Lost dog and discovered kids!

Emmie, one of our Anatolian Shepard livestock guardian dogs, has been regularly getting out of the pasture at night for a few weeks now. She has always been the one to find the weak point in our fencing and has gotten out on occasion here and there but for the past 5-6 weeks she has been getting out 3-5 nights a week. Every time I think I have it figured out where she is through the fence and fix it she is out again within a day or two.

So, it was no surprise tonight at 10:30pm as I was doing the dishes that I looked out the window to see Emmie slowly walking up the driveway. Evan, our 6yo son, was still awake so the two of us went out to round her up and lock her in the barn for the night. Because we first had to go to the barn to get a lead rope Emmie had time to wander into the woods and disappear. Evan and I walked the road for a bit and then came back close to the house when we heard the chickens getting all in a tizzy. Another trip to the barn and the chicken coop showed everything in order. Not wanting to go in without securing Emmie, Evan and I took the trash bin up to the road for the morning pickup and stopped and got the mail with still no sign of Emmie. Finally, as we were hanging out in the driveway just watching the tree line Emmie emerged by our neighbors house. I was very relieved to see her. I don't really worry about her running away per se but I do worry about her wandering onto our busy road at night as more then one dog has met its end on the road by our home. We walked over to her and slipped the lead around her neck and walked her back to the barn to lock her in the stall for the rest of the night.

As we walked through the door of the barn I was surprised to see one of our Nigerian Dwarf goats, Gabby, just giving birth to her second wet little kid! I wasn't expecting them for another two weeks or so and I would have missed it tonight if it hadn't been for Emmie getting out. Funny, two trips down to the barn and I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary and not 10 minutes later we have two more goats!