The video above begins with Arie attempting to play with Stinky the goat. Obviously Stinky doesn't want to play. He does a good job of keeping her in line though. He has horns and knows very well how to use them. Arie knows this because she has been on the receiving end of them before, so she uses great caution when getting near Stinky.
We obtained our two male goats from the town. Someone found them and turned them in to the dog catcher. The town asked us if we wanted them so we took them in thinking we could find homes for them at some point. Well, that was over a year ago and we still have them and now I'm very glad we still do. They are excellent training tools for Ariella. Being the rambunctious pup she is, Arie needs a firm response to her drive to play.
I could pull a couple older ewes from the flock to help train Arie but, that would disrupt the dynamics of the flock and these little goats are already isolated so it is very convenient to have Arie come visit them.
I've been putting Arie in with Stinky during the day while I'm out and about working around the farm. They are located in a strategic area where I can see from just about any place, that they are doing well together. So far it is working out very well. Arie seems to like being with Stinky. Guess she doesn't mind the smell.
As the video progresses Arie spots me kneeling down in the grass over a hundred feet away filming her on zoom. She doesn't realize it is me. She knows there is something familiar but, can't quite make out what it is, so she doesn't give a full out response. Normally if she thought it was some kind of intruder she would be way more fierce. She becomes very intense when she really believes it doesn't belong.
In the video you can see the new bright florescent orange collar I got her. With the deer hunting season coming up I thought I'd better get her something like that to wear just in case she ever were to escape an enclosure, heaven forbid. Deer hunters are known for shooting just about anything that moves and if she did get out this collar just might save her life.
On a side note not related to the video, a few nights ago I had to butcher up an injured turkey. I had Arie out with me and with the sites and sounds of it all she became very alert, her senses being very acute. I had her tied up a short distance away and she became very upset at what I was doing, barking intensely. So I brought her near to let her get a good look at what was going on. She gave the dead turkey some good sniffs and seemed content to lay at my feet and snarf up what ever scraps might fall her way. Well, a few moments later a couple of our farm cats came around and she went after them like she wanted to do them in. I'd never seen her do that with the cats before. If she was a grown dog I think she might have tried to kill one of the cats. As it is she still has puppy teeth and I don't think she could if she tried but, still the drive was there. I'm not sure what it was all about. Maybe she was guarding the "kill", I don't know. Or maybe she thought the cats were responsible for spilling the turkeys blood. It's hard to say. Nonetheless she went after those cats like I've never seen.
In my opinion Arie is progressing very well. A couple issues to have to work out but, I would think that is normal. She is fast becoming an excellent guard dog. Even though she is still a puppy and is not fully equipped to fend off any real threats, the fact that she is alert and will bark at things that don't belong is already a huge improvement.
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