The New Normal
I've been feeding the animals for a week now. While I was incapacitated and Ron was doing all the feeding, he chose to take Sadie out in the morning to feed all the animals and take Gus out in the evening to feed the pony. This meant that Gus was not out when the goats got fed. Gus has an issue with the goats - he chases and they run. He seems to feel this is the best of all possible worlds. By the evening feeding time all the goats are high up the pastures and Gus doesn't seem to realize they are up there. Therefore, no chasing. This system worked great for Ron.
My feeling was that the dogs do better when they are out together. They expend much more energy chasing each other around and that is good for them. When I started feeding I kept Ron's idea of taking Sadie by herself out to feed in the morning. I'm in no fit shape to jump the fence and chase Gus down if he gets in with the goats. But I decided to take both dogs out to feed in the evening.
I'm feeding from the Kawasaki mule so it shouldn't be a problem that both dogs are out there racing around. Right? Well, no. I tried it on two successive evenings and both times they scared the daylights out of me. I pulled up in the mule next to the fence with just enough room for me to get out and add some water to the pony's feed. Gus came tearing around the mule and damn near knocked me over. That is so not working.
I'm back to doing exactly what my husband had decided was best - take Sadie out in the morning and take Gus out in the evening. They are both pleased to be out running around and I don't feel like I'm in jeopardy.
Gus has added one more wrinkle to our day. He can now easily jump out of the back yard with his pack on. The pack contains 4 full water bottles so we thought that would limit his roaming. Nope. I think we just need to stop using the pack and work on training Gus not to chase the cats which is what he does when he jumps out of the back yard. Ron thinks we should hand walk him on a leash or maybe add some more weight to the pack. I'll let you know what happens.