood their ground, while Amelia and Woodstock snuck under the gate and went back into their field to watch from safety. Vincent went his own way. Eventually the dogs got rounded up and taken home, but the goats were on edge for the rest of the day, some even preferring to skip yard grazing and stick with the safety of the fence.

Good dogs like that can still kill goats when the nipping and chasing turns to something more. Its harder for the goats when there are two of them. Anyhow. No harm but it was interesting to see what goats came to me for protection, what goats ran home, and what goats vanished.