by Cora Moore Bruffy, CEO and Founder of Faeryland’s Farm.
Goat therapy is using goats to provide us with comfort and support so that we can destress and be happy and healthy. Goats can be used therapeutically to aid a variety of mental, emotional, and behavioral issues as well as to provide a general sense of well-being for anybody. Therapy goats can be used in a few ways. Goat yoga is probably what most people think about, and goat therapy is quickly on the rise as more and more people are coming to see the emotional and mental benefits of owning or hanging out with goats.
Goats can be used in children’s hospitals, with recovering addicts or rehabilitating prisoners, in assisted living communities, and they can be used as alternative therapy to professional counseling and as addendum to such services. Goats help promote prosocial behaviors and empathy. They can be used to help individuals and children along the autism spectrum, and goats can also be used to help children learn to read. Goats also help deepen and strengthen our mindfulness or meditation practices. Using goats to help heal us, other animals, and the planet is the mission of Faeryland’s Farm.
Differences between Therapy Animals and Service Animals
Therapy animals are not the same as service animals used to assist people. Service animals help humans with limited mobility or other sense deprivation disability to perform daily tasks and help their humans function. Service animals are defined and protected under ADA laws and they are rigorously and loving trained to provide way more than comfort and support and help show the power of love animals give us.
Not all goats make good pets or therapy animals, just as not all dogs or equines can be animal-assisted service dogs or therapy animals. Therapy goats are raised with human interaction from birth. Some people prefer to bottle feed their babies to help establish a bond (sometimes necessary to help relieve momma or if a baby will not take the teat) while others believe in letting the babies stay with their mothers but having consistent and constant interaction which is crucial in those first few months to establish trust. Establishing trust is easier when you have a good herd that you work with consistently and constantly, because when the mothers are already used to humans, then the doelings and bucklings will naturally and instinctually respond to you as their mothers do. Likewise, because of their herd mentality and sociable natures, goats get along with many other animals like equines, dogs, cats, yard birds, rabbits, and even turtles.
Goats are a delight to be around and their very presence is healing. Goats are one of the oldest domesticated species dating back 30,000 years and first utilized in the Middle East. No doubt, they were domesticated for their delicious dairy, and I would surmise they were also domesticated for their vibrant, charming mischievous personalities. Goats seem to have a sixth sense for attuning to us humans. Furthermore, goats are one of few mammals that understand human language. They can understand tonal differences, accents, and are trilingual. They no doubt have a level of understanding we humans do not yet comprehend.
Training Goats
Goats love to play, and they give unconditional love with no judgement. Goats can be trained to pee in a specific place like outside in the grass. Goats, however, poop roughly every 20 minutes, so if you time it right, you can make sure they relieve themselves outside if you prefer to keep your goat friend inside mostly. You must establish a routine and condition them to go outside or at least follow you out. You can also opt for baby diapers. Because goats like to play, I do recommend having some outside playpen for daily exercise and sunshine. Additionally, goats can be trained to pull carts, walk on leashes, and to understand basic command like “come here” and “load up.” They do respond to “stop” mostly, but “no” means nothing to them because they do what they want, which is just another reason they are such healing and wonderful animals. They do know their names as well and each goat, just like people, sounds a little different and have their own voice and mannerisms.
Because of their sociable natures, they do much better with a companion, so I recommend to have at least two; two goats will integrate better into an established herd than one because they have their buddy as they get used to learning their position in the herd matriarchy. Goats do live in herds and follow a herd queen. If you talk to the bucks, they will disagree and believe them the leaders of the herd to which the girls respond with laughter and a long day of ignoring all boys. Do not feel sorry for the bucks though, as they get plenty of human attention and affection.
Because most goats naturally have horns, many goat owners will opt to disbud them to avoid any unintentional injuries or pokes. Disbudding has advantages and is best practiced with the supervision of a seasoned professional or with your vet. If you want to raise animals for therapeutic benefits or as pets, having a good relationship with your vet is essential to helping the animals be happy and healthy. If you elect for your goats to keep their horns, like we do on the farm, you can create horn coverings or horn muffs as I call them. Pool noodles make good covering, and just make sure to clip them properly so that they fit snuggly without causing the animal discomfort. Here on the farm, our horned goats are allowed to just be. They are gentle with children and love attention, we must be mindful of the horns when we interact with the goats.
Here on Faeryland’s Farm, most of the animals come to us as rescues or sickly, and we provide them a safe space where they can heal and be happy. Not only do the goats and other animals help us heal, but they also seem to have a way of helping each other heal. Goats are much like dogs in the sense of their sociability. Just like dogs like to socialize with other dogs, humans, and animals, goats too enjoy these interactions. Over the years, we have had abandoned dogs that we have rehomed and the goats have been good in helping them slow down and learn to be happier dogs. Goats are such carefree and loving creatures that when we attune to their energy, we too learn to slow down and enjoy life. Their therapeutic value is great and their ability to provide us with love, happiness, and a better sense of well-being is endless. When we work with goats, just like when we train pets, we can learn to play with life’s energies so that we can focus on the present moment, face ourselves deep down in our unconscious mind, and learn to play with life’s energies so that we can focus on the present moment, face ourselves deep down in our unconscious mind, and learn to manifest the world in which we want to live: A world full of compassion, respect, understanding, and, of course, goat – lots and lots of goats!
About the Author
Cora Moore Bruffy is the CEO and founder of Faeryland’s Farm. She is certified in psychology, child psychology, pet psychology, pet nutrition, and pet first aid as well as animal disaster management with FEMA. She is currently pursuing her PhD in General Psychology, and her PhD thesis focuses on mindfulness and animal therapy. She works to heal animals, nature, and people with goat therapy, animal reiki, and animal education. Cora lives outside Nashville, Tennessee with her Lab pup Max, ducks, chickens, guineas, turtles, fish, cats, rabbits, donkey….and goats, of course!
