Dogs and Goat Horns

It was a beautiful morning! This is what it looked like when I went out to the barn this morning. I love working on the farm because I have the chance to see the mountains and the clouds beyond the barn. I love seeing the frost on the grass, too. I think it's so pretty!

Dear Layna,
Yes, we have two dogs. Our dogs names are Scout and JJ. This week we have another dog named Surry. She belongs to Quin and Xander. They are away for Fall Break so Surry gets to stay on the farm.

Surry loves the farm, she loves being outside.

Like many dogs, Surry likes to howl when she hears the sirens. If you listen closely you can hear Scout howling, too.

We have really good dogs!

Do you obey your parents and your teacher as well as our dogs obey me?

I love these dogs! They obey, they play, they do good work on the farm, and they don't bark very much!

JJ is on the left in the back of the photo. JJ is a girl.
Scout is in the front. Scout is a boy.
They will sit here as long as I tell them to.
They won't move unless I tell them it's ok to get up.

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It's really important that we remove horns from baby goats. Goats horns can grow very big! Your teacher has a big goat horn to look at.

I don't think your parents would let you play with your friends if you were carrying knives in your hands. Goats love to play, just like you do. If they have horns on their heads they can hurt each other or people. They don't want to hurt anyone on purpose, so we make sure they are safe. We take off their horns when they are babies.

Sometimes the horns grow back, but not very well. Those small, weak horns are called scurs.

A few weeks ago we had to trim Curly's horn. He has a scur that grows around into his head.

Curly doesn't mind us cutting his scur off. It doesn't hurt to cut it off. Trimming scurs is just like trimming fingernails (or hooves!)

Can you see the little sore that was underneath Curly's horn?
We have to take Curly's horn off because it grows around in a circle and right into his head.

We put some Neosporin on the sore spot so it heals up nicely. Neosporin is the same for goats, dogs, and people!

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Are you getting ready for Halloween at your house?

Here's something that I made this week. It wraps around a pillow. I like to work on the farm. I like to sew and embroider. And I love to play and teach guitar! I don't like to watch TV or play games on the computer. Some people think it's funny that I don't like TV or computer games. I'm happy with my hobbies!

What kinds of things do you like to do? What hobbies do you have? Do you like to read, or play with Legos? What are you going to do next week during Fall Break?

I hope you have a great Fall Break next week! I hope you do nice things for other people even when you aren't in school!