New Staff Member!

Meet Josh, our newest staff member. Josh is an almost 4 month old Great Pyrenees/Maremma mix and is the 2nd of our livestock guardian dogs. He is currently living with the goats in their enclosure to help him adjust to a new home.  He and his litter mates shared a pen with kids--the baby goat kind.  Josh is bonding with the goats and they, in turn, are learning to trust him as an ally and not a threat.  As he grows & matures he'll have additional opportunities to work with the chickens under both our and Sofie's watchful eyes.  We expect Sofie and Josh to share the responsibility of protecting all of our animals from predators.

Sofie showing concern for Josh when she hears him crying from his encounter with the electric fence

Josh met the goats as well as the electric fence netting.  The goats were less painful.  Poor Josh, what a shock he received when his wet nose hit the fence.  Ever vigilant, Sofie came immediately to see what had happened! The goats stood on their house and watched Josh for a while from a safe distance.

A funny thing about Josh is that he has six toes on his back paws. Our vet assured us that this is not unusual for Great Pyrenees breeds, but it is still a sight to see! We imagine his paws will be quite large when he is fully grown!

Josh's back paw with six toes