I have never used one but I would think...goats are so smart...if you burried the line they would know it is there but would probably just grit their teeth and run through it. I would also worry about having the collar on them (I think they need to wear some kind of collar to get the shock) They could get tangled in something and get hurt. If you already have a fence but they are leaning on it or there are weak areas, I would just put up a hot wire. Probably less expensive and would work just as good and they don't need the collar. You can run it on an RV battery if you do not have electricity.