# St Bernard and Nigerian Dwarfs



## kjmytc (Feb 1, 2012)

We are planning to get 2 or 3 pet Nigerian Dwarf whethers.  We currently have a fenced 3/4 acre backyard.  We'd like the goats to share this space with our 1 year old, 110 lb, St Bernard.  Our dog comes in the house... So it's not an issue of fighting for sleeping space or food.  However, I'm concerned they might not get along.  Any thoughts or experience?

Thanks!


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## carolinagirl (Feb 1, 2012)

While Saint Bernards are pretty gentle, they are NOT livestock guardian dogs and do have a prey drive (although it is low).  And he is going to out-weigh the goats by a LOT.  Supervise a whole lot to make sure he is going to be OK with them.  Does he listen really well?  Is he easy to train?  These things will have a lot of bearing on whether it works or not.  You dog is only a year old....so he's still mentally a puppy.  Puppies don't always do so well with animals because they want to play with them and goats are pretty fragile.  They can't handle rough puppy play.


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## elevan (Feb 1, 2012)

St Bernards are actually considered working dogs who can and do work with livestock.  Individual personality always trumps breeds though.  Exercise caution and supervise the animals when they are together.


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## kjmytc (Feb 1, 2012)

She does listen well, but is definitely still a puppy at heart.  She gets very excited and playful.  Maybe we should consider a larger breed of goat?  I don't want to bring goats home just to have them harassed by Buttercup (our dog).  Another option is to divide up the yard.  However if Buttercup makes the goats nervous, they still won't be happy separated by only a fence.


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## elevan (Feb 1, 2012)

Regardless of the size of the goat you still need to exercise caution.  Dogs are always predators and goats are always prey.

If you decide to separate the yard the goats will get used to the dog on the other side of the fence over time.  My neighbors dog used to startle my goats by running at the fence and barking.  At first they would startle and run.  Now they just ignore her.


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## carolinagirl (Feb 1, 2012)

I would divide the yard and let them get used to each other gradually.  I had a Bouvier years ago that was so smart and listened great.  She seemed like she was fine with stock, although I did not leave her with them unattended.  One night she jumped into the goat pen and killed a boer goat and her kid, valued at $1500 (this was years ago when Boer goats first became popular).  Goats are prey animals and die really easily if attacked.  They rarely fight back or defend themselves. If a dog gets a goat down, the goat usually ends up dead.  No breed of goat is safe with a dog who wants to play with it.


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## ksalvagno (Feb 1, 2012)

I know someone whose St Bernards are actually her guard dogs. They do great with her sheep and goats. Like everyone else has said, you need to proceed with caution, especially since your dog is still a pup but there is no reason why you can't work on it and they eventually share a yard.  I would say to be prepared for really working with your dog and never leave the goats and dog alone.


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## terrilhb (Feb 1, 2012)

The woman I bought my 2 does from has St Bernards guarding her goats. They are awesome. I think it depends on the dog. Good luck.


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## Teeah3612 (Feb 2, 2012)

I have a St. Bernard/Husky mix and she is great with my goats! When I first got Peanut I told her "Now that is your baby goat, protect him." She would sit and watch him while he walked around the yard and ate grass. He is 5 months old now and I still let her out in his pen to hang out. She is a very gentle dog. 

I would definitely want to introduce them and see how it goes. My son's dog is a huge pup of some sort and he tries to flip the goats so we don't let him around them.


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## ThreeBoysChicks (Feb 2, 2012)

I have a St. Bernard / Basset Hound mix who guards wonderfully.  She is not actually in the field with the goats, but she sits on the highest point of our backyard where she can see the entire property and if anything is out of order, I know it.  And when a chicken happens to get into the backyard with the dogs, she will watch it and let me know where it is, but she never goes after it.  And she keeps our 3 retreivers from harming the chicken.  That is no easy task.


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## kjmytc (Feb 2, 2012)

Thank you all for your posts.  I think we'll start out with a divided yard and see how the dog does while supervised.  Hopefully, they will become great friends!


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## cmjust0 (Feb 2, 2012)

Will the dog chase a ball or frisbee?  If so, it'll probably chase a goat.  If not, then prey drive is probably low enough to consider a trial run as a LGD...if you can handle an 'oops, guess that didn't work' situation that may involve an injury to a goat.  St. Bernards are Molosser dogs, and thus very closely related to lots of other well-known guardian dogs.


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