We Love our Dogs, But They Love Their Jobs
Some dogs chase balls. Ours chase coyotes.
Here on Rime Farm, we don’t keep dogs for decoration or convenience. We keep them because our land, our animals, and honestly—our sanity—depend on it. Jake and Moxie aren’t pets, I’m going to say that up front. They aren’t here to impress strangers. They’re guardians, tacticians really, they know their land. At times, they’re the only thing standing between calm and chaos from a fox or other predators.
If there’s one thing I need you to know (before you fall in love with a picture or reel of a funny moment) it’s this:
These dog breeds are not for you unless you live like we do.
Moxie: Our Sentry in the Storm
Moxie is our Alabai—a livestock guardian breed originally from Central Asia. Her lineage runs deep, etched into the steppes and forged alongside wolves and warhorses. She was bred for bitter cold, for silence, for long nights without reassurance. She doesn’t work for treats or praise—she rarely accepts either. She works for what we call the perimeter.
That invisible boundary around our farm? That’s hers. Every evening, just before sundown, she begins to pace.
And here’s the truth: even a zombie would have trouble with Moxie. She doesn’t bark a warning—she makes a decision. If something unwelcome is moving, she’s already intercepting it before you even know it’s there.
She doesn’t keep watch because we ask her to. She keeps watch because it’s who she is. She’s trained but not for that.
When she puts her paws down, it’s like a slingshot. Four or five acres, lapped with precision, scent-marked like clockwork. She takes the hill like an Olympic slalom skier—controlled, fast, carving her own line and it’s fierce and beautiful. The four wheeler has trouble keeping up.
These dogs were bred to protect livestock from wolves and thieves long before the first electric fence was invented. Moxie acts with full autonomous authority, not affection. They’re decision makers…independent. Her jaw pressure alone ends a threat before it begins and yet she rarely barks. She just watches. Intensely.
Moxie is not “good with strangers.” She tolerates them if we let her know they’re okay. She isn’t eager to please. She’s not a pet. She’s ancient instinct in a modern body and we just happen to house her.
Health Considerations for Livestock Guardians generally:
- Susceptible to hip and joint issues like any large breed
- Sensitive to over-vaccination
- Requires slow, intentional growth with proper nutrition (run of the mill feed won’t cut it)
- Need a separate savings account that will cover very expensive vet care including Lyme and tick preventatives.
- Regular dental care and more.
🚫 Not a Pet For:
Anyone without SUPER secure fencing and serious livestock needs
Suburban families
Leash-heavy environments
Kids who don’t respect boundaries
And more….
Looks can be deceiving. She’s a happy girl.
Miss Moxie Thunder Muffin Fancy Pants
Jake: The Blue Bullet with an Ear for Opera
Jake is our Australian Cattle Dog. If Moxie is the ultimate guardian Jake is her witty wing man. Born to drive cattle across very rough country, he’s tenacious. I saw him get kicked square in the shoulder by a horse so hard that he went air born. That vet visit set us back $800. He never let out a whimper. The limp told us it was time to go to the hospital. Once he was healed, he was right back in with the bulls.
Lunar Module Space Ship Jake All the Time Tambourine
He notices an open gate before you do. He’s fast, he’s calculating, and he takes everything (and his job) very, VERY seriously. He also herds everything, including people.
But sometimes he pauses. We know he loves two things as much as herding. 1) Opera (or classical music) and 2) riding shotgun. Someday we’ll blog about how we know that.
Watch Jake chill here:
Jake has depth. If you’re not paying attention, you’ll miss it. But don’t mistake that contemplative nature for softness.
Jake and Australian Cattle Dogs like Jake Need:
- Lot’s of daily mental stimulation
- Task-based routines
- Demanding physical work (not just “walks” or playing catch)
Without it, he will invent jobs—chewing, chasing, herding. (Jake has a bad habit of stalking the rabbits.) When he’s tired, they mean little to him. When he’s not, he sees them as fun toys that he wants to play with. These aren’t quirks. They’re embedded codes.
🚫 Cattle Dogs Are Not Pets For:
- Casual dog owners
- Families without lots of time or purpose
- Urban environments with low stimulation
Some Hard Truths Some Won’t Want to Hear
We love these dogs, but love isn’t what keeps them right in the head—purpose does.
They do well with us because we’ve built our lives to honor who they are. It doesn’t work the other way around.
Moxie will probably never go to a dog park.
Jake wouldn’t survive boredom.
Neither one would be happy (or stable) with modern domestic life.
You don’t get to mold them into your lifestyle. That’s wrong and, frankly, quite cruel. You shape your life around them or don’t have them at all.
Moxie and Jake are sentient, really stubborn co-workers with actual jobs. Because of them, we sleep great. Everything on our farm is watched, including us.
They’re home here and we know and love exactly who they are.
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