Can goats get along with dogs??

[selenarev]

So we recently got two goats, a doe and a kid. This is our first time having goats, and our dog (medium-small sized) is fine with the goats, but the doe is very aggressive with the dog. Given the chance she will back him into a corner and head butt him repeatedly. She is always on the defense when the dog is anywhere near. Any tips on helping the doe get along with the dog?

 

[Birdsong 82]

I have a very similar problem. Mine didn't occur until my goat had babies and became extremely protective . We did training and it got better but all in all our dogs avoid being within 50 foot at the goats. My guess is the mother is being defensive over her child and the child is learning from her mother. Plus on top of that when goats relocate or really anything is different they get extremely extremely stressed. I just moved to a new home in it took about a month for my goats to level out completely. Weeks on end where any time they heard a noise from the house they were just cry cry to make sure that we were still there. I'm thinking just supervised meet and greets between the two. It may take a while because some goats are very very protective over their children but maybe they will learn that there's no reason to be defensive Because the dog doesn't want to hurt them she's just curious. How long has it been?

 

[Birdsong 82]

But the good news is that defensiveness usually shows that she's a really good mother. Unfortunately it's probably gonna take a while.

 

[Birdsong 82]

Oh and BTW .

 

[Bunnylady]

Any tips on helping the doe get along with the dog?

It's possible that the only way peace will be achieved is if you keep the dog out of the goats' space. I had a doe that, until her dying day, would not tolerate any dog or anything dog-like in the barnyard. I once saw her charge through a momentarily open gate to flatten a cat that was just walking nearby. I also watched her chase a fox around the barn several times before it got enough of a lead on her to slow down and scoot back under the fence at the spot where it had originally come in. She was like that all of the time, that goat just hated predators, and felt it was her job to "do something" about them. Others aren't that intense, and mellow out with time. But either way, I would definitely keep your doe and dog separate as long as she has a baby to protect.

 

[cassie]

The best way for goats and dogs to coexist is to keep them separate. Goats are prey animals. Dogs are predators. Goats instinctively will do what they can to protect themselves from a perceived threat. Your dog may not be a threat to the goat, but the goat doesn't know that and the goat may be a real threat to the dog. I have known goats to corner a dog and then try to kill it. In this case the only reason they didn't succeed in doing so is because I came on the scene in time to rescue the dog.

 

[Ozarkhomesteader]

Welcome to BYC!

I would have to agree with the above posters, the best way to get them to coexist is to keep them separate. I had a doe that didn't mind them at all, and another that sought to kill them whenever she saw them. After about a year, she would tolerate the dogs in the large 2 acre pasture (and by tolerate i mean she only chased them if they came too close to her, and didn't try to corner them anymore). But she would try to kill them when they would go into the pen.

You want to be really careful though with goats and dogs, because goats can do some serious damage to a dog, and if in pain, a dog can do some serious damage to a goat, even a good dog. So just be careful and watch closely whenever the goats and dogs are near each other. And play it safe and keep them separate.