Basic Training

It has been 3 weeks since Aegis came to live with us. There are many things he will need to learn over the next months and years before we can really trust him to do his job. His first month here is all about basic training and there is a list of things he must know before he 'graduates'.

• He must know his name and respond when we call (that doesn't mean come, it means acknowledge that we are speaking to him)


• He must know that the goat feed is never his.


• He must wear a collar. His has a leather collar, with our phone number stamped onto it for identification purposes.


• He must know that he is never to do 'puppy play' with any of the goats or poultry. Never.


• He must know how to comply with a physical exam (we put him on the milking stand for this just like we do the goats) including looking in his mouth, ears, and examining and trimming toenails.


• He must know the command drop it . This is the most important thing to teach ANY dog, it could save their life one day. It doesn't matter what is in his mouth, when you say drop it , the dog should immediately spit it out.

He passed the 'drop it' test with flying colors yesterday. It was early morning and Rebekah and I were busy doing barn chores. I was in the milking barn when I heard these horrible shreaks and squeels, and heard Rebekah yelling at Aegis. I stepped out of the barn to see Aegis standing with a fledgling blue jay in his mouth, the parent birds flailing the top of his head, the goats standing around in awe, and Rebekah nearly in tears because he "killed" the baby blue jay! I yelled Aegis drop it and he immediately spit out the little slobbery screaming bird. The parent birds flew to the tree tops screaming, the baby was screaming, and I was beaming with pride that he did what he was told! I got the baby up and put it on top of the duck house...out of his reach, and away from the chickens....hoping the parents would tend to the little guy. After a brief fly by visit by mom and dad, the parents were gone. Late last night I brought him in the house and called a friend that has rehabbed wild birds in the past. I fed the little jay and covered him up, hoping for the best.

This morning he is still strong and doing well. If all goes well, tonight he will be going to the rehabber's house...where he will get the proper food and flying lessons so that he can be released in a few weeks.

He's not just a pretty face

Don't let that smiling face fool you. He WILL stop you at the gate if you try to grab one of his goaties... Of course he'll have to get that leaf off his nose first...

But until then he'll just lay here and keep the ground safe.

Fresh Food

Aegis is finally coming around to the fact that kibble is not an option here. Now if we can just get him to eat all his food before the chickens take it!

He finished his morning meal completely raw (we've been partially cooking to get him to accept it). 5 chicken necks. His afternoon meal was 6 hard boiled eggs. His evening meal will be 1 leg quarter....2 if he will finish them.

He looks a bit thin to me, but we gave him a HW preventative yesterday. At 15 weeks, he is at risk of HW infestation from his dam if she was not on preventative.

I had to scold him twice this morning about puppy play with the kids. He is very respectful of the adult goats, but I think he misses playing with his brothers and tries to play with the kids. We made it clear that it is not acceptable behavior.

Soon I hope to let Aegis and Grace play. I think it would be good for both of them, but Aegis has to know his job first.

A room with a view

This is the view from my kitchen window.....Aegis sleeps in the kid pen with the goat kids at night. He's doing a great job.

We also bought him a collar today. It's a nice solid leather collar and I stamped his name and our phone number onto it. It suits him well, wonder how long before he outgrows it, it's a 24".

He finally beginning to adapt to raw feeding. I bring the meat up to a boil then cool it, so that it's slightly cooked but not fully. I'm hoping he'll be on straight raw by next weekend.

He knows his name now.

Day 3

This is Aegis (right) and Gideon (left); before Gideon went to his new home.

Today was Aegis' first day out of the kid pen. We have kept him confined while he got to know us a bit, and while he got used to our herd. Since I planned to be outside working most of the day, it seemed like a good opportunity.

I attached my heaviest lead rope to his collar since I had no idea how he would react to being outside the pen. As soon as I opened the gate, he calmly walked the perimeter of the back yard then went out to the browse field with the goats. What a great dog!

I kept the lead rope on him for about a half hour until I was sure he wasn't going to start testing fences or doing any puppy play with the goats, he passed his first test with flying colors. He is certainly keeping a watchful eye on his goaties.