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I'm new to herding but would love to get into it and so, of course, have questions. We'll be bringing home 4-5 sheep this spring, and 2 goats. First of all, is it possible to work a dog on such a small number of sheep? We will look into working with a trainer, of course, but I thought it was a legitimate question as far as being able to work at home goes.

 

Secondly, is it possible to herd with goats? I imagine they may be less cooperative but I've heard of working a dog on both ducks and cattle. And if working with goats is possible, how about mixing the two? Will sheep and goats be herded together, or is this not a good idea?

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Please wait for more expert advice, but I've had goats.

 

They do not take kindly to being herded and are quite vociferous about expressing that opinion, usually by backing up and then head butting whatever's aggravating them with enough force that they feel like a Mack truck. Also, they are dedicated climbers of fence. By the time I was done my "goat and pony" paddock looked like Fort Knox. I considered putting in search lights.

 

I would not ask my dog to manage goats.

 

But, I am not a dog OR a goat expert. Just an aggravated family farmer.

 

Goats are great. In tacos.

 

:rolleyes:

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In my very limited experience working goats with dogs, I've found younger Boer goats to work very nicely but older, dairy-cross goats to be very dog-wise and very clever at resisting the dogs, either through aggression (especially with younger, hesitant, less powerful, and less grippy dogs) or through cussed cleverness (like ring-around-the-pen or using the fence to help avoid the dog working well).

 

I think most folks would advise using appropriate sheep breeds for dog training. Best wishes!

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Thanks - both of you make sense. I had a feeling goats wouldn't take kindly to having a dog attempt to move them around. We're starting with goats solely for milking as of now and hope to graduate to 4 goats by next spring(they're actually Nigerian Dawrf goats), but the sheep we're doing just for wool. That's why I'm wondering if I'd be able to train with so few, as then we'd have another purpose for them. But that's very good to know about the goats!

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Sorry about that Sue R, we posted at the same time. As I just mentioned, these will be young Nigerian Dwarf goats. The sheep are 3 Corriedale, 1 Romney(I think that's it...perhaps it's the other way around), and we may be getting 1 Romney cross. I wasn't aware that there were preferred breeds for herding.

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Do you think the wool will be damaged from the stress of training dogs? Handspinners don't like wool with "breaks" or weak spots. Transport, illness, lambing, nursing stresses can cause breaks, training a new dog may too. Of course it could be used for other things, but don't expect to get handspinners $$ for it. Any one have more experience with this? Many folks have hair sheep for training.

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That is an excellent question. I've been focusing all my research and learning on the care of the animals and the training of the dogs - not how they'd offset each other, which is something I should've observed before. Thanks for bringing that up. I'm sure it must have some effect on the sheep....

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Lighten up Bill! I love my 3 Boer cross goats! They are thrifty and hardy and will teach a dog to cover and be respectful much more quickly that will a farm flock of sheep. I am lucky in that my goats are not escape artists (the wether that was is now in the freezer, yum!) :rolleyes:

 

I have also worked Angoras and they're not bad either, just different from sheep in that they're less likely to flock up so the dog needs to work harder to keep them together. They do vocalize when they grow weary of the work...

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My dogs have all worked goats. My older dog started on goats because that is all I had. I did have one Alpine doe that would constantly challenge, but she would back up clear across the field. My dog never did like that goat. Her offspring out of a Boer buck were not like her however and would move quite nicely off a dog. My daughter (who rarely worked the dogs) actually took two of the Boer X does and my best dog and worked a day with them for a movie set. The goats were not people friendly but with the dog there my daughter was able to get them into the right position and move them around as needed. Goats generally do not move off a dog like sheep and they don't flock like sheep. Some even tend to just stop and if the dog is not confident and goat savvy they will just stand and let the dog push the rest who will move, on by. When I penned the goats and sheep together, they tended to segregate themselves and if I brought a dog in they would run with the sheep, but still in a separate bunch. I enjoyed working the goats and I think my dogs learned a lot from them, but I did end up selling them all off at auction when they started escaping and the neighbors would bring them back. Here is a pic of my sheep and goats. There are 5 goats in this picture. 2 are the Boer X does and 3 are either Boer/Alpine/Angora X or Alpine/Angora X. They were all idiots.

 

sheepGoats.jpg

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Actually I have none of those sheep anymore either. The Barbs and the Barb/St Croix went soon after the goats.. The Barb/St Croix were the flightiest, stupidist sheep I've ever worked with. They never calmed down. I had goats for many many years. Long before I ever found a good dog to help me with them. My dairy goats were smart. These Boer crossbreds really were idiots. The Angora crosses were the best goats for working with that I had.

 

Joan

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I've worked goats a few times, and actually I kind of liked it. There was a flock about five miles from my old farm in Mass. that used to get out all the time and, being goats, would head directly for the four-lane highway. I came across them gamboling in the median one time, got out and flagged down a couple of passing motorists to assist with traffic and herded them back to their place and locked them in the barn. Another time they were just on the side of the road. The third time, as soon as they saw my dog they ran the quarter mile back and went into the barn on their own.

 

The worst are the pet goats, and I suppose that judging goats by the behavior of pets is like judging sheep by the behavior of bottle lambs. But still, I think they are all going to hell.

 

When working goats, one must remember that "capricious" comes from "caprine."

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I know lots of people like to start their puppies on goats. I worked Angora goats

in Arizona and they worked nicely.

On fences, there is an old saying that has proven quite true:

"Build your fences as tight as you can, then stand back and throw a bucket of water

at the fence, anywhere the water goes through, so will the goats. :rolleyes:

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  • 1 month later...

I raised goats- they don't flock. I think that's why we stick with ducks, and sheep. My Angora goats always got their heads stuck in the fence. I messed with the neighbors and raised sheep with no wool and goats that had wool. Theirs kids are probably really messed up in school by now.

 

BTW- If anyone of you need a 4-H project and don't have a trailer. pygmy goats are great. My kids raised, showed and did great with them and they only needed a dog crate for traveling.

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