Sunday was beautiful, so Phil and I took Snowball’s new babies out into the big, wide world to do a little exploring. Pluto made sure they stayed safe. Dixie kept her distance. She tried to sniff the new babies the morning after they were born. Snowball had a very strong opinion about that, however. She backed up for a good running start and charged Dixie at top speed. She hit the dog broadside with all her force and sent Dixie rolling end over end across the goat yard. The dog let out a terrified screech, scrambled to her feet, and raced out of the pen like her tail was on fire. She hasn’t touched another baby goat since. If one tries to walk up to her, she gives them a sidelong look and quietly slinks away. I’m glad she’s learned not to mess with babies. I’d been worried about her because she can be very rambunctious and she plays rough. Baby goats won’t survive a dog playing rough with them, so I was wondering how I might keep Dixie away from them. But it turns out that Snowball had the matter well in hand!
The rocks offer lots of fun play opportunities for baby goats!

Pongo and Maya were excited to meet the new kids. Maya was excited to have someone smaller than her to bully. Pongo is a gentle soul and just wanted to introduce himself. He’s been so gentle with the new kids, just as he was with Balto last year. I’ve never seen another goat quite like him. Most youngsters are rough and enjoy bullying anyone smaller than themselves, but Pongo has never shown that tendency. Maya, on the other hand, got a few disciplinary whacks from Snowball before she learned to mind her manners around the little ones!

Snowball wasn’t sure she liked having her kids play on the big rocks. She very purposefully rounded them up and marched them over to the tires on the other side of the yard as if to say, “Babies your age should stay in the designated play area!”