# A Baby made it "click".



## wolffeathers (Dec 20, 2010)

Little background. We have Goose who is our 2.5 year old Great Pyr/Komondor male. We first brought him home when he was about 20 weeks old and he hung around the goats but didn't seem to truly bond with them, never cared to be near or close to them. Opting instead to hang around the house and just periodically patrol the pasture and livestock. We were fine with it, because we've watched him engage with stray dogs and have come home to find the remains of unlucky raccoons. So even though he didn't seem bonded or protective over the goats themselves, they fell under the umbrella of protection.

However, Goose learned to swim and that he could swim around our perimeter fence to periodically "patrol" the neighbors yards. He wouldn't do it often, but we live near a busy road. So Goose became an inside dog, yeah, that means this should probably be posted under "Pets" now, but I still consider him mostly LGD. LOL

Well, Tuesday we brought home our very first bottle baby goat. Goose is smitten, turned into a completely different dog. Lays down, crawls after, hovers over that little goat, let's it crawl all over him, sniffs and licks it when he can. The goat is in the house because it's our only bottle baby and it's crate is next to Goose's and when everyone went out for a potty break(the goat does surprisingly well)...

..the buckling peed, then Goose preceeded to inspect the puddle(typical dog) then when our other dog approached the puddle, Goose suddenly exploded and sent the other pup running. It wasn't a "get away from my treat" it was a small "I'm going to eat you other dog" moment. 

Perhaps he has reached the age of reasoning?
Or has him watching us bottle-feed and play with "our baby"(goat) and all the smells of milk and just "baby" in general, has all of a sudden awaken those paternal instincts? ((We've had baby goats in the herd, but they weren't 'our' babies, they were the 'goats babies')).

eep:


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## Ross (May 9, 2002)

That sort of behaviour is common enough in all breeds of dogs to suddenly awaken to being protective of a new baby (all types) That it's come alive in a LGD type shouldn't be a surprise I guess!  It is a little concerning that he's being possessive of the kid with your other dog, who has some pack status already but dogs do scrap a little to re-assert standing and a new baby is a bona fide reason for a scrap. There could be a little jealousy involved here too. "I won't hurt the kid because you love it but I'm missing the attention" And he might at some point try to put the new kid in a lowered pack position. You will want to carefully re-assert yourself and family as head of the pack and ensure nobody gets in the crossfire if there is another scrap. You wouldn't want the kid injured in a well intentioned protective move either, so be sure you can control your dog. It would be good if this new found protectiveness extends to your other goats as the kid joins the herd, so be sure to have him along with the kid as it's introduced to the other goats!


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## wolffeathers (Dec 20, 2010)

Thanks Ross. We keep a close eye on the dogs together anyway, because pack status can change readily anyway.

The other dog is of lower standing, so I think it may have just been a re-statement of position.

It makes me glad to see him behave so well around the "baby". He follows it around the house, all the while the goat dances and leaps and bumps against him. This morning when the goat stood on it's hind feet to see what hubby was making for breakfast, Goose ran out of the kitchen and went to lay down. Gave the goat the "Oooo, you're gonna get in trouble look".

Will continue to monitor everyone. I know a new "pack" member can rock the boat a bit.


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