FALMOUTH, Ky. (LEX 18) — From herding and protecting livestock to handing out comfort, every farm has a four-legged lifeline. In Pendleton County, a 12-year-old Red Heeler is putting his farm on the map.
Goose is one of three finalists for the People's Choice Pup award in the American Farm Bureau Federation's Farm Dog of the Year competition, and he's using his newfound celebrity to send a powerful message.
"Goose was introduced in the summer of 2013, and it was a natural fit," said Lindie Huffman, Goose's owner and the Pendleton County Extension Agent. "He was the very first puppy that ran up to me and he snatched the harness from my hands and took off with it, and I think in that moment I knew that he was mine…and I was his."
He knows the land as well as the generations of farmers who came before him.
For a dozen years, Goose has brought in cattle, followed rows during tobacco planting, and "supervised" the greenhouse. Since the news of his Farm Dog recognition, Huffman said he's been getting a lot of traction.
"It's not going to his head too bad yet," Huffman said.
The honor is well deserved, but the true measure of Goose's impact is found in the hearts of his humans.
"Because he was right at that transition of my life, the transition of my career, the transition of coming home, the transition of getting married, he was at our wedding, he means so much to me because he's my reason for getting up every day," Huffman said.
The love for Goose made the decision that much more painstaking for Huffman and her husband Robert when their dog began losing his eyesight in 2021 and developed glaucoma.
"So we tried drops and they didn't work and we made the tough call to have a double enucleation and remove both of his eyes," Huffman said. "And we were worried, is he still gonna love the same? Is he still gonna adventure the same? Is he still gonna farm the same?"
In his competition video, Goose answers that question. A voiceover explains, "Now I see it in a different way. I know every turn in the gravel path, every dip in the pasture, and every morning I still walk to the red barn because that's what farm dogs do."
When vision faded, instinct and heart stepped forward to lead.
"This life is not about what you've lost, it's about what keeps you going," Goose says.
For the no-eyed wonder dog, what keeps him going is simple: the farmers market with Huffman, quiet hours at the county Extension office, morning yoga, a good butt scratch, and the routine of a hardworking farm dog.
"I think Goose's story teaches people not to give up, and just because we lose something doesn't mean we're lost," Huffman said. "It could be the loss of our sight like Goose…but life keeps going, the world keeps turning, and we have to keep going every single day."
Members of the public are invited to help Goose earn the national title of People’s Choice Pup by casting their vote online here.
