I'm located in a rural part of southwestern Virginia, so for the majority if the time it's peaceful and quiet here. Unfortunately, the neighbor with the smallest distance between my land and theirs owns two very territorial dogs who are not afraid to be vocal toward me.
The past few days I have been working on their pen in preparation for their arrival this spring. This is when the barking problem came about. These goats will be my first and I am extremely excited to have them, but I'm very concerned about the barking becoming a stressor in their lives.
My goats will be nigerian dwarf wethers, so I won't depend on them to provide the most milk they can, which I've learned stress can affect, but I still don't want them to be unhappy. No one wants their pet to be stressed.
The dogs are separated from my pen by a thin lining of forest and my neighbor's driveway, so they're not right on top of me. But that doesn't stop them from barking.
So can barking dogs affect the health of a goat?
Thanks!
The past few days I have been working on their pen in preparation for their arrival this spring. This is when the barking problem came about. These goats will be my first and I am extremely excited to have them, but I'm very concerned about the barking becoming a stressor in their lives.
My goats will be nigerian dwarf wethers, so I won't depend on them to provide the most milk they can, which I've learned stress can affect, but I still don't want them to be unhappy. No one wants their pet to be stressed.
The dogs are separated from my pen by a thin lining of forest and my neighbor's driveway, so they're not right on top of me. But that doesn't stop them from barking.
So can barking dogs affect the health of a goat?
Thanks!