# Can barking dogs affect the health of a goat?



## valeray (Jul 30, 2013)

I'm located in a rural part of southwestern Virginia, so for the majority if the time it's peaceful and quiet here. Unfortunately, the neighbor with the smallest distance between my land and theirs owns two very territorial dogs who are not afraid to be vocal toward me.

The past few days I have been working on their pen in preparation for their arrival this spring. This is when the barking problem came about. These goats will be my first and I am extremely excited to have them, but I'm very concerned about the barking becoming a stressor in their lives.

My goats will be nigerian dwarf wethers, so I won't depend on them to provide the most milk they can, which I've learned stress can affect, but I still don't want them to be unhappy. No one wants their pet to be stressed.

The dogs are separated from my pen by a thin lining of forest and my neighbor's driveway, so they're not right on top of me. But that doesn't stop them from barking.

So can barking dogs affect the health of a goat?
Thanks!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

They will get used to the barking and should be fine. Just make sure the dogs can't get to them. Have some good fencing to protect the goats from the dogs.


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## MsScamp (Feb 1, 2010)

valeray said:


> So can barking dogs affect the health of a goat?
> Thanks!


Given your description of the surroundings, your goats might be a little nervous at first, but they will get used to it and it won't be a factor after the first week or so. I live maybe 50 yards from a major 4 lane highway and there are dogs that constantly bark just north of that highway. My girls pay them no attention at all.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

They should calm down in a few days but Id keep an eye on em and a gun handy. If they are barking at you that badly then they could be driven enough to get out and try and get in with the goats. If you are friends with your neighbor, you might invite them to bring their dogs over to your fence line to get an idea on how they are going to react and maybe even show how aggressive they act towards you.


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## PiccoloGoat (Sep 10, 2008)

My goats live in a suburban backyard with three dogs sharing the fence line that bark and they don't seem too phased. Sometimes my dog runs out and barks and they just look at her, they aren't scared. I think they will get used to it and it becomes background noise


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Yes, they will get use to them.


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## valeray (Jul 30, 2013)

Well that's certainly good to know, and it makes me feel better about bringing goats home. Thanks for all of the helpful replies everyone!


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## Tammi911 (Jul 28, 2013)

I have 4 dogs that come and go into the back yard through a doggie door as they please. They are constantly finding something that needs to be "chased" away. My goats were nervous at first but now if I let the goats out to forage, they will not go so far that they can't see the dogs anymore. If the dogs bark when they are out they run towards the dogs in the fence and look behind them. When the dogs stop barking they will go back to browsing.


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## trailgoats (Jul 26, 2013)

We actually own a dog boarding kennel, and the goats pen is about 150 feet away from the kennel. We have about 50 dogs per day here barking and checking the goats out from a distance. Even though it is new and different dogs every day, my goats could care less. It actually worries me because i feel like if a pack of coyotes were stalking them, they would just hang out and try to make friends.


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