# Introducing new goats to our dogs...



## hipeatall (Jan 12, 2012)

We just got our first 2 goats a few days ago... they are 4 year old Nigerian Dwarf Dairy does. They came from a farm with LG dogs and do not seem to be afraid of our dogs at all.
Our dogs (a 3 yr old female golden retriever and a 12 yr old female catahoula) don't really know what to think of the goats . They are very sweet dogs and do a wonderful job of protecting our chickens and have never harmed a chicken or shown any aggression to them at all - I totally trust them with the chickens. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not taking any chances with the goats - better safe than sorry.
The goats are protected by 2 separate sets of fencing (they are in an enclosed barn with a small yard of it's own out in our fenced back pasture - and they are locked up securely in the barn at night). So for now the dogs have only seen the goats from a distance and they do bark a bit (like they bark when a new deer comes onto our property - they don't mind or bark at the "regular" deers at all).
I'm thinking I will start by taking the dogs out into the back pasture with me so they can get a closer look at the goats and see me feeding the goats.
I would love advice from people that have experience with these introductions...


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Congrats on your new goats.... :thumb: 

Never leave them unattended with your golden retriever or catahoula....these dogs are not meant to be LGD's and can get the wrong idea and may hurt them....If you are to introduce them...it is best to go with one dog at a time... have the dog on leash and go out with a chair and sit there with the dog ..let the goats approach the dog..make the dog sit there......watch for any bad reactions of the dog and correct.. if needed....do this daily... until they get more use to each other...to the point where... you can trust to release one dog at a time and watch them... Never leave these dogs unattended with the goats...they are really not the right breed types.. for goats..I know you say.. they do well with other animals but... goats may be a bit different....so be careful... :hug: :wink:


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## hipeatall (Jan 12, 2012)

I took the dogs out into the pasture to meet the goats earlier today and it went wonderfully. Both dogs sat quietly by the fence and just calmly watched the goats with me... no barking... totally relaxed. The goats came right up to the fence to check the dogs out. It was really sweet. 
I am not trying to train my catahoula or golden to be a guardian dogs... and I have no plans of letting them out in the same yard / pasture. I'm just introducing them to the dogs...


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Glad it went well..... :hi5: :thumb: :wink:


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## hipeatall (Jan 12, 2012)

me too! I'm all for baby steps and being very cautious


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## packhillboers (Feb 2, 2011)

Wow! that went well for the first time.. It went way better than our first intro to goats with our dog. Now our dog does so well with the goats. There is only 'one' yearling that is a problem for her. She tempts her to a game of chase and our dog gets in a lot of trouble for that. We do not even let our dog in with the babies yet. She lays down by the fence and waits for them to come to her then she licks their ears. We have goats(minus one) that don't put up with a dog being too rambunctious so for us things are in good balance. I still wont let our dog in with any of the little goats yet. I would think that two dogs can work some energy up with each other to get into a chase game. I would be very careful about putting them in with the goats unattended 'ever'.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

:thumbup: :hi5:


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## hipeatall (Jan 12, 2012)

I know everyone thinks that their dogs would never do anything to hurt their goat or chickens or what-have-you... and I know that mixing dogs (even trained livestock guardian dogs!) with any prey animal can very often lead to a really sad scenario. So I'm not taking any chances at all with our goats and dogs.
Our dogs are pretty amazing with our chickens. They are out with the chickens all day everyday and have been for many many years now with never even a hint of issue. Our golden retriever has been really amazing with them - she helped us find a hen that didn't go into the coop for lock up one evening - it was so cool - she took us right to that silly broody mama that was sitting on a nest hidden in the bushes. My dogs have proven to me that they can be completely trusted with our chickens. 
The goats are double fenced on our property away from our dogs and the neighboring properties. I even had a goat owner friend come over to "test" the fence prior to bringing home our girls. So I feel pretty good that I have done a good job with providing them a safe and secure home. But, that said, I have read and heard soooo much about goats being amazing escape artists that I really feel I need to do everything I can to make sure the goats and dogs are as familiar as possible with each other in case anything was to ever "happen".
I guess I will just keep up with the introductions through the fence for now... both dogs and goats (and humans!) seem perfectly comfortable with this scenario.


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

Glad it is going really well....

Just remember... if a dog can get in... a goat can get out.... :wink:


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## hipeatall (Jan 12, 2012)

Yes, I am absolutely 100% clear on that. 
Being brand new to goats, I was really just looking for advice from other people that have goats and pet dogs. I was looking for ideas of how they introduced them...


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

:hi5: :wink:


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