From the reports that I have been observing, coir is not a suitable medium when used exclusive of other organic and inorganic materials. It is better incorporated into a potting mix as an amendment (one of the minor ingredients). I have purchased a composted bark product I like quite a bit from one of the big box stores, called Soil Conditioner. I've used it in my potting mixes for some time with great success. I would encourage the addition of perlite, too. Avoid sand and gravel PERIOD! At the very least, you could purchase a good soil-less potting medium like Fafard and mix a bit of your coir in with that. It would be very helpful to know what kind of plants you are growing.

I know how frustrating it can be to milk a moving goat! It was smart you put a milk stand together. Trying to milk a goat while she is just tethered is pretty hard unless she is accustomed to that. I would suggest putting a hobble on one of her back legs to keep her from kicking over the bucket or stepping in the milk. My first milker was used to being milked with a milking machine, which is very fast and she would snarf down her grain in a flash and be done. When we bought her I was a total newbie milking and it would take me 30 minutes to get her milked, not to mention the milk on the floor, me and everywhere ;-). So, I was told to tie one of her back legs to the milk stand and try that. They won't kick as much with one leg immobilized. They feel off balance if they can't pick up both legs, so it keeps that other foot rooted. If that doesn't work tie both back legs to the milk stand. I have a metal milk stand that has brackets for this. Eventually, she will learn that if she behaves you can release her leg(s). Also, maybe you could give her a bit more grain until you get the hang of it so she will be concentrating on her food longer. You could check with her previous owner to see how much she was fed. But, since you said that she hadn't been milked in a while, you could gradually build up the amount she is getting so she will have more to eat and more time for you to milk. I tried all sorts of things to try to get my goat to settle down, and it took about 2 weeks for her to adjust to me and for me to get better and quicker at milking. Good luck! Bonnie

I am so sorry you are in this situation. It is definitely heartbreaking. And yes, you should rehome these dogs. I don't have to go into any explanation...Calliope's two posts say it all. I would like to add that I think a breed specific rescue is the way to go, for reasons mentioned above. I had a dog that I had to rehome because she needed way more exercise than I could ever hope to provide. I loved that dog, but knew I could not do right by her. At 18 months old, she was adopted by a family with 5 acres in a rural area, and is happier than she ever could have been with me. It was hard, but it was the absolute right thing to do. About 6 months later, I adopted a dog from the St. Louis Senior Dog Project. She is about 9 years old and such a wonderful girl. I just adore her, and I think the feeling is mutual :) I didn't go looking for a senior, she was at an adoption day with several different rescue groups. The dog I was wanting to see (a 3 year old mix) was already adopted. I looked around some more, and found no other dogs I was interested in. But, I felt sorry for this old dog in her cage, so I asked to see her just so she'd get some attention. I had been looking for a rescue dog for awhile, and for whatever reason, this dog and I crossed paths, and I took her home. What I'm trying to say is that I know how it is to feel you have failed at adoption. But the situation you are in now is not good for you or the dogs, and there is nothing wrong with finding them new homes. It is the right thing to do. You will find your dog(s) someday. Best of luck.

Many-years-after follow-up: We postponed this project because of the pandemic, but then recently started it up again. In the meantime, our 12-year-old daughter learned Sketchup through her architecture classes (!). We had some basic ideas and were able, with her help, to play around a little bit with the design and see what it would look like in 3D. It was extremely helpful to have the ability "in house" to explore designs and get a feel for how it would impact the space. Our cabinet maker DID have some helpful feedback and we made some changes together with him. His detailed renderings were very useful, but I can't imagine how long the process would have taken if we didn't start with a partially-formed plan before going to him. I think lots of back-and-forth on design ideas would have driven him crazy and we, as a result, might have settled for something short of a final draft. I'm pleased to report that our final design does accomplish all of our goals and we're very happy with it. After our positive experience, I wanted to return here and recommend Sketchup to others who may want to mock-up ideas for themselves and don't have the budget for a designer. It may seem daunting (and doesn't come with a kid to learn it for you), but having now seen it in action, I think most people who have ever used a drawing program can learn the basics. And then you can supplement with pictures from the internet. I would especially recommend this approach to people (like us) living in small, urban spaces who need to think carefully about every detail. Buying pre-fab cabinets would not have made best use of the space and "Googling mud room" would have yielded ideas great for someone's suburban house, but wouldn't work for a family trying to make the best of 1,100 sq. ft in NYC. Sketchup, of course, doesn't substitute for a professional who's good at thinking about spaces, but in our case, it did help us work through some design challenges on our own. Thanks again to those who responded to my original post! Hope this is useful to someone.