goats and dogs - our first injury

Hey Permies,

I just wanted to post these pics of our goat after an encounter with what we suspect was the neighbour's dogs. We live in a predator-free area (an island) and Racoons are about the worst nuisance we have here for the chickens etc. It seems something got a hold on his ear through the fence and the wire eventually sliced it off. Although we did find the ear on the other side of the fence...

His tissue was so enflamed...it's much better now.




We improvised some bandages for a few days. Duct tape will solve almost any problem, or so it seems.

We also have a dog, and are sad that this happened because we love dogs and we love our goats as well. Plus to make matters worse, we are the new people in the area as well, so we are already "making waves" so to speak.

We are thinking about renaming him Vincent

Neighborhood dogs can be the worst predators. We use guardian dogs with our goat mob. The bears, mountain lions, and coyotes stay away because of the guardians, but straying dogs have had that wisdom bred out of them and will cause confrontations.

I have a total, utter 'no dog' rule at my place.

It seems that every time I've given someone a chance because they say 'my dog would never do something like that', it seems to be followed suprisingly quickly by 'I don't understand - he's never done anything like that before.'

But feral dogs are the worst. We seem to live in a dog-dumping area and are forever losing stuff to recently abandonded dogs that are after our poultry.

We are lucky in that we have not had neighbor dogs around here yet. However, I have a near zero tolerance for dogs harasing livestock. This is solved with an inexpensive 22 shell!
kent

Oh Lisa, that's so awful - your poor lil goat!

Our neighbour's dog killed one of our geese just as we drove back down our drive after being shopping. The owner was standing at the gate yelling at the dog!!! I felt like yelling "Just get in there and get your bloody dog out!" but my French wasn't good enough. Still the damn thing wanders across our fields and into our garden. We don't know how she gets in - grrrr. When we see her we do a 'petit chien' alert and the whole family goes on watch until she is caught and returned to her owners AGAIN. I know what you mean about not making waves but it's hard.

We have our own dog but he's a pyjama case (I can see Burra shaking her head) probably because he's been brought up beside 4 cats and they most definitely think he's bottom of the pile. He runs off if the hens come to look at any bones he's chewing... leaving the bone behind!!!

Little Larry, the goat, is doing much better.

What really bothers me about this, is that the people I suspect own the offending dogs told me with their own mouths that their dogs brought down a young deer while they were hiking, and they have also killed several chickens in the neighbourhood. Talk about making waves!! I took pics of the goat up to the owners and said I had notified animal control, but I thought I would let them know about the incident myself...as a courtesy. Not even two weeks later, the same dogs were at my friend's homestead (at least a mile away)! It won't be long before they meet an untimely demise at the end of a barrel if they keep this up...

I guess they don't really give a crap about other people's livestock!

I don't really know why I posted these pics, maybe just as a PSA to show that it's not always fatal, but all dog owners, myself included, owe it to our neighbours to be courteous and control our animals. This poor little goat will be getting rain and flies in his ear for the rest of his life....okay, maybe just flies. I've yet to see my goats venture out in the rain

Lisa

My daddy's long standing rule is: "If they really wanted that stuff [dogs, cats, etc.], they'd keep it at th'house."

Another piece of my daddy's wisdom is relevant to the topic at hand: "Go on and do whatever you gotta do and keep your mouth shut. Ain't nobody gonna ever know."

And my vote for an alternative name is "Evander" as if in Evander Holyfield.

Dogs are predators.
Domestic animals are prey.

Unless dogs are raised and trained to guard and herd then there is a good chance of the predator going for the prey. It's a very strong natural instinct. Don't be surprised that dogs not familiar with working livestock make errors. They can be trained but that takes time and patience. In addition to dogs there are coyotes, fisher cats, cougar, bears, lynx, ravens, crows, owls, hawks, eagles and other predators.

This is why we have a whole pack of livestock guardian herding dogs. They protect our livestock from predators. I wouldn't want to homestead or farm without their help. They eat the predators foolish enough to come too close. The smart predators learn to stay out of our fields and seek easier food elsewhere.

Form a partnership with canines - they're natural ranchers.

Cheers

-Walter
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
Read about our on-farm butcher shop project:
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/butchershop

In Idaho an owner may use any means necessary to protect their livestock.

after 12 years the score is:

1 goat
2 chickens
5 foxes
8 raccoons
2 dogs

I still have:

6 goats
4 chickens

and a 5 foot chain-link fence around the pasture and coop.

Hav-a-hart live animal traps work swell.