Unlocking Goat Therapy

Faeryland’s Farm Pioneers Effective Training Techniques

Unlocking Goat Therapy

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Goats are sociable and friendly mammals that make great animals for therapy work. However, goats aren‘t considered official therapy animals. Nonetheless, goat therapy is becoming a more popular option for animal-assisted therapy.  

Because there are no official goat therapy training programs, Faeryland’s Farm Menagerie, an animal sanctuary that rescues animals and does education and therapy work with them, has adapted the American Kennel Club dog Canine Good Citizen (CGC) program. Their guidelines involve 600 hours of visitations, lead training, socialization, desensitization, and calm temperament, to which we have added intelligence, house training, lead training, and car riding.

CGC Guidelines

The guidelines for the CGC require the animal to be friendly around strangers, not easily distracted, and relaxed if the handler isn’t present. We use various on-farm and off-farm visits with the animals to determine which goats exhibit the most intelligence and adherence to the CGC guidelines. Additionally, the goat must be able to walk on a lead and respond to their name. Because goats have individual and unique personalities, determining which therapy animals are optimal is done through observation and experimentation.

From birth, you begin training. Contrary to belief, dam-raised goats can be as social as bottle-fed babies. Wethers tend to be the best goats; some bucklings can be good therapy goats until puberty. Bucks intended for breeding never make good therapy goats. The goal with breeding therapy goats is quality, not quantity, because they’re kept for the life of the goat. The key is interacting with them constantly in the first four months, which is crucial for bonding.

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How Faeryland’s Farm Menagerie Trains

We use Pavlovian conditioning with the goats mixed with operant conditioning tactics. Both are psychological theories on learning that originated with training animals. Pavlovian conditioning focuses on treat training as a stimulus to create a behavior. The goats know “load up” means get in the vehicle or trailer, how to walk on leads without pulling, and the best will know not to pee and poop on the floor if visiting inside. We house-train them to use puppy pads. We call the goats by shaking a coffee can with mixed grains. The sound makes them run to us, the stimulus that creates the desired behavior.

Operant conditioning comes into play because you have to interval this training, meaning we can’t always give them food every time we shake the can. We use positive reinforcement through verbal praise, petting, cuddles, and kisses when the goats respond appropriately to their training. If we use treatment re-enforcement, it’s in moderation.

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Socializing

Socialization is critical to training any animal for therapy work, which must be reinforced from birth. Goats that display friendly personalities and enjoy human interaction are perfect therapy goats. Lead training begins two weeks after the goat’s birth. From day one, we put collars with bells on them, letting us know where they are, protecting them from predators, and desensitizing them to noise disturbances.  

Another vital skill is learning to lie down and be patient while riding in the car or trailer. Not peeing or pooping in the car is helpful too. Although natural for them to be frightened by loud noises like fireworks and sirens, goats with a calm demeanor in public are best for therapy work.

What to Avoid

Goats like to headbutt and ram each other. That’s basic goat behavior that can’t be changed. Never put your face in theirs, approach them from behind, or run at or chase them. Another way we keep headbutting to a minimum is by ensuring the goats are distanced from each other, which allows more space for people and children to interact with them and cuts down on goatie shenanigans. In our experiences, however, those are cherishable moments that bring lots of laughter.

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How Goats Help

Goats are gentle creatures that sense our emotions and improve our moods. Their silly antics and friendly personalities make them perfect for therapy. As the goat handler, you create a more substantial bond with the animal, providing health and wellness benefits that help you learn to be more empathic and compassionate.

Goats are sources of inspiration, imagination, and comfort. On the farm, we do holistic therapies with the goats, allowing personal interactions with the goats, and everybody always leaves with lifted spirits and big smiles.

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Training goats for therapy takes a lot of commitment and patience. Interacting with them multiple times daily and constantly reinforcing commands and behavior is best. While training goats for therapy, the goats have taught me more about my behaviors and emotions, helping me to help them and others. By sharing our training tips, we hope to inspire others and create an official program for training therapy goats.


CORA MOORE is the passionate CEO and Founder of Faeryland’s Farm Menagerie, an animal sanctuary and National Wildlife Habitat dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating needy animals. With a particular focus on goats, Cora uses education and therapy to help these animals thrive in their new environment. Connect with Cora on Facebook at faerylandsfarmTN or www.FaerylandsFarm.org.


REFERENCES:

  • American Kennel Club. (2024). Canine Good Citizen Test Items. https://www.akc.org/productsservices/ training-programs/caninegood- citizen/
  • Briefer, E.F., Haque, S., Baciadonna, L. (2014). Goats excel at learning and remembering a highly novel cognitive task. Front Zool, 11 (20). https://doi. org/10.1186/1742-9994-11-20
  • Lewis, A. A. (2021). Biosemiotic Perspective on Reward-Based Animal Training Techniques. Biosemiotics, 14, pp. 767–782. https://doi org/10.1007/ s12304-021-09447-7
  • Nitta, K., Cheng, W., Harada, T., Ishizaki, F., Nitta, Y., Miki, Y., Numamoto, H., Hayama, M., Ito, S., Miyazaki, H., Aoi, S., Ikeda, H., Ando, J., Kobayahsi, M., Makoto, I., Sugawara, T., Nakabeppu, K., & Asakura, Y. (2020a). An Experimental Study of Therapy Goat. International Medical Journal, 27(1). pp. 58 – 61
  • Nitta, K., Cheng, W., Harada, T., Ishizaki, F., Nitta, Y., Miki, Y., Numamoto, H., Hayama, M., Ito, S., Miyazaki, H., Aoi, S., Ikeda, H., Ando, J., Kobayahsi, M., Makoto, I., Sugawara, T., Nakabeppu, K., & Asakura, Y. (2020b). Goat Therapy: Status and Practice of Therapy Goat in the World. International Medical Journal, 27(5), pp. 616 – 619.
  • Weaver, S. (2020). The Goat: A Natural & Cultural History. Princeton University Press.

Originally published in the 2024 Summer issue of Goat Journal and regularly vetted for accuracy.

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