Hope's story is a tragic one. We bought her and one pup from a man. When we brought them home Hope just sat in a corner and whimpered whenever someone walked by. She was afraid of male voices. The next day when my dad came in with a walking stick Hope just ran off, tail tucked. He tried to comfort her but she wouldn't move. My mom and I saw this and decided to go get Hope's other puppies even though they were weaned. When we pulled up to the house we saw a young girl kick a pup and smack another in the head. We brought them home and we ended up with more than we could handle, but at least they were safe! We later found great homes for the three pups and kept Hope. She had to stay on a chain for many months because she refused to stay home. She was such a scared dog and my heart broke for her. We decided the best thing to do was to sell her. We had many offers for her, but my dad secretly declined them all behind our backs. He had thought of a last resort. The next weekend we got her an electric fence. She learned extremely quick and I have already gotten rid of her chain!
Today if you were to see Hope's smiling face you would have never believed that she was abused. She is so happy protecting our goats and she does an amazing job. I love her to pieces. She also has wonderful mother instincts. If I had to ever trust a dog with my baby goats it would be her. Recently we had a kid born. I brought it to Hope and she sniffed and licked it. A few minutes later I was sitting with Hope and the kid and our other dog, Tramp, walked up and smelled the kid. Hope didn't like this at all and chased Tramp off.
Many people who come to our farm ask about Hope. When they reach out their hand she gets low to the ground and walks very slowly to them. She'll look back at me when she does this. She warms up to stranger pretty quickly but after a few seconds of petting her she'll run right back to me and wag her tail kinda like she's saying " Look what I did Momma! I'm getting better "
I love her very much!
Tramp
Tramp has been with me since he was four weeks old. Since the day he was put out with the goats he has done a great job. We haven't lost and animal due to the foxes since he started working. Tramp has matured so much since he got here. He used to snap at chickens when they tried to steal his food but now he lets them eat with him. I love him so much!
