I don’t know if any of you have ever had to do this.  I’m going to tell you a little about how it goes on down here & although I’m going to keep my stories to those of selling animals, the same thing happens no matter what you’ve got for sale.

I put a lot of work in putting up accurate descriptions of what I have for sale.  I list everything I possibly can about each individual animal.  I also put up pictures & videos & links to more pictures & more videos.  I also indicate what I’ll do for them in the price I list.  Vaccines, worming, hoof trimming….  I’m also very honest about their level of “tameness/friendliness”.

If you compare my animals to any other offered online either via craigslist, my local LSN website or any other out there, you’ll see that my animals look much better than most available.  My prices are very fair & there’s a reason why some doelings are $100 while others are $75.  If you read the description, you’ll clearly see why.

In any case, the reason I’m writing all this is that once you’ve seen my listing, you’ve learned enough for you to make a decision if you want one of my goats or someone else’s.   At this point all you need to do is email me or pick up the phone to make an appointment.  Easy, right?  Too bad that’s not how it works.

Here’s a scenario… Mrs So & So calls and talks my ear off for 10 minutes about how she’s always wanted a goat for a pet.  Then she says she’s been on my website and want’s to know what I have for sale… duh?  They’re all there lady…  After I spend another 10 minutes asking her what she wants (adult, doeling, buckling, etc.), she asks me if she can come now.  Seeing that I want to be accommodating and that I do want to sell my goats, I rearrange my schedule and make sure I’m going to be here when she & hubby arrives.. after all, it’s an hour drive and I wouldn’t want her to show up and I not be there.  Well, do you think she shows up?  Nope.  Do you think she calls?  Nope.  Not only did I waste half an hour on the phone with her but I changed my schedule to accommodate her.  You would think she would have the decency to call to say she’s changed her mind.

Then there are the people that start off right and I send them a Paypal invoice for a deposit.  Lady gets the requests and emails me to ask if I can wait until the end of the week for her to send the payment.  She really, really, really wants these 2 goats but she doesn’t deposit her paycheck until Friday.  Okay.  I understand.  I’ll wait.  And I turn down a sale because this nice lady has dibs on 2 goats.  Friday comes & goes & I have to resend an invoice reminder.  The next day I get an “I’m sorry” email… “I’ve changed my mind”, says the nice lady.

Here’s the best story (& probably the one I understand the least).  Lady calls from Ashville, NC., around 3 pm on a rainy Sunday afternoon.  She really, really, really wants 2 of my goats and asks if she can come that day.  I tell her that she’s at least 3 if not 4 hours away.. wouldn’t she like to wait to start in the morning?  Oh no she says… I really want them & my husband doesn’t mind driving at all.    They don’t have a GPS so I tell her which exit to get off and call me at that point & I’ll give her further directions.  I even hear her say, “Honey, they’re off exit 347 on I40 East!”   She’s so excited she says, she can hardly stand to wait!  Twenty minutes I spend on the phone with this lady while she’s on my website asking me about each goat listed!

At 7pm no one is here and I’m at the barn for evening feed… I call her up and I’m so sure she’s on her way that I just ask her which exit she’s at.  She asks me to hold & I hear her say, “She want’s to know what exit we’re at?”.  The husband comes on and says, “Huh?  We’re not making a 6 hour trip at this time, what are you talking about?”.   At this I say, “What?”  YOUR wife said you were on your way, what da heck?”  He has the nerve to say that he didn’t know his wife said they were coming and by the way, they don’t have any money right now any way.  I kid you not.  This is the truth.

What is wrong with people? I actually posted about this a few years ago – you might want to read about that experience.

People don’t understand that when you reluctantly hand me $100 for a goat that I’ve kept & nurtured for a year, the value of that purchase is more like $300.  All the time & money that I’ve invested in that little creature (not to mention the TLC), adds up to a lot more than $100.  Especially if you’re the person that kept me on the phone for 20 minutes, had me reschedule my day and then spend 45 minutes “shootin’ the sh**” when you pick up your animal.  And that’s if you buy a $100 goat!

Most folks are truly oblivious of this when they buy from private sellers, whether it be animals or anything else you find online.

Don’t get me wrong… I love talking about my pets & I want to be sure you know what you’re getting into when you buy one of my animals but for crying out loud, don’t waste my time.  You know who you are.  I cannot believe that people who don’t have the money can call in the first place!

I did have one wonderful experience earlier this week.  A very nice young lady called – she pretty much knew what she wanted & she also had over an hour drive to come here.  We made an appointment & she said she’d call when she was about 30 minutes away.  And she did!  Then she got here with her adorable little girl and her mom (Gramma).  I almost had a heart attack… this young woman & her little girl pretty much knew all of my goats by name!  You could tell that these 2 had done their homework!  It was such a joy spending time with them!   I hope they read this post…  Thank you ladies for being so informed & knowing what you want!

A man once told me something very wise & profound that I’ll never forget.  He said, “If you want to make a small fortune with goats…. start with a large one!”.

Well, we’re back to Zipper… for some reason we Skipper/Skippy just didn’t work for her!

Let me start by the beginning.    Early December I noticed that my neighbor down the hill had acquired a Border Collie puppy.  This would seem appropriate for him as he deals in cattle.  Buying, selling, transporting…  so using the talents of this kind of dog was natural.  He had her in a 4 x 8 pen that held a doghouse & a bucket of water.

About a week after I noticed the puppy there, I also realized that I never saw Randy take this little dog out.  At this point, I’d stop & visit the puppy every morning on my way to the barn.  I really couldn’t drive by without stopping… she’d sit between her dog house and the side of the pen and very submissively bark & wag her tail.

She had ample shelter but didn’t have a view of anything until whatever it was would pass in front of her.  On her right was the barn wall and on her left was round hay bales.  All she could really see was my driveway.

It was tearing me up to see this beautiful little dog confined this way.  Border Collies are extremely high energy dogs and are meant to work.  One of this dog’s mission is to please humans.  She had no company whatsoever. Mouse would occasionally make it down the driveway and check her out but that was it.
Just before Christmas I called Randy & briefly talked about his dog.  His comment was that she had food, shelter & was not mistreated therefore I shouldn’t worry about her.  He just couldn’t understand that dogs need more.   I finished the conversation by saying that if ever he wanted to part with her, I’d be happy to help him find her a good home.

My visits continued.. at one point I removed her collar.  She had grown out of it and Randy obviously hadn’t noticed that it had become very tight.  Not life threatening but certainly very uncomfortable.  Every day I would tell Scott how bad I felt about the little dog… and every time he’d respond by say, “Christine, you can’t save them all”…

Well, last Tuesday night (January 12th), after I had just stopped and given the puppy a few treats, I pulled into my driveway and saw that Randy had followed me up.  I greeted him with a smile saying, “Are you coming to give me crap because I’m giving your dog treats?”
He responded by saying, “No of course not… I just want to find out if you want her.  I’m having to move and I can’t deal with a dog at this time”.
I was flabbergasted!  I really didn’t want another dog.  Dealing with Mouse was tough enough… a Border Collie?  Not sure I wanted to sign up for a 15 year contract again – especially so soon after Sheba had just passed.  What was I to do?  There was no way this little dog could stay there!  So I said I’d take her!

After my barn chores the next morning I went to get her (she was only about 100 feet from my barn).  She was so excited!  As far as I know, she’d never been on a leash and we did get tangled up several times but we made it to the barn.  She was very skittish and everything around her intimidated her.  She looked at the goats strangely…  then there was this gleam in her eyes and it was like she made a realization… “Hey, this is where I’m supposed to be!  I’ve got animals to gather and herd!  Yay!!!!”

She spent her first day inside the barn area but when I returned the next morning, she was so happy to see me that I just couldn’t leave her by herself.  We decided that if she was a “good girl” she could share the house with Mouse,  our Bichon Frise.

And what a joy she turned out to have around!  She’s a smart dog she is and such a quick learner!  For her first night I tied her on a short leash to the dresser next to my bed.  Besides moving around a lot, she was relatively quiet.  I can’t trust her loose – she has a tendency to get “chewy” – if I catch her in the act, a stern “No!” has her stop immediately but if I wasn’t there, that item would be totally destroyed.

Her and Mouse get along well enough.  Zip wants to play and Mouse doesn’t quite know how to respond to this overly excited, yappy and brave little dog!  They have moments where we either have to scold them or just send them outside.

Zip’s natural instinct to herd and gather has gotten growls and snarls from the rest of the pack…  “Who is this dog who want’s us all together?  What is this all about?”  She also “stares” a lot at the other dogs and it appears she’s staring right in their eyes.  To the big Mastiffs, this can mean a standoff – but it’s not at all Zips intentions.. it’s like she’s saying, “Now what? Now what?  I’m ready, let’s do it!”

Scott & I are happy she is with us.  So what’s another extra muzzle to feed?  In the big scheme of things, it doesn’t really matter.  This beautiful dog needed a good, loving home and she found that here with us.  It also makes me very happy to see that Zip is as attracted to Scott as she is to me.  The first day she was here I thought this dog would never leave my side but she has adapted well and knows her rank in the pecking order with the other dogs.  Now if Mouse can just stop squeeking!

The funny thing about the addition of this new dog, Mouse has become a little more attached and loving towards Scott & I.  Until the arrival of Zip, Mouse would spend most of her day (and evening), outside with the Mastiffs.  It’s like she preferred their company to ours.   Now she’s always with us.

Yesterday Zip’s crate came in and she spent the night in it.  I  heard her whine a little but she calmed down very shortly after all the lights had gone out.  Her crate is not in our bedroom (neither is Mouses’), and I was afraid that she might be a problem – her first night in the crate.. it could have been ugly!  But it wasn’t.. she was the perfect little dog!

I’m amazed at how quickly she learns and how delicate she is with us.  She always comes when you call, practically sits on your feet and gently lifts her front paws.. but oh so gently, and sort of stands against you.  I know I shouldn’t allow it but she’s so gentle about it!  Her favorite toys are my old pink plush slippers!

At this point, the most difficult issue to resolve with Zip might never be resolved because of her natural herding instinct.  She loves to come to the barn but absolutely cannot resist chasing/herding the goats!  She scares them nearly to death!  A few bigger goats like Annabelle & Noelle aren’t impressed but the little ones just run and run.  Zip doesn’t even try to touch them.. it’s just about making them move!  I’m trying to keep her on a leash at my side while I tend to the goats but it’s not easy, not to mention that Zip is just so excited about it all!  I’m going to have to look into the special training she’ll need to make barn visits easier on the goats, and ducks, and chickens, and horses, and llamas!  Zip will try to herd/chase anything that moves when she approaches!

We’re very happy with this lovely dog & I’m sure she’ll be with us for many more years to come!

Amidst the puppy activity Scott said to me, “Honey, I’d really like a “guy” dog!” He didn’t know much about dog breeds & left it up to me to find the perfect pet to add to our already busy canine household. I knew right away he’d love a German Shepherd. They’re big but gentle, protective but loving and extremely smart.

I found a family in Royce City, about 45 minutes away, who had a large litter of pups to choose from. We met the folks and were able to see both the dam & sire of the litter. Daddy was HUGE & scarey looking but he was exactly what Scott wanted in a “man” dog.

Scott picked Sheba (her name hadn’t been chosen then) – or more than likely Sheba picked Scott & off were were to introduce this 8 week old bundle of paws & ears (she had yet to grow into those), to our clan of little fuzzbutts.

We decided to name her Sheba because we’d figure she’d be the queen of the dogs in our household. Well, that was what WE figured. The Chihuahuas hadn’t agreed to that. It didn’t take long to see that Sheba was at the bottom of the pecking order and she didn’t rule… not yet!

Eventually they all got along and became one big clan. I don’t know if Sheba became to think she was just an over-sized Chihuahua or if the Chi’s thought they were under-sized GSD’s but they all got along perfectly!

Through the years Sheba grew into her role as family (and Chihuahua), protector. We traveled in a motor home extensively for a few years as our business led us from one location to another. Sheba always did well and it was a great assurance to know she was always “on guard”. Of course the Chihuahuas were the “first alert” system but all it took was one deep GSD “woof” and anyone coming to the motor-home was immediately cautious.

Probably the nicest thing about Sheba was her devotion & attachment to both of us. Usually German Shepherd dogs are attached to one member of the family. But not our girl. She would get very nervous if one of us left. It was like she felt she couldn’t do her duty as protector if we weren’t together under her watch.

As the years rolled by Sheba just got older… Years of jumping in and out of the truck bed (her favorite place to lay whether it was moving or not), had given her arthritic shoulders. We’d often call her “Hopalong”. However, if she thought she saw something in the field, she was off! She’d love to chase the White Tailed deer but all she ever caught was the occasional squirrel.

We knew Sheba didn’t have many years left with us. German Shepherds start getting old real fast by the time they’re 10 but our girl was doing pretty good. She had a great life & roamed our property at her will. She’d never been chained or restrained in any way. But she did start to slow down and became very temperamental with the small dogs. Earlier this year she mortally wounded Rocky, our 4 lbs Chihuahua. Late this summer she severely hurt Taz, Rocky’s little brother. The relationship with the 2 of them was never the same. Little Taz stayed as far away from her as he could. As a matter of fact, Taz hasn’t been the same since then!

Mid-November we returned from our cruise to find that Sheba had lost lot’s of weight during our 8 day absence. Tim confirmed that she did throw up most of what she ate. We brought her to the vet who couldn’t find anything wrong with her except for a small case of roundworm and a low white cell blood count. She was on antibiotics for 10 days and seemed to do a lot better.

At this time we had brought Sheba to live with us in our house – she had spent the last year living at the “office” with Angel, Taz, Mandie & the 2 cats. She took great pleasure in this “treat”. The only reason we hadn’t brought her in before was because of her incredible shedding! I felt it in my heart that Sheba was seriously ill and thought she deserved to finish her life in the house. She’d been so loyal and loving for the past 10 years, I owed it to her to live with the fur floating all through the house!

She continued to loose weight and vomit everything she dared to eat. We brought her back to the vets and they kept her. They did exploratory surgery to see what was blocking her intestines (the barium radiology didn’t show anything), and only found a horribly inflamed pancreas. Cancer was highly suspected and a biopsy was sent out.

I visited her on Friday the 18th of December. She wasn’t doing well at all. She was on IV and didn’t perk up at all when she saw me. She got up and vomited a pool of blood. I told the vet I was coming by the next day with Scott & we’d let her go…

The vet called Saturday and said she appeared to be doing a little better… Sheba had asked to go out. She was on different meds and the vet suggested we give her until Monday. Well, early Monday morning Dr. Bristol called and said she was going downhill fast. So Scott & I headed up there. I brought her old stinky dog blanket/bed and laid that in the truck bed.

Dr. Bristol brought her out – by then she was just a sack of limp skin & bones. She’d gone from a 110 lbs dog to a barely 60 lbs dog in less than a month. As she was laid there, weak and looking so defeated, Scott started talking to her and she lifted her head and looked in his eyes and I could swear that she smiled at him. It was like when she saw him, a certain peace came to her.

As she lay there in her favorite place in the world, while Scott & I comforted her, Dr Bristol led her to Rainbow Bridge

We had her cremated and her cremains will be disbursed throughout the field where Sheba loved to run and chase squirrels, bunnies and sometimes White Tail deer.

Sheba, we loved you so much… you are missed and thought of often…

I wasn’t getting any contributions and it just became something else for me to manage.  Then I had some “fans” who were sending me pics and there was no way for me to post them without spending huge amounts of time formatting and stuff.  I was just wracking my brain trying to figure an easy way to do this!

A week or so ago my smart (& handsome), husband created a Facebook account for our business… (light bulb coming on)…

So here it is!  Crazy Goat Lady now has a Facebook fan page!

You’ll need a Facebook account to get started – so, if you have one, just click the Facebook link on the right hand side of my website & you’ll be right there!

I think using the Facebook  “discussions” tab will be an easier way to get input and put out ideas than it was with my forum.

If you think there’s anything else that I can do to improve my site or the contents, please let me know.  I’m always open to new ideas.

Christine

The Crazy Goat Lady!

Wouldn’t you know it, with everything that we have going on we just had to have another responsibility!  I couldn’t leave well enough alone…no, I just had to have a dog in the house.

I didn’t care whether it was pure bred or not, it just had to be small (cute), and of course non shedding.  Not having a dog in the house for the last few months we had grown used to having a dog hair free home and that was one thing neither Scott or I was willing to sacrifice.

So I scanned the local internet advertising sites.  By the way, you cannot list animals for sale on Craigslist unless they are livestock/farm animals.  My favorite site is the local sales network There you can open a free account and post any kind of item you have for sale.  It’s directed to mid/east Tennessee residents but I have in many cases traveled 2 hours to purchase the perfect animal.

I found our little princess via “Oodle” which directed me to Petfinders Through this website I came across a wonderful lady that breeds Bichons.  I called BJ and we spoke a bit.  She then emailed me pictures and as soon as I saw the little munchkin face I was done!!!

So here she is our little “Mouse”.  She’s a registered Bichon Frisé and she was born April 9th, 2009.  She’s nearly paper trained but we need to keep a close eye on her and not let her roam the house.  She’s adopted the kitchen area behind the island and that suits us just fine.

Last night around 11pm I locked her up in her little crate and she only whimpered once.  I let her out at 6:20 this morning and she played a bit and then peed on the paper.  I had to leave her alone for about 20 minutes and I didn’t want to crate her again.  When I returned she was on the rug in the kitchen and there were little doggy turds on the paper!  Wow!  I was sure she’d head for the rug in the dining or living room but she was a good girl!

It’s very hard to take pictures or videos of her because she just wants to poke her nose in the camera!  But I did manage to get a few good shots.  You can find them all on my Youtube site.

Next week the grand-kids are visiting… I’m sure Mouse will be a big hit!

I know that I needed to be patient!  We have a forum type option on our business’s website and it’s been a slow process although it’s been a few years that’s its been offered to the public.

I also know that on most forums, it appears to always be the same people that post & the same people that respond although the sites boast 100′s of members!

I’m also a little leary of “Forums”.  I’ve seen many instances where people just seem to wait to read and respond negatively to a particular post.  It blows my mind to see that some people are so brave when there’s cyberspace between them and their “prey”!

I’ve actually been a “victim” to this sort of treatment.  When it happens you want to respond and justify your statement and this type of response  just encourages your attacker!   Once you react to it, you start a chain reaction that  brings most members out of the woodwork!  In my case, I didn’t even have to react – members just spoke out on my behalf!

Why are people so petty?  What is it with people that they just have to be mean and nasty behind their keyboard?  I’m sure that a lot of these folks are nice people in person.  It’s like the guy that curses about all the drivers around him while in the privacy of his car.   I guess he gets crap off of his chest while in the safety of his vehicle.

There is a “motto” that I try to follow all the time, no matter what I’d like to say and that is, IF YOU CAN’T SAY SOMETHING NICE, SAY NOTHING!

Don’t be that idiot hiding behind his keyboard being the big man because he can publicly try to humiliate the writer while maintaining anonymity.   Why choose to be the “bad guy” when you can be the helpful person?

This being said my friend, please continue to comment on my site.  If you have something to share, do so.  If you have something to sell, post it!  You never know who’s reading!

And to all of you that do write to me via the comments section, thank you and PLEASE… please follow up and let me know what happens!

Christine (aka) Crazy Goat Lady!

It was 1999 and all I wanted for my birthday was a black & white Chihuahua.  So I found “Lucy” and had Scott come and pay for her.  Well, he saw Murphy and decided we had to have her also.  She was Lucy’s half sister and was a bit older so she got to come home right away whereas Lucy wasn’t quite weaned yet.  Scott named her Murphy after “Murphy Brown” because although she weighed less than 1 pound, she had a lot of spunk!

Even though I loved both of my puppies, Lucy was my favorite and Murphy was just another cute puppy.  There was something about the brown eyes that just didn’t do it for me.  As a matter of fact, when we started traveling with our business, we had to consider finding homes for some of our dogs.  We lived in a motorhome and had 4 dogs traveling with us.  In October I had found the perfect home for my beloved Lucy but as much as I tried, I  couldn’t find anyone to take in Murphy!

Anyhow, when Murphy was about 3 years old, she disappeared on a cold February day in Tennessee.  I wasn’t worried about it much until dinner time when the weather got much colder.  Scott & I drove around the neighborhood a few times but couldn’t find her anywhere!  Around 8pm I got really worried and got on my knees and prayed to God that if he sent her back to me, I would keep her until the end of her life.  Well, Murphy showed up a few hours later… hungry, scared and full of burrs.  It was a very happy moment.

Later that March a fellow saw Murphy & offered me $500 for her!  Of course I couldn’t let her go.. I’d made a serious promise and she wasn’t going anywhere!

Well, several years later (promise on the back burner), 2006 a lady working for me told me that she’d gladly keep Murphy if I had thoughts of “giving her away”.  I did for a second and then remembered my promise.   The strange thing is that I had Murphy’s picture as my cell phone background and although I looked at that same picture several times a day, I never noticed anything special about it.  Until the day I told Mona that she couldn’t have Murphy.  That’s when I noticed the image in Murphy’s left ear.

The picture in the top right corner is THAT picture.  You may not see the image as it is now a copy of a copy…  but you might see it.  Look carefully – I see it.

Years went on, between 2003 & 2009 we lost Dallas, Woody & Rocky.  Three of our Chihuahuas went to Rainbow Bridge.  We felt sad for all of them – they were our babies.

A few weeks ago Murphy got a tooth abscess and was put on antibiotics.  She did well and healed.  Then this past Monday (Feb 16th), Murphy started to act sick.  Wouldn’t eat or drink… just stayed in her doggy bed.  I wasn’t alarmed until Wednesday & took her to our vet who immediately did blood work.  I don’t remember the medical term but because of the antibiotics, Murphy’s red blood cells were breaking down.  It was some sort of auto-immune deficiency – or similar to Lupus.  The vet put her on more antibiotics and steroids but he wasn’t very optimistic.  He said she’d get a lot worse before she got better.  IF she was going to get better.

Saturday morning we had to leave for Daytona for business and so I dropped Murphy at the vets to board until we returned.  I couldn’t get an update Sunday but first thing Monday I called the vet and he gave me the sad news.  Although Murphy appeared to be getting better and her red blood cell count was up, she didn’t make it.  Poor little thing died in her cage between morning and afernoon rounds.  It just broke my heart.

Although for a long time Murphy had been for me the dog that pulled my heart strings the least, she had in the last few years become my favorite.  She was the ONLY one allowed in the new house.  She got special food.  She got table scraps.  She was our “Jesus” dog.

Scott and I pray every morning before we start our busy day.  Murphy usually waited on our laps until we got to the Lord’s prayer and then she’d get all excited and would come to my face to lick me.  It’s like she understood who we were talking to.  I don’t know.  I just know that Murphy was special.  She was very needy.  She didn’t like for us to leave her with the other dogs.  She was a people dog.  Her eyes held so much expression…  she was my “Jesus” dog.  She was special enough that for me, Jesus’ face had appeared in an image of her.  I’ll always beleive that – no matter how far-fetched that may seem.

I hate it that she passed away all by herself in a cage – that I wasn’t there to hold her in her last moments.  But I know that Jesus was there… because she was special.

Murphy Girl, I love you and I’ll never replace you.  You were one extraordinary little pooch!

Mommy guy xxx

The thing that amazes me is that I never get feed-back from the folks that write to me.  On several occasions I’ve emailed the reader to ask for a follow-up and never got a reply.  It’s very frustrating not to mention that I find it quite rude.  If I take time from my busy schedule to answer your question (and sometimes I don’t know the answer but I’ll research it for you), please be kind enough to provide a follow up.

If you have something you’d like to ask me, feel free to do so but please, return the courtesy & provide me with a brief follow up!  You don’t need to write a novel but if you wrote to me thinking your doe was dying, it would be nice to know if she survived or not!  Know what I mean?

This is where I get all of my animal feed and any other farm necessities.  This business is owned and operated by Danny Hill of Spring City.

Danny has just about everything I need.  What’s even better is if he doesn’t have it, he knows where to get it and he gets it for me (he’ll get it for you too if you’re nice

Besides every kind of feed available for every kind of critter (he even has camel food!), he’s got all kinds of equipment, fencing material, farm supplies, tools, you name it, he’s got it (or will get it!).  He also carries a full line of animal medications, wormers, vaccinations… to much to name it all!

As you can tell from the picture on the left, Danny keeps a very organized office…

If having everything I need good enough, it gets better.  Danny is a wealth of information when it comes to animal care, USDA info and just knowing who knows what in the area.  If I’m looking for information that Danny doesn’t have, he knows who does and will just pick up the phone and make the call.

He also has a lovely wife Billynthia (hope I spelled that right) and two great kids (now what are their names???), one of them who’s looking forward to being able to come help at my farm!  I know he’s the youngest of the two and just loves animals as much as I do.  Billynthia (the lovely lady in the picture), invited us to show our animals at the Spring City Elementary School.

Of course Danny couldn’t do all of this if he didn’t have help.  Every afternoon you can be sure to find Jonathan Johnson on duty ready to load up whatever you bought.  Jonathan’s a great kid and if he didn’t work for Danny, I’d try to bribe him to get him to work for me!

I think it’s fair to warn all the young ladies that Jonathan has advised me that he’s been “hitched” for 3 years so don’t be calling Danny to flirt with Jonathan.. it’s not going to happen!

L& J has been at their current location at 838 Trentham for the past 3 years but Danny’s been around in the industry much longer.  He used to own the Penine feed store which he started in about 1985.

You can find Danny at his store weekdays from 2 to 6 and Saturdays from 8 to 12.  His number is (423) 365-4931  If he’s not there he’s out tending his cattle (that’s what he does for fun).  I know he’s got plenty of them!

Make sure you check out his prices before shopping anywhere else for you farm needs and tell him the Crazy Goat Lady sent you!

We had to have Rocky euthanized today.  It was not a difficult decision to make.  Rocky’s spark was gone and he was ready.  It was very sad to have to let him go but it was the right thing to do.

He wasn’t recovering from his wounds from his attack by Sheba last week.  No one saw what actually happened but thank goodness Heath’s girlfriend Kristin (cute blond in the picture), saw Sheba  (German Shepherd), pawing and growling at a pile of leaves.  Kristin checked and realized that Rocky was hurt and he was Sheba’s target.

He was rushed to the vet and had several serious injuries.  However after a night at the hospital he was returned home to rest and get better.

Well, I’m not going to go into details but he didn’t get better.  He had a terrible infection and his little body (he was about 4 lbs), couldn’t resist or fight back.  We had to put him down because his kidneys were severely failing and there was very little hope that he’d make a come back.

Rocky was a unique little guy.  He was better known as Rockydude, Rockstar, Houdini and mostly Shithead. He was his own little boss and answered to no one.  We got him and his little brother Taz at the same time.  They were about 6 weeks old.

Taz & Rocky were joined at the hip.  You’d never see one without the other. They never walked anywhere – they always ran, and on only 3 feet!  If one sat, the other sat.  One peed, the other peed.  If you called one, they both ran away. It took me a while to realize that to them, calling their names meant, “Let’s get out of here!”.

A few years ago our employee Julie acquired a teeny little Yorkie that she’d bring to work.  Sparky loved coming to work and Julie would get him all worked up by saying, “Wanna go see the guys”.  There were such good buds.  However, Rocky had a hidden agenda.  You could see the little snot lure Sparky in the woods and then run away from him and come back to the office without Sparky.  If you looked you could see Sparky in the woods of course looking lost & confused.  I swear at this time Rocky & Taz would mentally give each other a high five!

This past year I had started calling Rocky “Houdini”… this little snot could get out of any of our so called “secure” dog yards!  Not only was he small but he could figure out where the weakest areas of the fence was.  Taz never followed him on these escapades.

These two brothers were so entertaining.  They were always doing something, running somewhere, barking at something… always so busy they’d make you tired just watching them!

Their new favorite thing to do was to beg Peter for lap space while Peter worked at his computer.  You think Peter could resist?  Not for one minute! At any given time you could see Peter working “around” the boys!  And if you listened, you could hear Peter talk to the little guys!  They LOVED Peter!

Taz & Rocky are not your typical Chihuahuas.  They are not yippy, yappy bite your heels type of dogs.  EVERYONE loved these two!  People always told me some story of knowing someone with a Chihuahua that was so aggressive and unpleasant.  Not these two.  They were lovers, not fighters.  Well, at least Taz isn’t.  Rocky on the other hand was tough.

All the inside dogs shared a common fence with our guard dogs, Fila Brazilieros (Brazilian Mastiffs).  It appears that Rocky would say things in dog language that would really set off the Filas.  They totally hated Rocky and you could see them froth at the mouth when he would “nonchalantly” walk by their yard.  None of the other dogs created this kind of reaction with the Filas.

I could write all night about his funny antics.  One of the cutest things that Rocky would do would be to sleep on Angel.  You see, Angel (Dachshund on steriods), would lay on her belly and Rocky would lay on her back and do a balancing act.  Or sometimes he’d just lay across her neck.  He just loved soaking up body heat.
The sad thing about the relationship between the brothers is that the moment Rocky got hurt, Taz wouldn’t go anywhere near him.  I don’t know if it’s the knowledge of hurt or maybe it was that Rocky stunk so bad that Taz wasn’t quite sure who he was.  I’m sure Taz is missing him something awful because when I went to the office later today, Taz was sharing his private pillow/place with Mandy, a mixed MinPin that none of the other dogs like.  She’s just an old bitch, seriously!

He will be missed by all who shared his short little life.  But he had a very, very good dog life.  He was well fed, went where his little heart desired, had many buddies and was cute as a button!

We have a little cemetery on our property where our other two Chihuhuas, Woody & Dallas are buried.  Heath was here today when we returned from the vet and he sadly dug the hole for us.  Thank you Heath for doing that.

Thank you everyone for praying for him.  I guess God needed another faithful companion and he couldn’t have chosen a better buddy.

I love you Rocky and will miss you for a long, long time.

The “Mommy Guy” xx