Hello from San Jose, CA

[AmyB]

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Hi, all;

I wasn't part of the forum at its previous location. Glad I found it now!

The closest I've come to goat packing is that I used to walk my Boer and grade Nubian does in the woods with my dogs when I lived in Mississippi. I now have a 3-year-old BoerxNubian from my Boer doe who I'd like to start packing with. I was excited to move to San Jose, because I think it's more friendly to this type of thing than the South.

Gidge is kind of skittish because I moved to Atlanta when he was about 4 months old and he wasn't socialized as well as he would have been if I'd been there, so I'd love to have tips on how to make sure he's safe since he weighs twice as much as I do. The above pic was about 6 months after we were reunited, and you can see he's mad at me because I'd been treating him for an ear infection. He'd never willingly hurt me, but when I was first training him to tie, he broke the snaps on the lead I was using (double-ended snapped to an eye bolt).

I think if I put him on a coupler like you'd use for dogs with his mother that may help, but he has a 1-month-old half-brother who is still on her so that might not work at least for a while and leaves the problem of what to do with my grade Nubian, because she won't want to be alone. I am thinking to start him carrying the garbage and recyclables down our driveway to the cans, which is about a half a mile round-trip with a medium grade.

I also am not sure how to identify parks and trails that welcome goats, so any help there would be appreciated.

[Dave-Trinity-Farms]

Welcome home Amy

[Huckleberry]

Welcome! Gidge looks just like my big guy, Basil, I call him my meat goat. They are really strong boys. In our area I think the only places that don't welcome goats on trails is in National Parks, other than that unless the rules state no I would go for it.

[Nanno]

Aw, he's so cute! Welcome, welcome, and nice to meet you!

I think channeling Gidge's energy into hauling garbage cans is a great idea. It gives your willful goat something to pull against besides you and may make him feel useful and important. Your other goat will just have to learn how to deal with being left behind sometimes. It's good for them to be able to deal with being separated. Use a halter instead of a collar and Gidge won't be able to pull you around. I had similar issues with my goat, Cuzco, before I got him a halter. With a collar he could pull me over without even trying. That's one reason he made such a great harness goat! He loves to pull against resistance. But the halter controls their head so they can't lean into it like a collar or harness.

As for parks and trails that allow goats, I figure if there's no signage saying "NO", then go for it. It's better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission.

[AmyB]

I'm actually more worried about what would happen if he gets scared on the trail, like if there's a barking dog or snake or lady in a floppy hat. I don't think he's going to deliberately pull me into a problem unless he spooks. Could he injure himself on a halter?

[Nanno]

Your goat is more likely to injure himself if he gets away from you! It would be really hard for him to pull away in a halter since he can't lean his whole weight into it. Also, you eliminate the problem of choking him. My goat, Cuzco, used to strain so badly on the collar that he would make himself hack and cough and I was worried about injuring his throat, particularly if he spooked suddenly or tried to take off when a dog showed up. I wouldn't tie a goat up unsupervised in a halter for very long (for instance, no high lining), but they're great for leading or for tying up while you're handling him. I always tie Cuzco in a halter while clipping, bathing, medicating or anything else that requires more control. I see Gidge has horns, which is a bonus for using a halter. My favorite thing about horns is that they make haltering much simpler since there's no possible way for the goat to slip out of it without breaking the halter. This is a very good reason not to tie him up by it unsupervised, but it makes for a foolproof restraining system if you have a very large goat that doesn't want to cooperate.

[AmyB]

Yes, my main concern about whether he could injure himself with a halter is if he got enough speed before he hit the end of the lead that he wrenched his neck. I use a halter on Gidge when I do his hooves, because the time I was away when he was in his adolescence means he's still a pain when I trim his rear hooves. I can do the front ones while he eats.

Symbol makes babies with lovely horns, so I never take the horns off of hers. I feel the horns make them easier to handle (you can really get a steady grip on the head with the horns over your arm when the vet is there). The only time I've felt endangered by horns is when I bought my first wether, who was about 18 months old and had big horns already. I innocently petted his neck with my arm between his neck and his horns. When he turned his head, I learned not to do that!