Working Dogs

Suzi, the Border Collie, works the goats out of a roadside paddock.

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At present, Mathom Farm has three working dogs. These workers are invaluable when moving stock to the dairy, from paddock to paddock and when goats are yarded for animal husbandry of any kind. Because we are working with such a large number of animals, and because goats have individual and diverse personalities, using the dogs helps avoid hold-ups due to one or a few objectors among the herd going their own way.

Fly, the Kelpie, and Suzi, the Border Collie, move the milkers safely across the road.

Both dogs are comfortable riding as passengers.

However, we use the dogs only when necessary to reduce stress to the goats whenever possible, To this end we have a gate system that after milking allows does to leave the dairy and walk to their designated paddocks at their leisure with no interference from dogs or humans. We believe that happy goats produce more milk!

Cormac, one of our guests, feeds the milkers

Because working dogs are trained to respond to a particular handler, it's often not possible for a newcomer to persuade them to work. Tiger will work only for Marilyn if someone else is present. Fly is a young dog still in training and must be watched constantly as her enthusiasm often gets the better of her limited judgement. Suzi is eager to please anyone and is the dog that is most likely to work for a new person.

Cormac and Barbara, guests from Western Australia, help us retrieve some escaped stock