# Best dog breeds with pet goats (non LSG)



## Ziegen (Sep 22, 2014)

I am curious to hear people opinions on what dog breeds get along well with goats. In this case, I am NOT interested in a live stock guardian. 
I am not currently looking to get another dog, but am just wondering what breeds would be best, as one of my dogs is starting to grow old and I'm wondering what type of dog my be best for our family when he passes. 

What I would be looking for in a dog:
- Medium to large size preferred
- friendly to humans and other dogs
- will be kept 75% indoor, 25% outdoor
- will be around 2 extremely friendly pet Nigerian Dwarf girls a lot. They will share the same yard and sleep in creates next to each other. Goats have no horns and are used to dogs. They will generally be under supervision when together and trained, but obviously we want to start with a dog that has a good goat-friendly disposition.
-Prefer short hair but not a requirement
- No requirements for watch dog or guard dog. prefer one that isnt a huge barker. 

Right now I have a beagle who is excellent with them. The only time there is any kind of fussing with her is because she really loves her food, so if they come near a food bag she wants, she was howl at them (but not bite, snap, chase, etc). I also have an old Australian Shepard who is also generally good with them. The only time there is any issue with him is when he is very tired (which he often is as an old dog) and one of the goat wants to play with him and jumps on him. He doesn't bite them or anything, but will growl and generally run away. We work hard to avoid those situations just in case.


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## dreamacresfarm2 (May 10, 2014)

I don't leave any of my dogs alone with my goats. It doesnt matter how good they are with goats, all it takes is one bite while playing and you have a dead goat. Dogs and goats play different and someone will get hurt. Dogs bite, grab, shake each other while playing. That said, it really doesn't matter what breed, the individual dog will have to be ok with the goats. You don't want a dog that will play with the goats, you want one that ignores them. I have a pitbulll that is great with my goats but she only visits when I am there and can give the situation my complete attention. Pick a dog that has been raised around goats. 
Don't risk your babies or a puppy by placing them in a no win situation.


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## Ziegen (Sep 22, 2014)

I agree with you 100%. Our dogs and goats are together under supervision, and any dog which we did get would be brought up and trained with them as a puppy most likely. 
I do, however, believe that dog breeds to highly affect their behavior and that some breeds are much more likely to work well (or not) with goats.


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Except.for my puppy I trust my dogs fully with my goats. I have a border collie, a Queensland, 2 border collie/ Queensland, a Jack russel cross of some kind, and my Weimaraner i lost a few months back. My puppy who I think is a boxer cross (she was found behind a dumpster) hasn't given me a reason to not trust her other then just being a puppy. She tried to play with a kid once, got her butt swatted and has never done it again. 
I fully agree with you that some breeds are more prone to not being.trusted. I would suggest not herding dogs for sure. Mine are fine but they also get to do their herding thing on the cows. I also think training is a big part of it. The first thing I do with any new puppy is show them all the animals and nip any playing with those animals on the spot. I see people keep their dogs fully away from other animals and never let them meet, IMO they are just asking for trouble when those dogs do escape out.with their animals.


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## Greybird (May 14, 2014)

Don't laugh, but we have 3, probably not pure, Chinese Cresteds that came (indirectly) from a rescue and they are perfectly safe with all of my chickens, turkeys, geese and the goats. (In fact, they are starkly terrified of the geese!) 
They are very cautious of the goats and will run away if the goats show the slightest sign of approaching them. They were briefly interested in playing when the goats were still at the bouncy kid stage and weren't too much bigger than they are, but that stage didn't last for very long. While it lasted, the goats didn't seem to mind and they readily joined in the fun. I WISH we had taken pictures!

Granted, our dogs aren't very big, since they only average about 25lbs, but I can't fault their behavior, other than the fact that they _will_ eat eggs if they find any.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

There is a lot to be said about how you raise them. Although, there are some that will be different. I had 2 dogs Boxer/GSD full brother and sister. The female would kill my poultry. Regardless (she got rehomed). The male....nope. The only ones I would say an absolute "no" to are hunting dogs...with Labs being an exception.


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## LadySecret (Apr 20, 2013)

I would not get a breed that is large enough to easily over power your NDs. My aunt left her lab with me for a few months and his favorite game was chase and mouth a goat. Exactly like he would another dog. One goat took every opportunity to ram the lab as hard as possible. Often completely knocking him down. So I wouldn't recommend a lab. My miniature schnauzers have shared a yard with bottle babies without problems but I never really left them alone. They would bark at the goats at first but then just ignore them. A toy breed could actually be hurt by the goats so you don't want to go too small either. I have a German Shepard heeler mix that would chase and nip at the goats until my smallest ND chased her back. It freaked her out and now she runs away from them when she's out with them. She usually isn't as I don't trust her. She's a weirdo. I'd go with a medium sized dog with a low prey drive. My English pointer is the only non LGD I've had that completely left my goats alone. A bird dog usually won't chase as they were bred to point.


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

Young Labs have so much energy. And we are talking till they are about 4. We have Labs who come in for daycare where I work and they just play hard all day. Labradoodles are way too high energy too. Maybe a Golden Retriever but you wanted shorter hair.


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## LadySecret (Apr 20, 2013)

I think golden retrievers are on the list of dogs that commonly bite people. So may not be a good choice for your NDs...Dogs can vary so much within their breed. I think you might have better luck telling a shelter the kind of dog your looking for and try out the dog they suggest. Some of them can be really good about finding the right dog for the right home.


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## dreamacresfarm2 (May 10, 2014)

or contact a local rescue.


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## lottsagoats1 (Apr 12, 2014)

Other than my LGD's I don't trust any dog near my goats. I do have a Greyberian HuskHound who loves goats and likes to mother the bottle kids, but I still wouldn't leave him alone with any of them.


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## Ziegen (Sep 22, 2014)

I dont think I would want any kind of retreaver. My beagle is so good with them that I may consider another hound. Anyone have experience with pointers and goats? Ive always been a viszla fan.


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## KW Farms (Jun 21, 2008)

Maybe give this a try: http://www.animalplanet.com/breed-selector/dog-breeds.html Breed selector...might give you some ideas. :shrug:


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## Anne2 (Dec 22, 2012)

I have a Lab cross and he's perfect with my goats and chickens. He's a house dog so i have always been with them when they are together but he has not once in five years ever tried to hurt one of them, but on the other hand one of my goats has caught him off guard and has given him a butt. He always looks so hurt when she does this. So I'm very careful with them all, i would be more worried that she would hurt him. he's a very timid dog who thinks he's a goat.


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## Cactus_Acres (Sep 24, 2013)

I have a bloodhound. Key things there are temperament, age (she is 11), and her inability to keep up with them if she wanted. Even in peak health, she would never be able to chase a goat well. Bloodhounds just don't have the speed due to body size AND leg length. They bred them for those legs to make it easier for their handlers to keep up with them. Bloodhounds are dolls with human kids, and most folks see them as tough dogs due to their profession in tracking bad guys. Mine is ruled by our cats (she'll yield to them at the food bowl, they will steal her food as she eats, with not so much as a sound from her).


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Cactus_Acres said:


> I have a bloodhound. Key things there are temperament, age (she is 11), and her inability to keep up with them if she wanted. Even in peak health, she would never be able to chase a goat well. Bloodhounds just don't have the speed due to body size AND leg length. They bred them for those legs to make it easier for their handlers to keep up with them. Bloodhounds are dolls with human kids, and most folks see them as tough dogs due to their profession in tracking bad guys. Mine is ruled by our cats (she'll yield to them at the food bowl, they will steal her food as she eats, with not so much as a sound from her).


I am jealous just so you know!! I want a blood hound so badly. I was actually looking for one when I found this puppy that got dumped behind a dumpster. So again the blood hound must wait, but that ok cause I'm pleased with little puppy 
Sorry I know that was off topic  I think what ever you get get it as a puppy and introduce them young. Yes the puppy is gonna want to play and shouldn't be trusted with them till they are old enough to start to calm down. The only time I've ever had issues with dogs and livestock was when we got a year old dog. We ended up having to put him down.

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## spidy1 (Jan 9, 2014)

Greybird said:


> Don't laugh, but we have 3, probably not pure, Chinese Cresteds that came (indirectly) from a rescue and they are perfectly safe with all of my chickens, turkeys, geese and the goats. (In fact, they are starkly terrified of the geese!)
> They are very cautious of the goats and will run away if the goats show the slightest sign of approaching them. They were briefly interested in playing when the goats were still at the bouncy kid stage and weren't too much bigger than they are, but that stage didn't last for very long. While it lasted, the goats didn't seem to mind and they readily joined in the fun. I WISH we had taken pictures!
> 
> Granted, our dogs aren't very big, since they only average about 25lbs, but I can't fault their behavior, other than the fact that they _will_ eat eggs if they find any.


LOL!!! I guess I'm not the only one with a hairless baby!!!!


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## ProvidenceHill (Sep 9, 2013)

You might consider an English Shepherd. They're good mid-sized all-around farm dogs and plenty of people raise them with goats so you could probably find a pup already exposed to them. Some lines are used for herding but some aren't, so you'd want to check out breeders. My ES has never shown an ounce of interest in herding anything (although he does like to follow the ducks around to eat their poop). They definitely do NOT have that "gotta-herd-gotta-herd-gotta-herd" thing going on that border collies do. I leave mine unattended with the poultry with no trouble, but he doesn't go inside the goat pen because my Alpine herd queen HATES dogs and it could get ugly. He loved my daughter's little market wethers last year though.


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## Ziegen (Sep 22, 2014)

Thanks for all the input!


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## Goats & Dogs R My Life (Aug 27, 2017)

LadySecret said:


> I think golden retrievers are on the list of dogs that commonly bite people. So may not be a good choice for your NDs...Dogs can vary so much within their breed. I think you might have better luck telling a shelter the kind of dog your looking for and try out the dog they suggest. Some of them can be really good about finding the right dog for the right home.


I disagree Goldens very rarely bite people


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

There is risk of not knowing if any natural hunting instincts kicks in to any dog. There may be risk there. An example is, a LGP who are bred to protect livestock, don't come fully trained. They too will get out of line and start chase ect, so we correct that. I cannot say having any breed of dog is safe, going by raising an actual LGD, it is a lot of work, watching, correcting when they get out of line and that is for about 2 years or so. 
I did have a LGpup who was out of my LGD, who was raised around goats, and no matter how many times I would correct him, just didn't get it even at close to 1 year. I left him unattended for a few minutes and he was chasing a goat kid, then drew blood. I had to re-home him to someone without other animals. 

So do be careful with any dog around goats.


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