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["Melody O." <melody AT crecon.com>]

My little baby billy goat that I bought last May at the auction is now a
mature billy.  He has always loved to run and play, but now his play is
scaring the children and leaving me to wonder how to untrain natural goat
behavior.  I thought I'd put the question before the goat experts on the list.

Billy will rock back on his back legs, push his head forward and land head
down trying to butt.  For now it seems like it is play; he does each action
very controlled while wagging his tail.  Unfortunately, he is bigger than
most of my children and he scares them to death.  It is disconcerting to me
too since this is new behavior in him and I'm not sure how to react to him.

He is such a friendly goat, loving to be petted and have attention paid to
him.  He acts like a dog, following us around the yard, and sticking his
head between my legs to get a better look at what I am doing.  The problem
is: HE HAS HORNS!  It is worrisome to have horns attached to a bouncy,
tigger-like goat between my legs.

The advice I need most is to know how to train him to stop rearing on his
hind legs and butting, because even though it is gentle and playing now, he
scares the kids and I worry that he might become more forceful and
aggressive and hurt us.  

Best wishes,
Melody