Hi Reader,
I hope you're doing great this week. I wanted to share this cute photo I got of one of my 7-month-old Maremma puppies on Wednesday.
Kidding season is due to begin any day now, so my farm helper and I were preparing the barn for bouncing baby goats. My goats normally live outside full-time with my Maremmas, but when kidding is imminent, I usually start putting them in the barn at night. This is to ensure they bond with their kids well before they go back out to pasture.
The Maremmas had dug some giant holes in the stall, so Kiley and I attempted to fill them in. Unfortunately, the dirt in the stall is like concrete, so even with pickaxes, we didn't make as much headway as we wanted to. After breaking up as much as possible, I let the goats in, hoping their hooves would do the rest of the job. I threw hay in the stall and released the herd from the other side of the barn.
As you can see, the goats brought a friend to the party!
Violet, one of our seven-month-old Maremma puppies, tagged along. The other puppies also visited the goats but left when I called them. But Violet was enjoying her time with the goats and didn't want to go. Because she is only a puppy, she is not ready for baby goat duty yet, so after visiting the goats for a while, she agreed to say goodbye for the night.
But she and her littermates won't miss the baby goat fun. My barn is made of livestock panels so they can watch the baby goats from outside the stall. This side-by-side, protected contact set-up is a great way to help young LGDs and delicate baby animals bond with each other without putting the babies at risk of being hurt or risking the puppies practicing inappropriate behaviors. These pups will enjoy this view for the entire kidding season and will learn so much this way. (The baby goats will also discover that big white dogs are their friends and protectors.)
Management is as important as training when it comes to raising LGDs.
Watch this video, where Violet displays her calm, quiet behavior with goats while the other puppies watch from outside the stall.
Let me know if you're looking for an amazing LGD puppy like Violet and her littermates. These wonderful pups are ready to go to work for you!
If it's dairy goats you need, I can hook you up with that, too! Baby goats will be bouncing around here like popcorn any day now. Nigerian Dwarf and Mini Nubian kids are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Don't wait or it will be too late!
How about you? Do you have baby animals (kids, lambs, chicks, etc) on the way or already here? It's that time of year! Share your baby animal and LGD pics if you like.
Don't be shy. Just hit reply and say hello!
Kim
P.S. Don't forget to join our free LGD and Goat Membership!