I thought I’d better post a photo of Thumper, the resident Basset. After all, the blog is called “Goats and Hounds”.

Please pardon ALL of my photos; they are taken with the camera on my phone.

He likes to sleep on pillows. They’re such angels when they’re asleep, aren’t they?

The goats were baa-aa-ad today. I’ve been trying to teach them to stay off the porch (they “knock” on the door with hooves and horns). We finally ran some of the electric fencing across the entrance and they managed to figure out how to jump over it.

When I was cleaning the pig/goat pen, they decided that they needed to get totally rambunctious. They were chasing each other all over the place. I’ve never seen them that crazy! Naturally, they kept going onto the porch. Even when I tried to block their path, they just tried to ram their way past me.

So, I grabbed their leads (their leads are always on, unless they’re in the pig/goat pen, for this very reason, so we can catch them when we need to) and dragged them into the pen, with me. They didn’t like it much, because they’re used to being out of there during the day (in the main yard). I didn’t feel confident enough to be able to take them out to the mobile pen (tricky “door”), where they’ve been spending much of their time lately. They were being rowdy with the pigs, too; but they finally settled down and took naps. Thank God!

Then, when my sweetie got back from running an errand, we took them out to the mobile pen. We just brought them back into the big yard a little while ago… Yep, still being rowdy… So, we put the electric fencing across the entrance to the porch and then put a couple of boxes on the steps. So far, so good… No knocking on the door… Yet.

I decided to go ahead and post some photos of my boys.

Here they are on their first day at their new home. Ray is the gray one and Frank is the black and brown one.

As you can see, they were quite furry when they arrived. The gal we got them from had snipped some fur off of Ray; but Frank was too skittish to be trimmed, so he is in his full coat.

Here is Ray today standing up on one of the panels of their new mobile pen. As you can see, we were able to get most of his fleece trimmed off. At the time of this photo, he still had three small places that needed trimming. We have since taken care of them. So he is nice and clean, now!

Here is Frank enjoying some bark from one of the trees that’s currently inside the mobile pen. We were able to trim some of his fur. His coloring makes it hard to see, but we got most of the fleece cut on this side. We were advised to just pin him down or tie him up and just get it all cut off. But, we can’t do that. He’s already skittish and we don’t want to traumatize him any more than we need to. We just trim when he lets us, and we stop when he walks away. You can see Ray’s head at the bottom of the frame. He is such an attention hound! He was saying, “No mommy! Look at ME!”

We built the mobile pen out of cattle panels. It was placed in a nice, dappled-shade area, where they had access to trees, weeds and grass. Naturally, we put some hay and water in there; as well as a large wooden spool and a small end table. They enjoyed jumping around and stretching up to reach the tree branches. They played “King of the Hill” on top of the spool… Frank won.

I was working in the yard on that side of the property, today; so it was nice that they were able to see me and talk to me, all day. The boys enjoyed having a change of scenery, too. I think the mobile pen is going to work out great!

I was able to trim some more on Frank, finally!

He decided that he needed to jump up on a makeshift “table” that we have out in the yard. The “table” consists of two sawhorses topped with three wide boards. It’s such an unstable surface, I really don’t like the goats being up there – but they are nothing, if not determined. And until we come up with another solution, it will stay.

So, when he jumped up there, I said “If I let you stay up there, will you let me snip some of your fur?” and he did! So, I got busy with the scissors! A friend loaned us an old pair of dagging shears, but they scare me. Huge scary blades! So, I just used a small pair of scissors that I felt more confident handling.

He would let me snip for several minutes and then he’d jump off the table. A minute later, he’d jump back up and we’d continue with the trimming. This went on for about 45 minutes or an hour. I was quite pleased! When we were all done, he was running and jumping all over – head-butting his brother. It was a joy to see! He was obviously pleased, as well!

We had a birthday party to attend this afternoon and left my son home with the animals. He sent me a text a few hours later saying that the goats were on a rampage. Apparently they had messed up the “table” and the porch and they learned how to unplug the fence (hotwire). Oh boy! He managed to get them into the pen and turn the fence back on (pen and fence are on the same charger). We didn’t get home until after dark; but he warned me that we have quite a mess to deal with in the morning. I’m so not looking forward to that! I guess it’s time we evolve and add another layer of hotwire. They say there is no fence that will hold a determined goat; I’m certain this is true.

We left Thumper home, too. It’s so nice to come home to that wagging tail! He acts like he thought we’d never return; he’s so happy to see us. We don’t leave him home very often; so that greeting is usually reserved for visitors.

This is my first ever blog post. Really, I only got this blog because some other blog sites throw errors when I try to comment, without having a blog identity to log in with. So, here we are…

I live in Central Oregon with my fiance, four cats, three pigs, two goats and a Basset Hound.

Frank and Ray are our Nigora goats. They are wethers (neutered males); and we’re not planning on doing any breeding, at this point. But, we may decide to do so in the future.

Thumper is our Basset Hound. He is our second; our first boy, Max, died. We are hooked on this breed! We already know that when Thumper is gone, we will get another Basset.

Besides the animals, my interests are: spinning (the reason for the goats!), crochet, knitting and needle tatting.

I don’t know how often I’ll update this blog… Maybe I’ll enjoy talking to the internet and maybe I won’t… We’ll see.