The Steps of Goat Aggression

[Nanno]

Being aware of goat behavior, watching their body language, and the little signs of disrespect is definitely important right from the beginning. You have an advantage because you've spent your life around horses, so watching an animal's body language should come naturally to you at this point. I tend to be subconsciously aware of what my goats are up to, but a lot of folks just starting out with goats are not aware that their goat is challenging them until suddenly one day it rears up and gets in their face. They never noticed the little mini-aggressions like the shoulder-brushes, horn taps, "playful" head pushes, sideways looks, and raised hackles. Sometimes these behaviors can seem cute and funny so they aren't taken seriously until the goat becomes downright pushy and annoying, and by then it's too late to make minor corrections. Full-on attitude adjustments are difficult for both you and the goat, and he often doesn't understand why he's being punished for behavior that was ignored for weeks or months prior. From his point of view, it was ok for him to disrespect you by bumping you with his shoulder or horn as he walked by, so he got used to the idea that he was in charge and the humans would move. So now when he rears up or butts to get you out of his way, he doesn't understand why you're suddenly upset by this. He expects you to move out of his space like you've always done!

It seems like a lot of folks want to treat their goats like dogs and play with them like puppies. But goats don't play like dogs or humans (both predator species). When goats play with other goats, there is nearly always an element of dominance involved. Play is one of the primary ways goats establish and confirm their place in the herd. And when goats play rough, it's definitely not suitable for human involvement! You don't want them thinking they can interact with you the way they interact with each other. When we "play" with our goats it means we teach them tricks and useful commands. They enjoy this interaction, but because it's nothing like "goat play" they don't associate it with dominance. "Play" with humans should reinforce the idea that we tell the goat where to place his body--not the other way around!

With bottle kids it's important to establish that they don't climb or jump on you when there's food involved. It's cute, but it's a big no-no. As they grow it can be easier to feed them from the other side of a fence. We allow our little babies to climb and jump on us when they're small and still trying to figure us out, but never when there's food involved. They're allowed to jump and climb on us from curiosity, not because they're greedy and demanding. As they get bigger, we start to discourage this behavior by pushing them back down or lifting a knee. Pretty soon they get the idea that we don't like them jumping on us any more. The mamas and other big goats are usually telling them the same thing about that age, so they soon realize that they're too big to act like little babies and they stop jumping up for attention.

If you stop the little minor challenges when they're small, and if you stay consistent with that process as they grow then your goats are unlikely to ever need drastic correction. We've never had to get after Finn and Sputnik very hard. A stern "No!", some hand-clapping and stomping in their direction, or maybe just a warning bump with a knee is about the most we've had to do to remind them that they can't horn into our space. Finn got a little uppity once or twice after our old goat, Cuzco, died last year, but the most correction I had to mete out was when I threw pinecones at him and yelled "NO!" as he circled around me and gave me the hairy eyeball. I think I had to do that twice before Finn decided that trying to boss me around wasn't worth it.