Goats and dogs...

[Dogma]

We have 5 very sweet labs/ lab mixes and we just got two beautiful Nigerian dwarf goats two weeks ago. I really wanted them all to run and play together... However the oldest goat charges and butts the dogs when they are together. Any advice or suggestions.?! My dogs just run away from the goats. I don't want anyone injured so we have built the goats their own pen, inside the fenced in area about 4 acres for the dogs... All goat fencing. We have been wanting goats so hopefully the more exposure through the fence the more comfortable they will get. The breeder had large pit bulls with them. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[sadieml]

I think keeping them separated for now is probably best. My pits love my pygmy boys, but they also like to run them. If the breeder's pits were like mine she may just be fed-up with dog chases. Given time and constant exposure I'm sure she will learn to love your labs, especially since labs are such lovable dogs.

 

[Bunnylady]

I dunno - I had a mixed breed goat that hated anything dog-like her entire life. I once saw her dart through an open gate to flatten a cat that was just walking by. I also saw her chasing a fox around the barn once - it took him several laps to get enough of a lead on her to get to hole he had dug under the fence and escape.

On the other hand, goats have a pecking order, and they can be pretty brutal when they are establishing it. If this goat is just trying to make sure the dog understands that it outranks the dog, it may ease off a bit once the "new" wears off.

 

[Southern by choice]

I would not allow them to be together unsupervised. Often dogs make goats very nervous. Chasing is never good under any circumstance and the down side to allowing goats to "play" with housedogs is that when or if another dog comes along (stray etc) your goat will be lunch. If they become too comfortable they may lose their goat radar that says "Danger".

There have been many of "trustworthy" family pets that have killed, maimed the family pet goats.

There is a reason goats and sheep have livestock guardian dogs. LGD's move slowly around them, do not chase do not interact with play etc. Most are highly bonded to the goats and they love each other but no play ever.

Many people do not know how to read the goats behavior and some think oh how cute they are playing together... I was on a farm a few years back and was shocked that the people had their house pet dogs all out with the goats... I was watching the dogs and goats... clearly this was a bad situation and the lady said "Oh no they love each other, look how they play"... tried to tell her that wasn't "play" and it was an accident waiting to happen. They weren't together all the time. The goats were not playing but fearful trying to butt and protect themselves...
About a year later the dogs killed one of the does and her kids.

 

[outdoorhoney]

Hi @Dogma! I have three dogs (two Pitbulls, one German short haired pointer) over here on my farm with my Alpine and Nigerian Dwarf does. On the first week that we had our goats, I was extremely cautious about letting the dogs and goats meet. Much to my surprise, when I introduced them to each other it ended up being the goats that would chase and charge at the dogs. I've never had an issue with any of our dogs being aggressive towards the goats. I have to keep more of an eye on the goats to make sure they don't try to headbutt the dogs! Unfortunately we have had a couple different incidents where our Alpine doe charged the dogs and got them with her horns (the doggies were okay but scared!). Our Pitbulls are especially fond of our does. This last spring/summer, our pits would lay in the pasture and keep a watchful eye on the goats from dawn till dusk. We have a fenced-in pen for the goats with an attached hoop house, but during the warmer months when there is a lot to forage we let the goats into the pasture where they can share the property with the dogs.

Just remember when introducing new animals to each other to always keep them under supervision. I'm sure they will become buddies in no time

 

[Dogma]

I would not allow them to be together unsupervised. Often dogs make goats very nervous. Chasing is never good under any circumstance and the down side to allowing goats to "play" with housedogs is that when or if another dog comes along (stray etc) your goat will be lunch. If they become too comfortable they may lose their goat radar that says "Danger".

There have been many of "trustworthy" family pets that have killed, maimed the family pet goats.

There is a reason goats and sheep have livestock guardian dogs. LGD's move slowly around them, do not chase do not interact with play etc. Most are highly bonded to the goats and they love each other but no play ever.

Many people do not know how to read the goats behavior and some think oh how cute they are playing together... I was on a farm a few years back and was shocked that the people had their house pet dogs all out with the goats... I was watching the dogs and goats... clearly this was a bad situation and the lady said "Oh no they love each other, look how they play"... tried to tell her that wasn't "play" and it was an accident waiting to happen. They weren't together all the time. The goats were not playing but fearful trying to butt and protect themselves...
About a year later the dogs killed one of the does and her kids.

Thank you for the information. I definately do not want that to happen!!! They are bring kept separate.

 

[MMWB]

I agree with the premise stated above, that you want your goats to not be too trusting of dogs in general. They naturally have a recognition of a predator and certain goats in a herd have a natural role to face the threat and ensure safety. In some cases that is just posturing, in other case a charge or actual contact. A head butt will knock a dog silly into next week. Horned goats have been known to hook and disembowel a dog (why many of us that pack prefer horned goats--so they can protect themselves). Dwarf goats, being a bit smaller, pose less of a lethal threat and they can be trained to behave around your dogs, but I wouldn't encourage to interact with each other, more to generally recognize and ignore each other.

 

[1crazybird]

I have two dogs. My great Dane, Tinkerbelle, is a big goof. She is so gentile with everything and everyone. She tip toes around little animals such as kittens and puppies ect. I thought she would love the goats when I got my first two girls. She did but the girls were so scared I decided not to let them be in the same area, unless through a fence. They were happy like that, they both come up to the gate and smell each other but will not out side the fence.
Now Kona, my Australian cattle dog, she was a foster fail and because of the goats. As you can tell by her name she is born to herd. One day I was in a good deal of pain and my DH wasn't available to help me to get the herd away. I tried everything; hooping and hollering, guide staff, running into the run, food, and so on. My children came out after a bit (4&5) to find me and Kona got out. She ran right to me as if she was saying I am ready to work. I figured it couldn't hurt. I did have some fear of her getting them or her getting a horn but I was desperate...
you can guess that this little dog became what she was made for. She did chase them but then stopped before she got to their pen or stop if they ran the wrong way. She was so content with herself and so was I. After that I have trained her more to help and decided to keep her but I would never leave her alone with them and I would never let her near a kid. I understand that animals are animals and even under my command could snap into a instinctive behavior.
As for the dogs that wonder in the yard. It is true that it can happen. Because of all the great smells I always get regular visits from local dogs. I have come friendly with them and their owners so that I can return them immediately. Dogs are predators at nature. Goats are related to the deer. Wolfs are wild dogs. Wolfs eat deer. Enough said.

 

[Mike CHS]

It's good that you can let her be what she was bred for. Our herding dogs are trained pretty well on sheep but I would never think of letting them in with any critters unattended. They work when we do and leave the field when we do also.

 

[1crazybird]

It's good that you can let her be what she was bred for. Our herding dogs are trained pretty well on sheep but I would never think of letting them in with any critters unattended. They work when we do and leave the field when we do also.

Same here