# Choosing My Pack Goats



## imported_Brighteyes (Jan 1, 2011)

There seem to be so many important decisions to make right of the bat about the who and when of getting pack goats. I am evaluating several different breeds and their strengths and weaknesses. And, how will I know the best goat when I visit the breeder? I can ask her to help me choose. And, there is the big question of horns or no horns. I'm just in the excited about doing this stage with a limited amount of information. We also have dogs and I'd like to understand more about how dogs and goats live/work together. We live on a farm and our dogs run free. Will that effect goat training? And help we can get to make some of these decisions will be greatly appreciated.


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## sanhestar (Dec 10, 2008)

And, how will I know the best goat when I visit the breeder? I can ask her to help me choose. 

Is this a breeder that has experience with packgoat breeding? If not, he or she may not be able to help you choose the right goat for packing because a dairy or meat goat breeder values other characteristics than a packgoat breeder.

Why do you need the best goat? You need the goat that fits YOUR needs the best, not the best goat in the bunch if it's beyond your experience, capabilities or preferences.


We also have dogs and I'd like to understand more about how dogs and goats live/work together. We live on a farm and our dogs run free. Will that effect goat training? And help we can get to make some of these decisions will be greatly appreciated.

Goats and dogs have a natural predator/prey-relationship. You will have to do serious training to teach the goats to accept the dogs and also your dogs to leave the goats alone. As there is always a certain pack dynamic when there's more than one dog around I would keep the dogs under constant supervision when they interact with the goats. As long as the goats aren't comfortable with you, I would keep the dogs away during training, introducing them to the goats while training one at a time.


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## ali pearson (Aug 12, 2009)

Dog proof fencing is a really good idea. Neighbor dogs attacking your goats would more likely be a problem than your dogs. That being said, I have three dogs and there are four neighbor dogs who come and visit us, all of whom are great with the goats and join us for our daily walk around the orchard, and the goats seem to enjoy all the dogs and spar a little with them in a friendly way. 

When you get your goats, just keep an eye out for any predatory behavior by your dogs and discourage it. Most dogs in my experience will be curious about the goats, try to sniff their butts, figure out they are not dogs, get butted by the goats once or twice, and then just leave them pretty much alone. If a dog starts showing too much excitement or interest, I step in front of the dog and make a hissing noise, to assert that I "own" this goat, and he should back off. Like Caesar Milan. Of course some dogs are naturally more tenacious about bugging other animals, like terriers or some herding breeds. It will take more work. 

Once your goats are bonded to you they will come to you for protection from strange dogs. It hasn't really been a problem for me yet.


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## jross (Dec 20, 2008)

Good advice from the others. I would add that if you can get your goats as babies and bottle feed them they will bond with you much stronger and faster. I couldn't do that so I did second best, which was to get them from a place where they had been take away from their mothers as babies and fed by various people until they were 3 month old. Then I took them home. It took a little while, but they soon bonded with me very strongly. If they are raised by their mothers they may never bond with people. Packgoats must be bonded with you because you will be out on trails with them, camping out with them, etc. and they must stay close to you. Otherwise they could get lost or eaten by predators. You also have to be able to handle them and touch them. If they don't trust you, won't follow you, and are hard to get ahold of, it will be a major PIA.

Horns or no horns. Lots of disagreement here. I wanted no horns because I don't want my goats injuring each other or people (even accidentally). I had the dairy where I got my goats dehorn them as babies, but they did a very poor job of it. So my goats all wound up with "scurs" which are ugly, mangled horn scraps. The goats went thru a lot of misery, and I went thru a lot of trouble and expense before we finally got the scurs under control.


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## rtdoyer (May 6, 2010)

I've seen several people say, start with bottle babies AND personality is super important in pack goats. How do you know personailty in bottle babies when you are buying from a breeder?

We purchased some 4 year old packgoats last year and they definitely have their own, independent personality. So, now I'm thinking that we'll start with babies and go that route. I'm getting 2 girls in a month or so with the thoughts of raising girls to breed for the future. However, would it be better to just go buy 4 or 5 bottle boys and start with them?

I hear people talking about crossing breeds, but then you are looking at not hiking with them for 2-3 years.

Tonia


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## sanhestar (Dec 10, 2008)

Hello,

take your time to observe the kids in their environment, how they interact with other goats and with people. You will see more timid ones and more open ones.

Ask the breeder about the parents, interact with the parents, observe them. Is the doe a high ranking animal, shy or open, friendly when handled. Same with the buck.


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