is this aggression or dominance?

[imtc]

I have a nigerian dwarf goat that is about 8mo's old (got her in March). I also have a mutt dog (slightly smaller than a lab) that has been very friendly with the goat and both seem to enjoy each other's company. I have watched them closely for the past few months and decided to allow the two access to each other during the day for the past 3 weeks (both for company and protection) and all has been well. About a week and a half ago I decided to get a 2nd goat. The new one is about 7 weeks old and has been left with the other two since I brought her home. However today I caught my dog twice pinning her down and nipping at her. Once with some barking and the goat crying and freaking out. She never broke skin (no bleeding and goat didn't seem physically hurt at all) but it still really bothered me none the less. The dog was knocking the goat down and rolling her over on her side pinning her and when she screamed and tried to get up the dog was nipping at her back....goobered all over her. I have since seperated them but just wondered if anyone knows what kind of behavior that was. I'm assuming if the dog was intending to hurt her she would have. Was this just a show of dominance or play? And what can I do if anything to make it stop. I was really hoping they would all get along. Maybe wait till the goat is bigger? Or not trust them at all. I just don't know but is scared me.

 

[Skyesrocket]

It's hard to say without seeing it. What was the goat doing right before the dog rolled it? I'm wondering if it was trying to nurse on the dog. Did the dog give it any warning barks or growls?
Baby goats will get underneath a taller animal and try to nurse, or bump their noses hard against another animals belly trying to find a teat. If this was the case then the dog was warning it to stop.
It could be that the dog was wanting to play and got a little to rough.
I wouldn't leave the dog alone with it until it gets bigger. If you are going to be right there with them then maybe you can figure out what is going on and scold the dog if it starts playing rough.
I would worry that it is a game with the dog and could get out of hand pretty quick.
Good Luck!

 

[imtc]

Both times I wasn't right there when it started...just heard it and ran. I haven't noticed her trying to nurse off the dog so no telling what set her off like that. I know she "warned" my other goat when she started butting and haven't seen a problem there since. I will definately be keeping a SUPERVISED eye on them from now on (or at least till baby is MUCH bigger) and might try again. This dog is usually very sweet and is usually the one to back down when others show aggression toward her. It just really bothered me to see her acting like that with the little one and I didn't want it to turn into anything worse when I broke it up.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

I caught my dog twice pinning her down and nipping at her.

he is trying to eat her....he just isnt sure she is a food source. he is NOT playing with her - dogs love things that smell like poop and look like bait.

do not let your dog do that. ever.

or i guess you could be eventually he will probably kill your goat. remember that dogs are predators and they like to kill things that run when chased.

good luck​

 

[CaGoatLady]

Yes, NOT playing. I've got herding dogs and I can't even trust some of them around my goats; it's just too unpredictable. I made the mistake of raising most of my goats in the house with my dogs, so now the goats are much too familiar with the dogs and some of them don't like it, so they can't be out when the goats are.

 

[redhen]

His prey drive is kicking in..Be careful with him around those goats. He needs to know to NEVER put his mouth on those goats. How to train him to know that? I dont know...

 

[Jamie_Dog_Trainer]

The behavior you are describing is how a dog would normally correct another dog, and yes it has to do with rank in the "pack". The new goat is a threat to your dogs sense of security in the pack. Your dog is trying to maintain rank order and establish rank with the new goat. This is dangerous for the goats, both of them the reason being that the dog and goat have a different way of looking and establishing rank. Two species, two ways of doing things.

This needs to be stopped before the new goat gets hurt. The dog needs not to be in the goat pens.

 

[CaGoatLady]

Jamie is exactly correct. I have mainly all Border Collies, so when I got pet goats and sheep, I was worried about correcting them with their natural herding, but concerned that they might hurt the goats. One day, one of my male Border Collies did the doggy correction of putting his mouth over the "muzzle" of one of my young goats, just as he would to our puppy, and the goat came away with a punture wound that went all the way through the outside of her nose to the inside and she bled though her nose and mouth for a while. It's not something I would like to see repeated and I'm sure the goat feels the same way. It then becomes unfair to scold the dog for doing what he should be doing to a dog because he's used to the goats also living in the house and being part of his pack. It was all my fault.

 

[imtc]

thank you all for your replies. I have spent the afternoon fencing off the section the goats are in to keep the dog away now that I know I can't trust her. I don't think she meant to do harm this time but I can definately see it get out of hand if not supervised and am not willing to risk it. Kind of bummed me out though cause up until yesterday they all seemed to do fine together. glad I caught it now though before something bad happened.