goat and a dog?

[flemish lops]

Hi, We have been going to some animal swaps latley and my sister has decided, after seeing how cute goats are up close, to look for a young goat to raise. We also have a medium sized dog that would probably be by it. (not that big, its just fat) Do dogs bother goats or are they not that great together?

 

[B.B]

Im pretty new to having goats. I actually only have one. Shes 4 months old. I have two dogs and they all get a long. They run, play they go to the dog park together, they curl up and sit in the sun. They go for car rides too. I get a little nervous cause of her horns, but when they are outside playing they are always supervised. I have read that dogs and goats do not get along cause dogs are the hunters and the goats are the hunted. When the dogs bark Billie ( pygmy) runs on her table or on a chair and waits for them to stop then she will go right back to playing. Bille was two weeks old when I got her. I sometimes wonder if this is hurting her, (only having one goat). But my little crew all gets along.

 

[Budlady]

My little billy plays with my dogs and i have a herd dog she dont even look at him lol when my dog barks Bilbo runs to them and bleets along with the barking they are so dang cute just make sure you supervise them

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

goats smell like poop and run when chased. dogs love them.

unfortunately many dogs kick into their "wolf" side....and well.. it ends badly for the goat. for most of us the biggest predator out there for our goats are loose dogs.

you might end up with a dog that does have any hoots about the goat, but its a big chance. i have 2 extremely well trained dogs (and a pup) and i would never let them alone unsupervised.

there are breeds of dogs that are specifically for guarding livestock, tho but probably not your dog friend.

good luck!

 

[savingdogs]

She is right. It depends on the dog and to some extent the goat, but you have to remember you are talking about a predator animal and a prey animal.
Expect it to go bad and have a plan for how you will keep them apart. Then if things go well, you can relax. Some dogs get adjusted to seeing livestock after a little time has passed, some of it depends on how well your dog is trained and what kind of dog it is. Medium sized what? mixed breed?

 

[elevan]

I lost a doe to one of my brother's dogs. The dog found a way under the fence and chased the doe and broke her neck when he grabbed her. This was a nice dog normally. I personally would never allow any dogs (except maybe an LGD) near my goats.

 

[carolinagirl]

One of the biggest problems with goats is they don't fight back. If a dog starts to chase, goat goes into panic mode and runs, which further encourages the dog to chase. And if the dog gets the goat down, the goat rarely fights. Innocent play between goats and dogs often ends very badly for the goat.

 

[elevan]

One of the biggest problems with goats is they don't fight back. If a dog starts to chase, goat goes into panic mode and runs, which further encourages the dog to chase. And if the dog gets the goat down, the goat rarely fights. Innocent play between goats and dogs often ends very badly for the goat.

Goats are prey animals. Of course they run, it's their best defense.

I agree innocent can turn deadly faster than you can blink. I've heard this story too many times to count.

 

[chandasue]

Or the opposite like I have. A very bossy herd queen who chases down my wiener dog every chance she can. My little dog goes submissive, flops on his back and I have to run to intervene before he gets pummeled. It's fine as long as there's a fence between them but they cannot be loose together. Goats don't always understand dog language. It just all depends on the dog and the goat.

 

[rrhall]

I think it depends on the dog,we have a LGD and he stays with the goats 24/7. The goats are his family,A good LGD is worth his weight in gold,it is nice to know the goats are safe and protected.We were very cautious about getting a dog and having it around are goats and chickens,but I am glad we did now.The goats do not have any trouble with the dog being around them or their kids but like I said,a lot of it has to do with the dog and breed of dog more then the goats,I think the goats just get use to having a dog around. We just picked up a buck and you could tell he was not use to being around a dog,so we would just take the dog with us when we went into the bucks pen to feed him each day,it took about a week and the buck does not even give him a second look now and treats him as one of his own now.