One Goat's Escapade

      Well, I guess introductions will be done individually, depending on the escapades of the week. This week was Hubby's birthday, so we will begin with last week.
      I went shopping for Hubby's present with my dad. I locked all the critters in before I left. We have three pens, and I ended up rotating the monsters according to how close they were to each pen. The chickens went in the barn pen, the goats were in their normal pen, and the dog went in the chicken coop.
      I arrived home three hours later to find a goat in the chicken coop with the puppy!

The look of guilt

      The miscreant is our 'baby' goat, Rowdy (I think he was named appropriately). In order to set up what I think happened, I will show you pictures of the chicken coop/ goat pen.

This is the side view. The chickens live on this side and the goats are separated by a matching fence in the center. 

This is the back view, the white shelter is the chicken coop, and now you can see the goat pen. 

**** I started this entry about three weeks ago, so bare with me to remember everything to finish this!!****

      In both pictures you can make out a wooden boxy looking thing. That is the Goat's table. It is made of stacked railroad ties with a square piece of plywood on top. They love to climb and lay out on it. It is almost centered in their pen, making it a good five feet from any fence. 

     My theory is this: Rowdy was enjoying and relaxing when he decided to munch on some yummy sycamore leaves dangling just out of reach above him. He stood on the table, and still unable to reach, he stood on his rear legs (I have seen him do this many times). Somehow he must have caught himself with his front feet on the fence. He is a pretty big boy and I am fairly certain he can reach. Well, looking over the fence to freedom, aka full out buffet, what goat wouldn't go? I like to believe he said a quick Hail Mary before throwing himself over. Being a resourceful goat, he went through any cans that may contain grain, chicken food or anything tasty. He only found dog food. Not to be discouraged, Rowdy hopped up on the the dog igloo then to the roof of the chicken coop. By the way, that is why the goats lost the igloo to begin with. From here he is just a jump down in to the chicken pen with a 25lb bag of feed and a terrified 30 lb puppy. 

   The last obstacle was one he was not familiar with. It was a trap we used to shade and protect the chicks from sun and rain. A the moment it was pulled straight out to dry from an earlier rain. This is the point where Rowdy learned a tarp will not support a 150+ lb goat. 

In the end I came home to this, a goat gorging on chicken feed and a scared puppy wedged in the corner. This will always be the day When Goats Learn to Fly!     

Puppy's first visit to the beach!

Well, this is not the way I planned on starting the blog, but I am excited and a proper introduction will have to wait until next time. Today, we, the Hubby and I, took our six month old puppy to the beach for the first time.

 This is an old picture from about two or three months ago. 

Anyways, the Hubby had the day off, and we decided to take the mutt to Ventura Harbor. It is very dog friendly, with beaches, restaurants, and the shopping center itself. This is her first BIG day out. We stopped at Petsmart first, for a collar tag, clean up bags, wipes, and a toy. (not trying to advertise, this is just what we bought)  

Then, on to Ventura! She did really well. We do not have lawn grass or sand where we live. We mostly have dirt. Hard packed dirt...and some weeds. She was very skeptical about everything at first but warmed up in about ten minutes or so. 

She loves the water and has been swimming in the small creek at home. The waves were a little different, but once her dad (Hubby) went in the water she was happy to join him.

We spent about two hours at the beach. Then we packed up, and walked over to the shop and restaurant area. Last time we were there we had spotted a BBQ place with a pet friendly patio, Blackbeard's BBQ. I knew this would be a big test for the pup, with the servers, other patrons, and FOOD everywhere!

Once seated, she was served first, fresh water and a dog cookie. I held her collar under the table while we ordered and were served our appetizers. After about five to ten minutes and she realized she was not getting any of our food she laid down and sacked out. I was so proud of her! Thank goodness for all the beach excitement before hand, I think that really helped.

Anyways, the restaurant was awesome, the food was amazing! We will definitely be going back, with and with out the mutt.

Thanks for reading I will post an introduction asap, K