I may have found our farm ! What are goats like? with dogs?

[KurtNYC]

I have two 1YO labs and the city I am in has no dog run and has started ticketing people who run their dogs at some of the only areas remotely suitable. I have been looking to rent or share a house with property suitable for large dogs. I am now negotiating to share a house on a horse farm just 12mins from home. There is a pond and 150 acres of pasture and woods. 18 horses, 2 other dogs and goats.

I don't have any experience with goats beyond seeing them at the county fair. The owner is suggesting that goats and dogs get along fine but I just have no experience with goats. I have washed, fed, mucked, saddled and rode horses.

What are goats like in general? dirty / clean. Hostile / mellow. Dumb / smart ?

[eShirl]

1. my experience with a family member's female goats

* dirty/clean can vary with how fastidious the owner is with them and their housing

* not hostile, a little on the wary side to be described as mellow (male goats might be different)

* kinda dumb except when it comes to escaping and eating/destroying vegetable gardens and berry bushes

[KurtNYC]

2. thanks

I haven't seen them but am hoping they are pygmies or fainting goats.

[FreakinDJ]

3. How are your dogs around goats

generally they mix well but being your dogs have never really had room to roam I would be more concerned with them getting a dose of pack mentality.

Once dogs get into a "Pack Mentality" all bets are off as in behavior. The kindest gentlest most docile "Man's best friend" can return home covered with sheep's blood from a night of indiscriminate killing.

Don't get me wrong - I love dogs - have 2 myself. It just that I've lived in the rural burbs all my life and have owned/been around cows, horses, sheep, chickens, goats mules, and farms all my life.

[femmocrat]

4. It sounds beautiful! Your labs will love the pond.

Don't know much about goats, however. :hi:

[undeterred]

5. Somebody brought their pet goats to a pet store for a fair

and my city dog (who had never seen goats) jumped the fence and started herding them. It was embarrassing. I guess its in his genes. You never know what they'll do till they get there I guess.

[Xithras]

6. Depends on the dog. Depends on the goat.

Dogs can be aggressive. Dogs can be mellow. Goats can be aggressive. Goats can be mellow.

Get the combination right, and everyone gets along just fine. Get the combination wrong, and they'll literally try to kill each other.

The bigger issue, IMHO, is your dogs. Because your dogs have never been around horses or goats, they have no idea how to behave appropriately around them. Country dogs that are raised around horses have a healthy respect for them. They know that horses are powerful but skittish animals, and that a horse can deliver a kick without warning that is capable of maiming or killing any dog. I saw a dog killed just that way last summer...friend brought his dog to the neighbors house, the dog (a lab, IIRC) trotted up behind a horse, and the spooked mare simply kicked the dog in the head. The dog hadn't barked, nipped, or done anything threatening, but it was killed instantly anyway...the city dog didn't understand that you NEVER walk straight up behind a horse. Goats, likewise, won't put up with a dog that thinks its "fun" to chase them around all day. Goats have horns, and even the mellowest goat can badly gore a dog it perceives to be a threat.

Before moving in, I would STRONGLY suggest that you visit the farm with your dogs on long leashes and see how they behave around them. While I can understand your desire to give your dogs more room, introducing two city dogs to a farm with 18 horses, two existing dogs, and goats could be a disaster if not handled right, and if your dogs don't know how to react to the other animals.

[Kali]

7. goats and dogs get along? I don't think so, although depends on the dogs.

Goats are a pain in the ass (but I am a cow person, so take my bias into consideration).

If you are planning to just let your dogs run "free" then you will have problems. Dogs are playful predators. All livestock, even horses are prey. A horned goat with experience could rip a dog open, but the usual outcome is dead or chewed up goats.

Goats do smell, but all livestock does. If you aren't handling them it will just be pen/manure odors and one tends to get used to that pretty fast (and some love those smells - especially horse corrals).

There was a thread not to long ago in which DUer csziggy posted a good reply about goats. Found the thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=439&topic_id=1457533

her reply at #8 is good

[Chan790]

11. Goats as PITA...

I grew up with the sheep and goats, my grandparents farmed them in the backyard. (I do wish I was kidding. It was at-least a large backyard at 3acres and the sheep ate dog-kibble and not the lawn. Grandpa was having none of that "...but they're ruminants, they eat grass!" shit.)

My recollection of the goats is that they didn't like my brother since he tried to ride one of them like a horse and they were of mistaken impression that the dog (a black lab) was just a very ugly goat...one they tried to mount anyways. Not smart animals. Smell awful and gamy. Eat garbage. Kick each other in the face for amusement and headbutt anything that came at them head-on, frequently the dog. Yet oddly affectionate.

[RebelOne]

8. I have a friend who at one time had a goat in her back yard.

She also had a Doberman and Pit Bull and all three got along fabulously. In fact, the Doberman sort of adopted the goat like it was her puppy.

[KamaAina]

9. Goats and dogs? Not even Rick Santorum ever envisioned THAT!

:spank:

[hamsterjill]

10. Normally, dogs and goats can coexist

I grew up on a ranch in south Texas. My father trained dogs for herding sheep and goats. I don't ever remember a dog mauling a sheep or goat; the operative word here being that he "trained" them well, of course.

Your situation sounds lovely, and you can probably see the "green" from my great envy coming through my computer screen! I am happy that you and your kiddos will have the enjoyment of the space and nature, etc. Good for you!

As for goats, I always though that Spanish goats were more fun, clean, and interesting than Angora goats. But we've had both. The kids are hilarious when they get old enough to start playing.

[yankeepants]

12. Where is the farm?

Used to live down there in horse country. Loved it. Just curious.