One of the most important aspects of goat herding for cost effective fire prevention is the protection from superlative, good-natured dogs who live with the goats night and day.

One-year-old Mercy and 5-month old Trinity pose for a photo in a Rolling Hills canyon while protecting 600 goats

Such is the dedicated work of the Choi family, a goat grazing family whose home base is an 80-acre ranch in Mariposa, CA and their team of humans, goats, and ever courageous dogs Mercy, a 1-year-old Akbash guard dog, and Trinity, a 5-month-old female Anatolian shepherd, plus two Border collie pals, 3-year-old Bernie and 9-year-old Thai.

The energetic menagerie recently cleared brush on a 10-acre parcel of land off Crest Road in Rolling Hills which took about three weeks. After completion, a livestock truck picked up the goats and transported them to their next feast in Kathy’s Valley in Madera County, along with the dogs who have their own private traveling compartments.

The Choi brothers -- CEO Michael, 29, and shepherds Joseph, 35, and Aaron, 26 -- gradually took over the Mariposa-based family business, Fire Grazers, Inc., when their father retired about 10 years ago. Each year from March to September, they transport their 600 goats and precious dogs to the Palos Verdes Peninsula as well as over California.

“You don’t really train these dogs,” Aaron Choi said of his mostly nocturnal canines. You don’t want to train them because it may interfere with their instincts. They are purely instinctual.”

Goat and herd dog experts Aaron and Joseph Choi run the family business with their CEO brother Michael Choi.

Mostly nocturnal, Mercy and Trinity keep a watchful eye alert to any unusual noise, movement or scent near the goats.

Shepherds Aaron and Joseph stay close to the herd day and night while living in a 40-foot fifth-wheel trailer home when on the road. The dogs patrol any sounds or tiny noises, especially at night when it’s a more likely time for problems to arise.

Notable were all the biblical names of the dogs and their human owners Joseph, Michael and Aaron. “Our dad named the dogs, Mercy and Trinity, so whenever we say their names, he said it would remind us of our faith,” Aaron said and chuckled. And with that, a big part of their faith is placed on their dogs to keep the work intense enterprise peaceful. Mercy, an Akbash or “white head” is an ancient breed of livestock guardian dog used to protect flocks and shepherds in the rugged terrains of western Turkey. “At first, we thought Mercy was soft with the goats because she wouldn’t keep the goats off her own food,” Aaron said. “Even now we have to shoo the goats away.” Still, Aaron said Mercy is fearless when she needs to be and has turned into a good guard dog as evidenced when other big dogs or coyotes show up. Mercy, who recently went into her first heat will eventually be mated with Buster, the Choi’s half Great Pyrenees, a half Anatolian shepherd who was recently sent home from the peninsula to Mariposa to wait patiently for Mercy to mature.

The Choi brothers’ home away from home for about seven months of the year.

According to the Anatolian Shepherd Dog Club of America, Anatolians were brought to America in the 1950s, but no one took notice of them until the 1970s when the Endanger Species Act encouraged a means of controlling predators in pastoral livestock herds without killing them.

The puppy Trinity, a super gentle, all-terrain canine, is able to stave off larger predators with its mere stance. If the intruder, like a wild cat or bear, isn’t impressed, an Anatolian will register a mild, growly bark. If necessary, the bark will escalate into a ferocious, bloodcurdling warning.

Aaron Choi and 5-month-old Trinity show their deep affection for each other.

As evidence, if a Palos Verdes coyote is howling in the area, Trinity will travel to the edge of the fence closest to where the noise is coming from and take her stance, Aaron said. At five months she is innately protective and has already bonded with the Choi goat herd.

Trinity, an Anatolian guard dog puppy learns to bond with goats who are like siblings to her.

Still, the animals live so closely together, it’s hard to tell if the dogs take on goat-like characteristics or the goats act doggy-like, but it’s clear they like to hang out with each other.

Mercy and the oldest billy of the herd form a unique friendship.

A baby goat jumps into the molasses vat with mom to supplement its mother’s milk and vegetarian diet.

Another curious aspect of the closeness between the goats and the dogs is when the goats drop a kid, the dogs will sometimes devour the nanny’s placenta before the human shepherds can separate them from the dogs and herd. Normally, the dogs dine on Purina Dog Chow with a mix of chicken and rice, Aaron said.

A kid launches off patient, old Blitzen, the first of the Choi’s guard dogs years ago in the oil fields of Coalinga, CA. (Photo courtesy of Joseph Choi)

Thai, with ancient origins in Scotland is ready to move his goats any time, any place

The two border collies -- friendly but slightly shy Thai and athletic Bernie -- serve the Chois as workers and pets. The main jobs of Thai and Bernie, are to help round up the goats when it’s time to move the lightweight electrical fences around to new grazing areas. The Choi brothers set up a separate metal fence for the goats as a holding area while they move miles of fence line to the next parcel of land to be grazed.

1. Herding goats to 3-year-old Bernie isn’t a job, it’s playtime.

Courageous and intelligent Thai never gets tired.

The border collies are instrumental in keeping strays from going for that extra bit of wild leafy greens when there is business to be done. “For us, they are work dogs,” Joseph said of the hyperactive species. “But for Bernie and Thai, it’s pure play. If a goat breaks out, they’re on it.” Aaron said there’s a lot of downtime for the border collies when the goats are happily munching away unwanted brush, so the brothers try to run the hyper breed every day. While at home in Mariposa, family members will hop on ATVs and run the daylights out of the dogs. But one probing aspect of border collies is they are so tightly strung they never seem to get tired. “If you don't run them every day they’ll start chewing on your stuff, punishing you for not letting them get the pent-up energy out of their systems,” added Michael Choi from Kathy’s Valley, the goats’ new temporary home. “They get all bottled up like just like a crunched-up soda can.”

The affection between the human and canine shepherds goes deeper than just a working relationship.

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Deborah Paul has played with ink since she was able to read and write. At 19, after two years of college, she left St. Louis to fly for American Airlines, and later enjoyed a long career with Flying Tiger Lines in many capacities, including flying military and their dependents all over the world as a flight attendant. Paul returned to university in the 1990s earning a journalism degree from Cal State University Dominguez Hills and was eventually hired as a newspaper reporter for the South Bay Weekly section of the Los Angeles Times. A decade later she worked for Orange Coast Magazine as their Charitable Events editor. She also taught journalism and was advisor to the campus newspaper at CSUDH and still contributes as a regular stringer for Peninsula News on the Palos Verdes Peninsula. Currently, she has self-published four-of-five children's books in her ballad series. Her poetic fictional stories are inspired by real people who have left an indelible mark on the quiet display of simple human kindness. She resides in Rancho Palos Verdes married to Jim, her husband of many adventures.