Bourbon the Service Goat Strikes Again!

[Taffy]

Thanksgiving morning I took the goats for a hike to the Columbia River.  It was a gorgeous sunny day.  It was an enjoyable hike for the goats and for me.  It's a steep drop down to the river in the few places you can get down to river level.  I began heading down the embankment when all of a sudden Bourbon slid past me and placed himself in front of me!  Just like he did on the hike a couple years ago, he moved enough to keep out of my way but not too far.


   


Bourbon has become more aggressive with the other goats when I'm around.  They totally respect his space and all he has to do is look at them or turn his head and they scoot out of the way.  I'm not sure this is a good thing.  I love how bonded he is to me but worry about ending up in the middle of one of his reprimands of the other goats.

I'm curious - has anyone else experienced this type of bond with their goat?

[Charlie Horse]

Vincent VanGoat, when he was young, would always walk next to me and then start leaning in for a scratch and sometimes cross in front of me. Certainly it wasn't a dominance thing, or a "I'm best goat" thing, but more of a "At least the human loves me" thing. It got to be pretty annoying but he grew out of it. Now Barry Goatalo is doing the same thing. If I ever disappear from the forum, there's a chance that I tripped over Goatalo and fell off a cliff. My boss goat Bacchus can actually be a little aggressive with strangers but he knows better than to try anything with me. If he gets in my way I grab a chunk of fur from his rump. There have been the times I got a whack on a hand or leg from a passing horn when two goats are squabbling but nothing serious and I always get my revenge. Honestly my goats have pretty terrible pack goat manners and pass me all the time.

[Nanno]

Aw, that's cute. He wants to make sure you don't fall down that hill!

Cuzco was possessive around me and jealous of the other goats. This was not a good thing. It put me in the middle of some fights, and one time he went between my legs and knocked me down on top of him. I went for a pretty good ride before I fell off! Pac-Man was bossy to the other goats about "people possession" for a while, but having learned a lesson from Cuzco, we did not allow it to continue. Finn has also had this trouble from time to time, though it's usually over food, not attention. It was a struggle for Finn to allow me walk between himself and Phil on the trail, but he finally settled for being the first goat in line after the human hikers.

[blackie's maiden]

Blackie is a little bossy to our other goats too. Eight now he is older, taller.and the biggest horns. I hope my two younger kikos.aren't keeping score. From the pictures I see of mature kiko horns, the tables will eventually turn.