# My goat is being TOO friendly.  Help!



## GrassFarmerGalloway (Nov 14, 2009)

I have a goat named Marshall, he's a saanen, which I know are genetically a more people-oriented breed.  But he's really crossed a line.  I love being able to sit down in the goat pen and watch my goats eat, have them stand by me while I scratch their foreheads, etc, but he's getting more and more agressive about his need for attention.

He's taken to pawing my lap when I sit down, nosing my face, pushing up against me, licking me all over, which I didn't mind when he was a younger kid (he's 6 months now), but it's gotten worse.  I know he's trying to be friendly, but he's just being too in-your-face and rambunctious.  Is there anything I can do about this?  I'm not sure what to do anymore.


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## lilhill (Nov 14, 2009)

Take a water pistol in there with you, and when he exhibits the unwanted behavior, give him a squirt.  He'll eventually discover that you don't like him doing that and give you space.


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## lupinfarm (Nov 14, 2009)

I can see how this could be problematic. My 2 year old, Cissy has started putting her hoofs on my chest, but it encourages Mione to be brave and wait for pets so I've been allowing it... to an extent.


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## freemotion (Nov 15, 2009)

You've seen how they reprimand each other.  A good shove with a harsh, "Uh-UH!" works, but you may have to do it a few times.  Never allow behaviors in a young animal that won't be cute when they are full-grown.....Tough, I know.  I let my doeling get in my lap when she was little, then stopped allowing that.  She is over eighty pounds now, and a few days ago, I sat on some pallets in the sun for a few minutes.  It had been months since she sat on my lap, but she remembered, and tried to.....it was soooo funny!  She would fold her knees up on my thighs but then couldn't figure out what to do with her butt and would fall off the pallets, over and over.


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## houndit (Nov 15, 2009)

If he ever tries to jump up on you, knee him in his chest.  After a few times they will usually stop.


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## kimmyh (Nov 15, 2009)

I don't shove goats, think about how they interact, shove yields shove, kneeing equals butting. When they jump, I step aside, 2-3 times of that and the goats figure out their foot resting spot moves and it isn't fun. Back when I was new to goats I tried shoving, and wound up with an extremely dangerous buck.


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## cmjust0 (Nov 16, 2009)

I agree with Kimmy..  If you interact with a buck as though you're another buck, you'll eventually lose that battle.  And when I say eventually, I mean rather quickly...months, not years.  They get big fast, and they don't even have to be that big to be amazingly strong.

Water pistol..hotshot..something another goat can't do would be best because it's unlikely to be something they see as a challenge or escalation to a challenge..  

Our old buck tried raring up at me for a while, just to play..  What was worrisome was that he did it to get my attention, which meant he was raring up when I had my back turned.  One good shot to the lower back and I might end up in a chair, ya know..  

So, I started paying close attention and kinda watching him in the periphery..  Everytime he rared up, I'd spin around and kick him right square in the chest.  He obviously couldn't figure out how I was doing that -- not something other goats have the ability to do -- so he just stopped altogether.  Had I pushed on his head to try to move him away, though -- well, that's GAME ON to a goat.


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## kimmyh (Nov 16, 2009)

Years ago I had a buck someone had ruined with shoving and hitting, and that bugger would get you when you turned your back. The buck I had would slam us when we were dumping feed dishes, heading out the gate, or petting other goats. I gave him to a farm that runs their bucks with their does, in a hands off operation-except for vaccination and hoof trimming, and he is finally happy. I would never kick/hit a goat, they just don't process that information the way horses and dogs process.


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## Rock Farmer (Dec 20, 2009)

The water pistol idea would work well.  My wife had a problem with a dominant doe who did not like her around.  We kept a small spray bottle hanging by the gate, and my wife would take it in with her.  If "Sassy" acted up, she got squirted in the face.  It only took a little of this to straighten her out.  It is cheap and it works (and it does not hurt the goat).


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## FarmerChick (Dec 21, 2009)

yea you push back on a goat and they think it is time for the strength battle....lol

I did this with a few small goats, pushed on them and "played" and yes in the end I lost....lol

I had MANY of these goats who never leave ya alone.   I just ignored them.

I learned my lesson to never "play" rough with goats when smaller.  So I never do it anymore.    I just let them stand and I pet or give them a good scratch rub now, never the playful type of thing anymore.  Just leads to them being a royal pain in the butt....lol

good luck to you....


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## foxywench (Dec 21, 2009)

like most animals...
hitting, pushing, shoving ect rarely works long term...

animals know your not the same species...

hitting, pushing ect is a dominance challange, and when you take relitve size your just asking for trouble...

instead try ignoring him...
what hes doing is all about the atteniton.  when he comes over and pushes in for "love" walk away.
only pet him when hes being calm and quiet...
hell quickly learn that his overly forcefull behaviour actually results in a complete lack of attention, yet being calm results in the attention hes after. 

a squirt bottle and or loud AhAh when combined with this stuff, which is essentially reconditioning usually works wonders.

now i will make a note i havent worked with goats much, i have worked with nigerians, and nubians and this usually works with them.
more importantly...this behavioural reconditioning has worked with other animals in my work. (i work in a zoo with primates, big cats and canines.)

belive me, last thing you need is an overly "affectionate" lion cub is this kind of stuff lol.


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## no nonsense (Dec 22, 2009)

These problems are always more easily prevented than fixed. They exemplify this increasing trend toward anthropomorphism of livestock, or at the least, comparison between livestock and the only other species with which most people have any experience, dogs and cats. A goat is not a human is not a puppy is not a kitty. The sooner people begin to realize this, and begin to appreciate the normal behaviors of the species in question, the sooner we'll begin to really grow as livestock keepers. Then we'll truly begin to go somewhere with this recent movement in small livestock husbandry.


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## goatsforgood (Mar 27, 2010)

Well, I'm gonna try the water pistol thing on our buck.  I'm not sure it will work because he is blind and just seems to do his own thing all the time anyways!


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