# We are excited!  **PICS**



## Goat of Many Colors (Jan 7, 2010)

Tomorrow I am going to pick up my first full blooded Nubian doe who may be pregnant.  I am also purchasing a 1 1/2 month old buckling!

All of our goats now are mixed breed so we are looking forward to starting our own Nubian herd!


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## ksalvagno (Jan 7, 2010)

congratulations! You will have to post pictures when they are home.


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## dkluzier (Jan 7, 2010)

Wonderful!!  Sounds like we are on the same schedule, sort of...  we got our first purebred nubians this past Fall!  Gotta love those Nubians!!


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## Goat of Many Colors (Jan 8, 2010)

I drove 3 1/2  hours to pick up the two Nubians today.  While I was there I also got a 8 month old LGD.  She was born and raised with the goats and chickens.    Here is a picture of her, the new Nubian Buckling (1 1/2 months) and my 3 months old doelings who I think are Nubian Boer cross  I just went out to check on them again and all of them are curled up in their shelter together.







Here is a close-up of the Buckling...Isn't he cute?  I love his "cowboy boots"






This is the Nubian doe "Sugar"  She can use some fattening up and looks like she needs some good minerals.  She was exposed to a full blooded Nubian Buck in November and could be preggers....we shall see.






The goats traveled well in the van but the poor dog (Boots) got very car sick.  We had to stop and clean up 5 times before we got home.


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## Roll farms (Jan 8, 2010)

Is the Nub doe still in milk?  (Just wondering b/c sometimes they get a might skinny while making milk and babies...and if she is, dry her off asap.)

Love her spots!  The buckling is cute.

Is that LGD a Pyr X Anatolian?  He's cute!  They don't travel well...


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## ksalvagno (Jan 9, 2010)

Cute goats. Love the spots.


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## Goat of Many Colors (Jan 9, 2010)

Thank you all for the nice comments.  Here is a picture of Sugar's right side.  We can play connect the dots!


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## cmjust0 (Jan 11, 2010)

She's a pretty gal...definitely needs some groceries, though.  Pretty animals.  

How's the dog taking all this?  We got ours at 7mo of age and he didn't know what to make of his new home for a while.  These dogs are inherently fearful of things being different...new sights, sounds, smells, routines.  To be moved to a new home is extremely traumatic, I'm sure.


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## Goat of Many Colors (Jan 11, 2010)

Roll farms said:
			
		

> Is the Nub doe still in milk?  (Just wondering b/c sometimes they get a might skinny while making milk and babies...and if she is, dry her off asap.)
> 
> Love her spots!  The buckling is cute.
> 
> Is that LGD a Pyr X Anatolian?  He's cute!  They don't travel well...


Hi RF... I just now saw your questions.  No, she is not in milk.  She is just very bony and her hips stick out badly.  I wormed her and she's getting all the hay she wants plus 3 cups of goat grain twice a day.  After only a couple of days I can already see improvement in her coat.

The dog (Boots) is Australian Shepherd and Pyr .. I have been calling her Lady Boots as I want to eventually change it to Lady.    I don't think she will be riding any more unless it is an extreme emergency!

The new little buckling (we named him Cowboy because of his black boots) is a Drama Queen!


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## Goat of Many Colors (Jan 11, 2010)

cmjust0 said:
			
		

> She's a pretty gal...definitely needs some groceries, though.  Pretty animals.
> 
> How's the dog taking all this?  We got ours at 7mo of age and he didn't know what to make of his new home for a while.  These dogs are inherently fearful of things being different...new sights, sounds, smells, routines.  To be moved to a new home is extremely traumatic, I'm sure.


Thanks CM....she sure does need groceries and I'm working on that.

Lady Boots went right in the pen with the 3 older babies with no problem.  To begin with she growled at my other two dogs when they came near the fence.  They have since made friends but after reading some things I don't know if that is good or not.  She does bark a lot when she hears other dogs in the area.  She'll look off into the woods and bark and growl under her breath but I haven't spotted anything.  We have a lot of Coyotes in the area so maybe she sees or smells them.  When I've went out at night to check, all of the babies are in the shelter and she is laying in front of them.  The only thing I haven't liked is when I feed her and the kids come over to sniff her bowl she  growls at them.  I understand they are very aggresive over their food.


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## cmjust0 (Jan 11, 2010)

Feeding the dogs seperately of the goats is always a good idea, not only to prevent fights but to keep each out of the other's food.

Yes, goats will eat dogfood, and yes, dogs will eat goat grain.  And, no, it's not good for either.  Dogs bloat quick on livestock feed, and dogfood contains ruminant parts which are a serious no-no for ruminants..  Amounts to cannibalism, basically.

We have the occasional goat wander way off to wherever our LGD is eating, and he gets reeeeeeally hinkie about it.  He starts this low, menacing growl and then SNAPS really quickly.  About 99 times of 100, that's enough to send the goats the other way.  

If they really wanted his food, though....he'd give it up.  He's a good boy.

Watch the Aussie in your dog, though..  Aussie = herding instinct = modified prey drive.  I don't like any prey drive, even modified, in a dog that's gonna stay with my goats 24/7.  

Just out of curiosity...will your new dog get excited and chase a ball if you throw it?


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Jan 11, 2010)

cmjust0
Watch the Aussie in your dog said:
			
		

> any[/u] prey drive, even modified, in a dog that's gonna stay with my goats 24/7.


This was exactly my reaction when I read Aussie X.  These two breeds were developed for very different jobs.  Do you know if this was an accidental breeding?  

I know it's quite common to outcross with other LGD breeds, but it seems like an LGD/Herding group mix could go either way.    Sometimes when herders are maturing it takes some training/intervention to ensure that modified prey drive doesn't become plain old prey drive.  Some seem to know instinctively the amount of pressure necessary, but I've seen others that don't have a lot of impulse control without a handler's well-timed correction.  Not that you'd want him herding the goats around all day anyway!


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## cmjust0 (Jan 11, 2010)

Not to mention, outcrossing to a herding breed will take a little size off the dog.  Could be a liability if/when it comes time to throw down with something out of the woods.


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## Goat of Many Colors (Jan 11, 2010)

Haven't thrown a ball for her.  I didn't want to make a playmate out of her.

Not sure if it was an accidental breeding or not.  The father was the Australian Shepherd.  I did not see him as he had been sold when the Boer Goats were sold.  The Pyr females were still there.  Both of them were in one of the goat pens.  When I got home I tried putting her in the big pen with my big doe and the Nubian doe she was used to but my doe was not having a dog in the pen.  She immediately cornered her and gave Lady Boots a hard butt in the side so I got her out of there before she could hurt her and until I have the time to spend in there with all of them.  

She is in a small pen with the babies.  It is only a 20 x20 with a shelter and play slide so there is no room for herding even if she wanted to. I stayed with them all from afternoon to early evening and didn't see anything alarming except for the one time of growling when a baby sniffed her pan.  They have all been together for 3 days now and no problems.  

Have I gotten a dog I should not have and I should not trust her with my kids?????


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## SDGsoap&dairy (Jan 11, 2010)

I don't have much experience with LGDs, so I really couldn't say trust her or don't.  But, it's certainly something to be aware of.  Herding dogs tend to handle livestock a little differently than those bred for guarding.

I have a newfoundland in the chicken pasture catching some rays as we speak and she's good with them.  She's not a traditional LGD breed, but she has zero prey drive.  Not much of a guard dog when it comes to people, although she does bark and looks imposing (if you aren't familiar with newfs that is ).  She does NOT, however, allow strange dogs anywhere near which is my main concern.


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## cmjust0 (Jan 11, 2010)

GoMC said:
			
		

> Haven't thrown a ball for her.  I didn't want to make a playmate out of her.


Well, that's good..  I was just curious as to how the dog might respond, as it might give some indication as to her level of prey drive.

We bought ours a soccer ball to knaw on, and I made the mistake of tossing it toward him like I would have any of our other dogs..  He just watched it from the time it left my hand until it hit him right in the side, at which point he jumped back like "Why did you just hit me with that?!?"  

He really has no idea what you're getting at if you throw a ball.  No clue what you expect of him.  That's what you want in a LGD, IMO



			
				GoMC said:
			
		

> Have I gotten a dog I should not have and I should not trust her with my kids?????


That all depends..  So far as I'm concerned, any big dog that tends toward fear aggression and has little or no prey drive could make a fine LGD.  I've said before that if I were forced to go looking for a LGD at a pound, I'd want the big 'dumb' one who growled at me, wouldn't listen to anybody, and had no idea what a frisbee was for.

The fact that your new dog has been OK with the stock so far and has already shown inclination to growl at other dogs, to me, is a pretty encouraging good sign.

I'm just saying..._watch that Aussie in her very closely._


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## michickenwrangler (Jan 11, 2010)

I love her coloring! Congrats! When's she due?


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## Roll farms (Jan 11, 2010)

If there's enough space in there for the kids to run, be careful...Your new dog is a pup, and pups sometimes play to rough.

I always suggest you let the older goats whip the tar out of the dogs, they learn real quick how to behave with goats that way.

You don't want her bossing, herding, or hurting the kids, you want the dog to be a part of the herd, accepted and tolerated.

I just posted this in another thread the other day, but it's really good info...

http://www.bountifulfarm.com/Greatpyrs.htm

I realize yours has Aussie in it, but if it's going to take after the pyr side of it's family tree, there are a lot of good links and info on that page.


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## doublebow (Jan 16, 2010)

Congratulations! your new goats are great and your cross bred doelings are so cute too! I love spotted Nubians!


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## mnblonde (Feb 7, 2010)

Just my opinon here~~~ i have a collie /Pry cross who is FABULOUS!! with my goats-I also have 2 aussies-they are also very good with the goats-thy dont herd them but rather hang out with them-the aussies were raised with herd animals-the Pry X was raised in town before we got the farm-My young Aussie pup can go into my chicken coop and just sit among them-if a chicken wanders off he will go to it and "push" it back to the group-never fast as he knows it makes the birds excited-   When i take the "girls" (LaManchas and mini manchas) for a walk the 3 dogs surround the group maybe 20 feet away and keep there eyes looking for predators. Coyotes are BAD right now!  I will agree that some herding  breeds are insane with herding/prey drive but in my experience-only with aussies-they learn a new job very quickly  Sorry so long   ta ta fer now!!
MNBlonde


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## Ranch Girl (Mar 3, 2010)

Aw, your goats are SO CUTE!!!


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