My Best friend wants a house goat?

[Backfourty,MI.]

She wants to get one of my kids this year as early as possible, bottle feed it & make it a house pet. House break it, etc. just like you would a dog.
I have heard that this is possible & she has always wanted me to do it & I always say "NO".

My Questions are: Has anyone else tried this? How succesful was it? Or do you know any one that does this? She wants to walk it on a leash, etc.?

If it didn't work out I would have to take the goat back & then how well is it going to fit in outside again?
I told her I would ask here & see what all of you said as far as experience with this & all 1st.

[dragonchick]

Can she put up with not having anything. Goats jump on EVERYTHING, especially the babies. Our bottle babies have a room to themselves and that's where they run and play. If I didn't do it this way they would have broken everything long ago. I have bottle babies in the house but they eventually do go outside permanently.I love my goats but, I could never have one inside full time, I like my playthings( furniture, TV, Computer, kitchen stuff,etc) too much to have a goat running loose. Any wires and cords would have to be goat proofed, which is much more intensive than puppy proof. To me it wouldn't be a good idea but to each their own :0

[mygoat]

Goats are not house animals. They poo several times an hour and also need access to grazing. They can be 'housetrained' but would need outside for the entire day for grazing and at least 10x during each night because they NEED to eliminate when they do because of their digestion. They are climbers and will get onto and into everything. They can be taught to walk on a leash and make excellent pets otherwise. On top of it all, she would have to have a pair of them.

Tell her outside goats or none. It's fairest to her and to the goats.

[betsy h.]

I have successfully house broken a goat before.

Whenever she started to squat, we would put her in a deep plastic tub where she liked to sleep and changed it daily. She got to where she would go there on her own to do both sets of 'business'.

[lasergrl]

I had my goat indoors for about 4 months. Might have been less. She was a bottle baby. She did learn to go potty in the crate, and did learn to go potty outside if I had her at an event (took her to work sometimes) but she had to be taken out every 30 minutes. Eventually she lost alot of control of her poops. She still can hold her pee. She jumped on everything, she also ate everything, coach, curtains, carpet, wires, bills, napkins. It just DOESNT WORK.

[Goat Servant]

Most of us have had bottle babies in the house for short periods of time but they are a real pain as pr everyones comments. Worse than a two year old child!!
And they are in the house because of serious issues not because we want a friendly house pet.
Two days is about all I can stand the poop & pee drive me nuts. Livestock belong outside.
A pot bellied pig would be a better choice at least they pick a corner to do their business.

[goatkid]

We have bottle babies in the house for no more than two weeks - usually less. Once they can jump out of their totes, they need to live in the baby pen. I did have one potty trained, but like the other said, they jump on furniture and chew on everything.

[JKB07]

What a terrible idea....


Justin

[Hawkfamily]

PITA!!
I couldn't wait to get my bottle babies out of the house.

[RiverPines]

Tell your friend thats what cats and dogs are for. They both do very well inside the house.

Goats belong in a barn 'yard'!

[AnnaS]

I've had babies in the house as long as six weeks (or was it two months?) Yes, they can be housebroken to go in a certain area. But the constant destructiveness makes them impossible housepets.
Some of the things that last year's house baby did-

Pulled books off the shelf and tore out pages
Partly ate the Yellow Pages
Tore the covers off of magazines
jumped up and down on two keyboards & trashed them
chewed through a mouse cord
climbed up on the back of the sofa and knocked paintings off the wall
was surprised by first cuds and spit little reeking wads of hay and grain all over the bedspread
knocked all the shampoos etc into the bathtub, then turned on the water, flooding three rooms & wrecking the carpet

She would have eventually damaged the sofa and coffee table by jumping up and down on them.

Maybe the friend should make a big goat pen that she can watch from a bay window & get a pair of goats. She could watch all of the amusing things they do without having her house smashed up.

[catdance62]

i just can't see a goat in the house for all the reasons mentioned above! A goat, no matter how small, would TRASH my house!! Plus they need to be outside ALL DAY for grazing.
Yes, goats are lovable, but people do not habitually make them housepets for a reason.
The other thing is, although they are very intelligent, they do not have the powers of reasoning like a dog or cat. Like, I cannot see them responding favourably to discipline of any kind.

[arkansastwist]

There was a story about a week ago on the news about a couple that had a house goat, and the city found out and was trying to evicted the goat.
here is the link http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/40452167.html

Personally I couldn't wait to get the little mess makers outside when it got warm enough

[ShyAnne]

I agree with all the above posters. It would be unfair to the goat not to mention not in the goats best interest for health reasons.
I think she would tire quickly of the mess and the goat wouldnt understand being shoved outside after all the novelty wore off.
I think she and the goat would live happily if she had 2 goats in an area outside.

[Backfourty,MI.]

Well I feel about the same as all of you but I told her I would ask here anyways. I don't even bring bottle babies in the house. I would if I absolutely had to but I'd much rather have them outside with the momma. I didn't think it would work & I personally would never try it.