Everybody loves Baxter (well, maybe not)

When Baxter arrived he was the sweetest little guy and I was amazed at how well behaved he was for a stray.  Well, he's become very comfortable here and I'm quite sure he loves his new home but sometimes I  think he's gotten too comfortable.  There have been days I've been ready to send him back to the SPCA.  Just kidding.  It's not been as hard as raising a puppy but it has been challenging at times.

He loves to sleep by my side on the couch.  How nice it's been to have this cuddly warm body next to me while I'm on my laptop.  The other day he came down the stairs and climbed up next to me all innocent-like.   I saw a small piece of paper stuck to his mouth.  It read "cover story".  Huh.  I went up to our bedroom to see what he got into and found a magazine torn to shreds.  See that little red dot stuck to his mouth?   Dead giveaway, dog.  You could've blamed it on someone else.

Owning a small dog has taught me many things, such as, small dogs can find any hole in a fence.  I've patched 5 different holes so far and I feel certain this is just the beginning.  He wanted to get a closer look at the pigs across the road, so see them he did.  Those 3 holes have now been patched.

He wanted to find another way to get closer to the goats so he found the space at the end of the driveway between the bottom of the gate and the gate post which took him for a walk along the road.  I knew it was only a matter of time till he ended up in the goats' pen with Keri, the goats and donkeys.

Two weekends ago I moved the goats back from their 10 acre pasture to their small acre and a half.  I hated to do it because there's no grass in their small lot so they have to eat more hay.  I needed them close to the house though because kids are due any day now.   I can't wait to see grass growing again.

I've seen Baxter sit for an hour or more watching the goats, looking very content.  Today while I was with the goats getting ready to clean up their yard to make it safe for babies Baxter showed his whiskery face.  I really wasn't worried about Keri hurting him because I already knew she liked him.  I'd seen the two of them playing through the fence with tails wagging.   The 2 of them will even share a water bucket side by side.  Being a guardian dog Keri is supposed to dislike other dogs and keep them from her charges.  Of course she loves Lex because he was here when she was a puppy so he doesn't count.  Other dogs though are not welcome.  I guess Baxter isn't threatening.

Unfortunately, Baxter has a herding instinct.  He herded them all back into their small fence and ran in circles till they were in a tight bunch.  I wasn't able to stop him at first but when I yelled at him Keri would try to help.  As you can see, Pessa wasn't intimidated by him.

Pessa is due to kid in 5 days.  Check out her girth.

After a while Baxter calmed down and got used to the goats and began listening to me.  In this video the goats look bewildered as he eats their goat berries.

I thought to myself, how nice it is that he's lying down relaxing.   Then I realized he was probably relaxed because all the goats were in one place.

We should have babies any day now and I can't wait to post goat baby videos.  I've blocked the holes where I think Baxter got into their fence because I don't want him harassing the kids but I'm not feeling too confident I've secured the area.

Stay tuned for goat babies.