This past weekend, we adopted two additional goats from a rescue group (a separate post will follow with more details about the new goats).  We needed a way to transport the goats from the rescue shelter to our farm which is a little over an hour and a half away by car.

Elf on a dog leash as we led him out of the shelter.

The shelter’s transport vehicle was in the shop for repairs and we don’t have an animal trailer, or even a pickup truck. So, how do you transport a goat without a truck or trailer?

We just put them both in the back of our SUV, a Subaru Forester!

We put in a dog barrier so that the goats could not get out of the back into the front seats to cause mischief while we were driving. We also covered the back with a tarp and a pile of towels and blankets on top to help make it more comfortable and to catch any messes so that it wouldn’t soak into the interior.

We took the goats from the shelter’s barn on dog leashes and led them to the back of the vehicle for loading. The shelter staff assisted us with loading the goats for transit.

Loading the goats into the back.

It took a few minutes to get them both inside at the same time as they kept trying to jump back out. Eventually, we had to get one inside and then have someone hold its leash from inside the car while the second was loaded and then we held both the leashes while closing the door.

A goat trying to climb out of the back.

The goats fit nicely in the back and had enough room to move around a bit during the drive.

The goats look out the back window after loading.

We did get some strange looks and double takes from other drivers as we drove back to our farm. At first glance, the goats just seem like large dogs, but some people were a bit surprised to see goats instead when they looked a bit closer!

A goat behind the pet barrier behind the driver seat.

The drive itself was uneventful and the goats mostly behaved. We were able to drive out right into the pasture to unload the goats. We closed all the gates behind us so that they couldn’t get out of the pasture even after we opened the back of the vehicle.

We opened the back and the goats jumped out to check out their new home. More details to follow on the latest additions to the flock.