04/14/2026
Early this morning I woke up to Cookie making her soft barks. Cookie is crate trained & that's where she sleeps at night & when she wants out she does her soft barks. I looked at the clock, it was about 3am. I thought about ignoring her, thinking she'll go back to sleep but I got up & let her out. Usually when I let her out, she takes her time, does her stretches & gives me some love. This time her & Jack bolted straight to the backdoor. I let them out & immediately they both take off toward the back of the property. I could hear them barking & I knew, something must be back there. They stayed outside for awhile & eventually Cookie came back in & laid with me on the couch for awhile. Then Jack came in & Cookie went outside. Jack laid with me for awhile. They did this, taking turns, for the next 3 hours.
Justin got up at some point around 5:30 for work. I said, check the cameras, something was back there. Sure enough, it was that fox. I'm not sure how Jack & Cookie knew, from inside, Cookie in her crate but, they knew! I snapped those 2 pictures about 15 minites ago.
These two rescued pitbulls. Cookie was on the euthanasia list. They said she was aggressive towards other animals, she couldn't be trusted. Neither of them have any type of "training" on how to be a livestock guardian type dog. Jack naturally stepped up & started protecting his flock when we began this homesteading journey. Now, he's taught Cookie the same. If you've been to our property, you know that we free-range the chickens, the ducks, the turkeys, we even have a yard bunny. & these two pitbulls, one so "vicious" the animal shelter felt the need to put a big red stop sign on her kennel & add her name to the death list, they do nothing but love & protect their flock, their yard, their home. I'm just really grateful to have these two sweet babies in our lives.
