Sugar Holds the Gate
Sometimes when we’re putting the goats back into their pen I’ll ask Sugar to hold the gate while I round up a stray. Here she keeps three bucks in while I retrieve a stubborn nanny from the brush line.
English Shepherd Farm Dogs
The Daily Goat Dog Routine
Here on Roanoke Creek Ranch, there are usually three opportunities per day for goat dog training. Generally, the youngest member of the goat dog team comes along for early morning feeding. The interaction is safe, and the pup/young dog gets face time with the goats without any risk of confrontation or injury. This is a … Read more
3-Tool Goat Dog
Sugar is the most valuable tool on my ranch. She is what I’ve come to call a three tool goat dog. I’ve spoken previously about Sugar’s ability to help me move my goats from pasture to pasture. I’ve also written about Sugar’s ability to hold a goat while we’re in the catch pen so we … Read more
Liberty Makes the A Team
The orchard grass in the goat pasture was getting nibbled down a bit low. I felt it best to let the goats out of their confinement to ruminate freely around the ranch. With Sugar in season, it fell to Liberty to help me manage the herd for a few hours today while they were out. … Read more
My First, Best Friend
When I was a boy, my family operated a small general store. Part of my duties was to deliver goods to nearby homesteads and settlements. By far, my favorite delivery was to Mr. Bridges’ place. The Bridges’ lived on Factor’s Fork, where the old Natchez Road crosses Shoal Creek. Mr. Bridges himself was an older … Read more
Stock Training with Young Liberty
At this point in his young career, Liberty’s stock management training consists of taking him with me twice per day to feed the goats. He becomes used to the goats and understands that managing the goats is part of his daily routine. Liberty carries a long lead for the entire exercise. Chasing behind the goats … Read more
Liberty and the Fat Possum
Around here, my most valued dogs are the ones who listen well and listen now. Especially in a high-drive scenario. Those are the dogs who are the most useful to me, and the ones I trust the most. They are the dogs I select from and breed. Liberty has been going over to feed the … Read more
Old-fashioned Black and Tan English Shepherd Male Puppy Available
This Old-fashioned Black and Tan English Shepherd puppy is available for adoption. Other dogs from this line are used in hunting, vermin eradication, property protection, and livestock management activities. These are medium-sized, strongly built and active dogs. With intelligence, alertness, and companionship, this dog will fit well in an urban home, a rural home, or … Read more
Sugar in the Catch Pen, Picking Out Goats
We started keeping brush goats about eight years ago. We bought a male and a female, and grew the herd up to nine goats. They are our pets, each has a name. We’ve used them to clear underbrush, and I use them to to work my English shepherd’s dogs. Like any stock, there are regularly … Read more
If She Would Just Close the Gate
Sugar took the goats over to the pasture for me this morning. If she would just close the gate behind them and fetch them a bucket of water, I wouldn’t have to do anything at all.
Good Trade
This time of year, there’s a lot of deer hunting out in my neck of the woods. Freyja, my Anatolian cross, brings a lot of treats in to camp. When one of the English shepherd’s dogs get a hold of a deer bone, I make a trade. I’ll say, “trade” and offer her a stuffed … Read more
Nellie’s Buck
Today I live in Nashville where my eldest son is a prominent businessman. But this story begins thirty-one years ago. It was then that I married, in Jackson, Tennessee, as pretty a girl as that village had ever sheltered. She had been well brought up but had no fortune of her own to speak of. … Read more
