An unlikely animal friendship on a California ranch has garnered internet attention after gaining traction on TikTok.
The livestock at Raventree Ranch in Elverta includes steers, alpacas, goats, sheep, a mini donkey — and three Anatolian shepherd dogs as guardians.
One of the guard dogs, Judge, had the favor returned by Bucky the goat last week, heartwarming footage shared by the ranch on TikTok showed:
@raventreeranch #livestockguardiandog #anatolianshepherddog #anadoluçobanköpeği #farm #goat
Video shows Bucky standing watch over the much larger Anatolian shepherd as he slept during the day after guarding the herd “all night,” Raventree said in the caption.
According to Puget Sound Goat Rescue, in Enumclaw, Washington, “Dogs should never be considered companions for goats.”
While goats can sometimes “bond to other farm animals,” the rescue operation stressed that they do not and should not befriend dogs.
Raventree’s animals and online fans seem to disagree, with one TikTok user writing that Bucky is Judge’s “emotional support goat.”
When asked if Bucky thinks he is part of the guard dog crew, the ranch commented that he is “definitely bonded to them.”
More footage shared by Raventree, which has over one million followers on the platform and over 655,000 on Instagram, show Judge and the other Anatolians, Lily and Bo, rushing to defend the goat herd from howling coyotes:
@raventreeranch #livestockguardiandog #anatolianshepherddog #anadoluçobanköpeği #karadeniz #farm #babygoats #coyote #lgd
According to the ranch, they have not lost any livestock — not a single animal — in eight years with the dogs:
@raventreeranch #karadeniz #livestockguardiandog #anatolianshepherddog #anadoluçobanköpeği #lgd #farm
