Chat
10-07-2017, 06:05 PM
When our goats stop in front of us we kick them in the rear end. It doesn't have to be real hard--the point is not to cause pain because getting whacked in the rear is already something goats understand very well. If a goat stops in front of a dominant herd mate, he will get head-butted in the behind. Goats rarely walk in front of the Head Honcho.
By the way, how old are your goats? If they're less than three years old, they are at the prime age for testing boundaries and figuring out who is in charge. Expect them to test you from time to time. Once your goats know that you are the Boss, they will be less likely to mess with your kids. If you can establish child-friendly habits while your goats are young, these should hopefully last them through adulthood.
It's also important to train your kids how to interact with the goats. They should be quiet and gentle but not nervous. Teach your kids not to shy away from the goats. This triggers the goat to step forward into the child's space, making the kid step back, and so on. Pretty soon you've got a goat that has been trained to chase after children! This unfortunately happened with our first goat when we boarded him at a ranch. The ranch hand's son would pet Cuzco then jump back if Cuzco stepped toward him. Before we knew this was going on, Cuzco had already learned to chase kids and was never trustworthy around them again. It's instinctive for most small kids to step back or run away from big animals that walk toward them, so this is why close supervision is important when you've got kids and goats interacting. When a goat steps into your child's space even just to be friendly, push him back to a safe distance so the goat learns to respect personal boundaries. Your kids will eventually learn from your example how to push goats out of their way. Best of luck to you! Hopefully this is no more than a brief episode.
By the way, how old are your goats? If they're less than three years old, they are at the prime age for testing boundaries and figuring out who is in charge. Expect them to test you from time to time. Once your goats know that you are the Boss, they will be less likely to mess with your kids. If you can establish child-friendly habits while your goats are young, these should hopefully last them through adulthood.
It's also important to train your kids how to interact with the goats. They should be quiet and gentle but not nervous. Teach your kids not to shy away from the goats. This triggers the goat to step forward into the child's space, making the kid step back, and so on. Pretty soon you've got a goat that has been trained to chase after children! This unfortunately happened with our first goat when we boarded him at a ranch. The ranch hand's son would pet Cuzco then jump back if Cuzco stepped toward him. Before we knew this was going on, Cuzco had already learned to chase kids and was never trustworthy around them again. It's instinctive for most small kids to step back or run away from big animals that walk toward them, so this is why close supervision is important when you've got kids and goats interacting. When a goat steps into your child's space even just to be friendly, push him back to a safe distance so the goat learns to respect personal boundaries. Your kids will eventually learn from your example how to push goats out of their way. Best of luck to you! Hopefully this is no more than a brief episode.