Does a Lack of Early Intensive Socialisation with Humans Exclude Goats from Participating in Animal-Assisted Services?

Socialisation with humans and willingness to interact with them are essential traits for animals involved in animal-assisted services (AAS). This study examined whether goats without prior intensive socialisation with humans may show predispositions to AAS in terms of sociability towards people. Ten goats underwent four tests: (1) acceptance of human approach and touch, voluntary approach to (2) a passive and (3) an active human, and (4) a novel sound fear test. Tests 1–3 were conducted with the caretaker and a familiar neutral person, and 4 with the neutral person. The goats generally accepted being approached and touched but showed little interest in interacting voluntarily with humans. Goats’ responses did not differ between the caretaker and the neutral person (p > 0.05). In the fear test, goats escaped less often and returned more quickly after the sound playback when a human was present (p < 0.01). Female goats exhibited higher sociability towards humans. Overall, the goats demonstrated some predispositions to AAS, such as tolerance of human contact and a tendency to perceive humans as a source of support during stress. However, these traits alone are insufficient for participation in AAS. Additional training is needed to increase the goats’ willingness to initiate interactions with people.