I am not an experienced dog owner. I got Sooty about one month ago to look after our 5 Pyrenean goats. So far, whenever I have introduced him to them, he runs at them, scatters them and then chases them. On the one hand, it seems like play behaviour (he still a youngster and is desperate to play with everyone) but I noticed that as he closes in on a goat his jaws open and he tries to ‘soft bite’ them. On one occasion he managed to pick up a baby goat between his jaws, carried it a couple of feet before dropping it. I checked this baby goat afterwards and it was completely unmarked (and un-phased by the experience).
Suppose I was hoping that one day one of the goats would get pissed off and butt Sooty they would reach a mutual understanding (like cats and dogs do). But a friend of mine who keeps hunting dogs warned me against this. She said apparently playful behaviour can easily switch to predatory behaviour and I need to stamp it out now.
Subsequently, I’ve been keeping Sooty on the lead in the goat pen and whenever he lurches towards them, yanking him back and shouting STOP! really loud. I am making some progress - he is learning to chill out when he’s around goats and lie down etc. but there is no way I could trust him to be around the goats on his own.
I’m hoping that if I persist with this strategy (I guess I take him over to the goat pen to 3 times a day for five or 10 minutes) eventually he will be trustworthy? But progress seems so slow. .
I’d appreciate your thoughts and suggestions.
Suppose I was hoping that one day one of the goats would get pissed off and butt Sooty they would reach a mutual understanding (like cats and dogs do). But a friend of mine who keeps hunting dogs warned me against this. She said apparently playful behaviour can easily switch to predatory behaviour and I need to stamp it out now.
Subsequently, I’ve been keeping Sooty on the lead in the goat pen and whenever he lurches towards them, yanking him back and shouting STOP! really loud. I am making some progress - he is learning to chill out when he’s around goats and lie down etc. but there is no way I could trust him to be around the goats on his own.
I’m hoping that if I persist with this strategy (I guess I take him over to the goat pen to 3 times a day for five or 10 minutes) eventually he will be trustworthy? But progress seems so slow. .
I’d appreciate your thoughts and suggestions.
