Walking goats isn’t something you often hear about, let alone see. Our goats don’t have a nice big pasture to graze in, and instead have a modest sized enclosure with a few tires and platforms to jump on.
I like to keep my animals healthy, in shape, and mentally satisfied so we go for walks several days a week. We have a 1 mile and 2 miles loop to choose from, on a dirt road around our neighborhood on the mountain.
Do the goats really follow me off leash? Yes, they do, even better than the dogs at times. We raised our original does as bottle babies, so they’ve bonded to us and follow us everywhere. In turn, they teach any new does we get how to follow as well. I generally lead half of them on leash to get them started before letting them off. Sometimes they’ll get distracted and uncooperative if we’re too close to home. The road can also be a little busier just outside our property, so I try to reach where the road splits off and is much less busy.
The bucks however are another story. Their focus is the girls of coarse so they have to be led on leash. Then there’s no accidental breeding’s, and the girls can enjoy themselves without the boys constantly hassling them. I only take the boys with the girls when I husband can come along. Otherwise, it’s just a little too much to handle alone. I’ve taken the boys by themselves to try them off leash and they’re still just a little too independent. I’ll continue walking after letting them graze a moment, and they’ve let me get almost out of site before trying to catch up. Therefore, the bucks are strictly walked on leash. And if the girls don’t go then it’s usually a battle of dragging them for the first ¼ mile until home is out of site.
When first starting to walk goats, I made sure to make ID tags for them so that if they got spooked and ran off they had tags with their name on one side, and my email and home address on the other side.
A couple good reasons for walking the goats besides the mental stimulation is that it helps with feed costs. Every ¼-½ mile, I’ll pull off the road for 10-15 minutes to allow the goats to catch their breath and graze on the natural brush around them including pine trees, meadow grass, bushes, etc. When it’s time to continue on wards, I just start walking and the girls immediately stop eating and get back on the road to join me. I also almost never have to trim their hooves because walking on the dirt road keeps them nice and trim.
For the most part our walks are pretty flawless but there have been times where they’ve been uncooperative. I’ve had girls that decided to hang way back to graze or fall back from staring at something, which can confuse the other girls on whether or not to continue following me. And I’ve had one naughty girl decide some rocks looked pretty fun, and diverted the whole flock all the way up to someone’s house. I just have to figure out where those problem areas are and keep those particular goats on leash for those spots.
There are dangers and obstacles to walking your goats, especially off leash. Off leash dogs are a main concern which is why I always bring my own dog with me, and carry a horse whip. The horse whip has absolutely come in handy in dissuading strange dogs from getting too close and up to this point I’ve never had one of my goats get bitten or chased.
Cars are a common occurrence, but generally I hear them coming and the girls have learned to jump off the side of the road with me when they show up. It is a neighborhood so cars aren’t generally driving too fast. Many people are amazed by the sight, and stop to chat. People can be another obstacle as one of my girls in particular will go all of the way up to someone’s house if she notices them out and about which makes all of the other girls follow.
Lastly, we’ll run into other folks walking their dogs too, or we’ve got one neighbor who rides her horse each day. These encounters are the least concerning as most everybody walk their dogs on leash. It’s just a matter of giving each other a wide birth and passing by.
Walking goats is a blast if you live in an appropriate place for it. In fact, I have a hard time going on any walks without them when I know they can benefit from going too. They love it too, and often times they’ll dance, jump, headbutt, and fling around during our journey’s.
