Toby just proves himself over and over to be worth his weight in gold. We have had him for six years now. We got him as a puppy from South Bend Animal Control. We believe he’s a Shepherd mix. He has always been quiet and calm (except when there is a wild critter around).
If there is a coon, opossum, groundhog, coyote, chipmunk or wild bunny (unfortunately) they don’t stand a chance around here. Toby either ‘takes care of them’ or sends them packin’. But, it’s a completely different story with our ‘family’ animals.
Our cats are his buddies. Our chickens & turkeys free range – he has never chased them or hurt them in any way. Same with the goats – he just keeps an eye on them. When we let our bunnies play in the yard, he just lets them hop around. He has never hurt any of the baby chicks.
When I went out this morning, I noticed one of my 5-week old bunnies by the goat pen. I quick snatched him up and went to figure out what cage he belonged in. Hughette’s cage door had come unlatched. Two more babies were missing. Well, I found one of them fairly quickly in the rabbitry, although he was not pleased about being caught. The remaining one I couldn’t find though.
So, I called Toby. He has helped me catch my bunnies before. He simply puts a paw on them and holds them for me, or holds them like a bird dog holds its catch.
I told Toby to ‘Find the Bunny’, ‘Find the Baby’ and he immediately started sniffing around the rabbitry and barn. I had kind of given up on finding the bunny, thinking he may have been a casualty of the night if he hopped outside of the barn (coyotes). I grabbed the water bucket for the goats and stepped outside the barn to dump the water, when I saw Toby come out of the garden with a bunny in his mouth. I quickly hollered at him “Gentle”, “Drop It”, “Baby”. He immediately dropped it and the bunny started to hop away. I snatched him up. He appears to be just fine, a little slobbered on, but no broken skin!
Such a good dog!
