Last week Sara Beth ended up with a joint infection, at three days old, that left her temporarily unable to walk, and forced us to separate her from her goatie mother. With the help of an amazing veterinarian, her infection was treated, but by the time she was well enough to return to her mother, her mother no longer had milk, so Sara Beth became a pet. Myself and my friend, Jack, with the help of our German shepherds, hand raised her. When I moved up here to the country, she came with me and my two dogs.

Something about living in the country makes people feel that it’s okay to let their dogs run. Before I ever moved in up here, my Dad and I came up and built a fenced area for my dogs and Sara Beth. The day we did that, two of the neighbors came over to introduce themselves and find out what we were doing. Both were surprised that I intended to keep my animals on my property! Once I got moved in it became quite apparent that my next door neighbor’s dogs considered my property theirs. They would run the fence line and get my dogs upset and barking and the largest one, a shepherd mix intact male, was even aggressive towards me if I was outside. I was also definitely scared that they would hurt or kill Sara Beth. I really wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t want to be “that neighbor”; the new one that immediately started complaining! After a few days, though, Sara Beth took care of the problem for me.

We were all outside in the front yard (we had put our fence up in the back) when the neighbor dogs came over trying to start a fight with my dogs. Mine were not fighters, so that wasn’t much fun for the neighbor dogs. The big male spotted Sara Beth and charged at her fully expecting her to run. How much fun!?! But he got a big surprise. Sara Beth, being very comfortable with dogs stood her ground and just stared at him. Just before the dog got to her he stopped, obviously confused. She took advantage of that confusion and reared up, lunging forward, and butting the dog squarely in the head with her horns. It made quite a loud thud! I don’t know if it really hurt him or if it just scared him (like most bullies, he didn’t like it when someone stood up to him), but he yelped and headed for home at full speed with the two females close behind him. After that, the three of them pretty much stayed away from my property, especially if Sara Beth was out in the yard.

Even though she generally thought she was a dog (she walked on leash, loved to ride, liked to come inside, and was house broken as far as urine was concerned, and even loved to go jogging with me and the dogs), some behaviors, especially butting seemed to be instinct. Over the years she taught several other dogs to leave goats alone, ran a deputy back to his car, and even though she generally loved me she would sometimes butt me, mostly as a means of playing. One day I was up on the porch and was leaning over trying to start a small charcoal grill. There wasn’t a rail on the porch and I wasn’t paying attention. Next thing I knew, something hit me square in the rear end and sent me flying off the porch onto the ground. I guess the target was just too much for her. Sara Beth had come up behind me and butted me off the porch! If goats could laugh, I’m sure she would have been carrying on hysterically! Sara Beth turned out to be a really fun pet and she inspired me to take in several more goats that needed homes over the years. How many of you have goats? Have any of you kept them as pets?