Wonder Dog
Kayla herded goats today.
She sneaked into the enclosure with Drew and me when we went to move a trailer. There are 33 goats inside this 1-2 acre fenced in area. There is a patch of woods, a large garden, and a couple ramshackle barn structures.
Drew and I went to deal with the trailer and Kayla silently slipped off. She came back with 29 goats, driven, as a group, out of the woods. She then cocked her head to one side, disappeared again, and four goats broke from the woods a few moments later with Kayla in tow.
She was silent, never barked, never bit that I could see. Just moved them with her collie eye and body language. The goats really respected her, all staying bunched despite there only being Kayla sitting relaxed and glowing some yards to the side of the group. When it was time to go, I whistled to my dog, fully anticipating having to drag her from her goats, but she looked at me, grinning, and came running the moment I called. I was surprised and impressed. She looked like she knew she had accomplished something exciting.
I'd never seen her herd before. She's never had the opportunity. It was amazing. I wish I had my camera on me. I told Ruth what happened when I went back in and she thought it was awesome and immediately asked if Kayla could repeat the process tomorrow and every day after. If we could use her to gather/move the goats, our jobs would be a lot easier come feeding/vaccination/whatever time as these goats are new and don't trust us too much yet. We just have to keep her separate from our guard dogs... especially Xena so she doesn't get eaten.
I <3 my dog. I <3 her so much!
She sneaked into the enclosure with Drew and me when we went to move a trailer. There are 33 goats inside this 1-2 acre fenced in area. There is a patch of woods, a large garden, and a couple ramshackle barn structures.
Drew and I went to deal with the trailer and Kayla silently slipped off. She came back with 29 goats, driven, as a group, out of the woods. She then cocked her head to one side, disappeared again, and four goats broke from the woods a few moments later with Kayla in tow.
She was silent, never barked, never bit that I could see. Just moved them with her collie eye and body language. The goats really respected her, all staying bunched despite there only being Kayla sitting relaxed and glowing some yards to the side of the group. When it was time to go, I whistled to my dog, fully anticipating having to drag her from her goats, but she looked at me, grinning, and came running the moment I called. I was surprised and impressed. She looked like she knew she had accomplished something exciting.
I'd never seen her herd before. She's never had the opportunity. It was amazing. I wish I had my camera on me. I told Ruth what happened when I went back in and she thought it was awesome and immediately asked if Kayla could repeat the process tomorrow and every day after. If we could use her to gather/move the goats, our jobs would be a lot easier come feeding/vaccination/whatever time as these goats are new and don't trust us too much yet. We just have to keep her separate from our guard dogs... especially Xena so she doesn't get eaten.
I <3 my dog. I <3 her so much!