~ 30 Seconds... ~

[Cottage Cheese]

~ In 30 seconds,
People die,
Children are born,
And our loved ones are put in danger.

30 minutes ago, as I was penning up Poppy and Petunia; our pygmy girls, I saw the outlines of 2 dogs slink past our front gate, and into our yard. I swear my heart stopped beating for those 30 agonizing seconds. Suppressing a scream, I grabbed Petunia and shoved her into our kitchen, but Poppy was running off the porch and into the darkness. I grabbed a broom, jumped off the porch, bare footed,and into the mud, ready to fight for her life. Thankfully, they left; gone without a trace. Within 5 minutes, Poppy and Petunia were put away, safe for at least another day.

In 30 seconds
People die,
Children are born,
And my girls are alive.... ~

 

[lilhill]

Wow, that was scary. Glad you saw the dogs when you did and your girls are safe.

 

[Cottage Cheese]

Yes, thank you! Our " LGD " was sleeping inside my sisters room, soo he did not notice. Although I let him out to go check our acre, just to be safe; he came back empty pawed

 

[ksalvagno]

Glad your goats are ok. It is very scary when strange dogs come onto your property. You have no idea if they accidently got out and are just enjoying their freedom or if they will go after livestock.

 

[FarmerChick]

not being judging but seriously the guard dog needs to be outside 24/7 to be a true guarding dog. it usually is not an indoor pet at any time.
if you need him to do his job, we gotta let him do it and let the natural instincts kick in.

I know hard to do when we put them into pet category also


maybe a pet for the house and the guard dog outside
I don't know..LOL

 

[norcal]

Glad the goaties are okay. When it happened here, I screamed so hard that my neighbors (for sure) thought I was being murdered. I actually strained my vocal chord and was hoarse for a few days.

I wish I had more pasture-land, I would probably get a llama or donkey.

Off to buy some shotgun shells.

 

[no nonsense]

not being judging but seriously the guard dog needs to be outside 24/7 to be a true guarding dog. it usually is not an indoor pet at any time.
if you need him to do his job, we gotta let him do it and let the natural instincts kick in.

I know hard to do when we put them into pet category also


maybe a pet for the house and the guard dog outside
I don't know..LOL

I DO know, and you are right! I don't know sometimes why people have tools, yet refuse to use them. I don't know why people over and over again insist on letting their animals "free range" because the owners think it will make the animals "happy". How happy do they think the animals are when they get torn apart while still alive by dogs or other predators? And then the owners have the nerve to be devestated. We see it on these boards almost every single day. Keep your animals safely fenced, with fences adequate to keep them in and predators out. Keep the fences in good repair. Otherwise, accept that you're putting your animals at risk. Come to terms that you've made the decision that your animals are only worth the effort or money which you decided to spend in keeping them safe.

 

[norcal]

It's responses like this that alienate other folks here. You are not the expert. What do you know about my goats' life? I'd rather explore the world and possibly die than to be made to stay at home locked in my house my whole life.

But, whatever, just pass judgment.

 

[no nonsense]

It's responses like this that alienate other folks here. You are not the expert. What do you know about my goats' life? I'd rather explore the world and possibly die than to be made to stay at home locked in my house my whole life.

But, whatever, just pass judgment.

I see a lot of people here profess to "love" their animals, but few who speak up and advocate for them when they see potential dangerous practices being promoted. If that alienates people, I say that they need to reexamine their priorities. Explore the world and die doing it, by your own choice. The animals don't have a choice, and although I don't care to anthropomorphise what they do think, I doubt that they would choose momentary freedom from a safe barn and paddock if the result were death by predators.

 

[Roll farms]

I have to agree with one point here...

Most domestic animals aren't aware they're in danger and/or choose to go into dangerous situations.

As long as *we* are responsible for their safety, it's not fair to use 'freedom' as an reason to put them in danger...

We can decide to go wander through a forest and get attacked, then blame the attacker...but they can't make that choice.

We have good fences and good LGD's on our farm...for a reason.

I am thrilled the OP was able to keep her animals safe. Truly.

But it is up to US, as animal owners, to protect them, period...IMHO.

For me, the subject of protecting your animals (not this thread, just the general subject) isn't just an afterthought, or something to worry about 'when the time comes'...It's a main part of having them, as much as feed and care is.
I feel that a lot of folks don't realize what it entails until they have lost animals...so animals suffer for a lack of human consideration.