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6A Daily News – Saturday, March 3, 2012 healthPets & activities A family's pet goat becomes a cause celebre Teach dog to behave when a visitor comes a knock-knocking BY LISA MOORE McClatchy Newspapers I work with many dog owners on a variety of door issues involving their canines: darting out the front door and running off, incessant barking when the doorbell rings, jump- ing on people entering through the door, etc. Dogs usually become highly aroused with any- thing associated with the front door, because experi- ence shows them that there is something — or some- one — exciting on the other side, and that free- dom and exploration into the world beyond the door is a possibility. We help to create this MCT photo Snowbird the goat is facing eviction in Chesapeake City, Md. His owners, Craig and Lisa Balunsat are battling the county, which says a zoning rule means she can't have the goat as a pet. BY JILL ROSEN The Baltimore Sun (MCT) BALTIMORE — One day last winter the Balunsats carried home a gangly baby goat. They named the fuzzy thing Snowbird, cradled her while she slurped a bottle and allowed her inside to snuggle under a heat lamp. With Chesapeake City, Md., grass, hay and the occasional potato chip, Snowbird filled out into a handsome animal with a thick white coat, ridged horns that curl between her ears and lips that seem ever- pursed in an ironic smile. When she bleats "Meh, meh, meh," Lisa Balunsat — who will tell anyone she raised that goat as a child — hears, "Ma, Ma, Ma." Cecil County, Md., officials mainly hear a zoning violation. For months now the Balunsats and officials have engaged in a cus- tody battle of sorts over Snowbird — the family wants her to stay, the county says she has to go because their lot is simply too small. After a winter of orders, ultimatums, hear- ings, petitions and tears, Craig Balunsat sued the county in federal court in February, saying he's not only constitutionally entitled to Snowbird, but by considering the animal differently than a dog or a cat, the county was discriminating against goat kind. "The zoning law is not designed to deprive us of the kind of animal we want as a pet," Craig Balunsat says. "They can say it's animal hus- bandry, but that doesn't make it right." The Balunsats' efforts to share their life with a goat leave them squarely — though unwittingly — in the middle of a growing national movement to erase the barnyard stigma from certain animals and welcome them into suburbs and even cities. Advocates preach a preindustrial sensibility, hoping America can return to a time when people and the animals that helped sustain them coexisted without question. It's the locavores who are push- ing for change, craving their fresh eggs and their homemade chevre. Even as rural Cecil County attempts to hold the line between farm and homestead, cities as big as Seattle, Denver and San Francisco have decided goats are welcome neigh- bors. Craig Balunsat is 47 years old, and, Lisa, his wife of eight years, is 49. They're a free-spirited, dreamy pair who met in Las Vegas. He had headed west on a mission to find himself. She claims she'd been dreaming about him for a year before they ever met. They've made a home these last four years in a worn ranch house on Basil Avenue where the floors are unfinished and holiday lights stay pinned to the walls year-round. Though the couple has no children together, their grandchildren from previous relationships sometimes live with them, sharing the few rooms with a half-dozen sprightly Chihuahuas and about as many cats. Last year's decision to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a goat — a deal arranged through a news- paper advertisement — stemmed from the couple's interest in Native American spirituality. By opening their home to a goat, they figured they'd be closer to nature, maybe even to God. Living as they do in a rural dis- trict, their property abutting one expansive farm and sitting across the street from another, the Balun- sats assumed theirs was a goat- friendly spot — until one day last fall when an inspector knocked on their door and shortly thereafter a letter on county letterhead arrived in the mail. It said the goat, along with the family's six hens and two ducks, had to go. Or else. The family launched an appeal, an effort that caught the public's attention when Craig Balunsat leashed up Snowbird and began to sit with her, in protest, on the side of Highway 213. His granddaugh- ters would join them some days on the sliver of scrub grass, holding signs they made with watercolors and glitter imploring passing motorists to help "Save Snowbird." One sign showed a little girl cry- ing blue marker tears. Another had a little bite out of the top — Snow- bird's imprimatur. It was mainly out there that the family collected about 200 signa- tures supporting their cause. But in the end, none of that held sway with the appeals board. Zoning administrator Cliff Hous- ton relates the county's position on Snowbird in the measured, tem- pered tone of someone who believes too much of his recent life has been spent discussing a goat. What happened? He'll tell you. Someone called to anonymously complain. County officials respond- ed, saw farm animals, noted the lot size and that was that. "It's not an area," Houston says, "where there's a whole lot of give and take." It didn't matter that the original complaint centered on the Balun- sats' rooster, not the goat, or that the family has since gotten rid of the noisy bird. The family's insistence that Snowbird was a pet, not an instrument of animal husbandry, didn't matter either. What mattered was that in Cecil County, since the law was written in 1979, anyone wishing to engage in animal husbandry, even in rural areas, must own at least one acre of land. The Balunsats' corner lot missed that mark by four-tenths of an acre. So, Houston says, they're out of luck and out of a goat. 91ST behavior in our dogs sim- ply by responding each time there is a knock or ring at the door, and while our attention and focus is on the person at the door, our dog's behavior is poor- ly managed. I spend a lot of time desensitizing my dogs to the various stimuli associ- ated with the front door. I know for certain that I do not want my dogs darting out the door, and I don't want them to bark or jump up on people entering my home. Rather than wait for these troubling habits to form, I have a few tricks that I do with my dogs to prevent these unwanted behaviors from forming in the first place. When I have a new puppy or dog to house- train, I will very often use the front yard for elimina- tion purposes. I always take the dog out on leash, but these frequent visits to the front yard help to "demystify" the environ- ment. My thought is that if my dog is consistently denied access out front, but I get to go in and out as I please, I'm creating a natural curiosity about the world beyond the front door, and my dog's curiosity will drive him to get out that door just to see what all of the fuss is about. So instead, we frequently go out in the front yard — to eliminate, to get the mail, to watch the garbage truck come and go, etc. This way, my dog is no more excited about going into the front yard as he is about going into the back yard. I rarely pass by my front door without knock- ing on it. My dogs hear the knock at the door, or the ring of the doorbell nearly every day, and do not asso- ciate either sound with the presence of a person on the other side. Think about how many routine beeps, rings and other noises your dog hears on a daily basis, but doesn't bark at. The reason he barks when he hears a knock or a doorbell ring is because he has associated that sound with activity at the front door. My dogs rarely even look in the direction of the door when hearing the knock or doorbell; most of their pre- vious experiences indicate there is nobody on the other side of the door. I teach all of my dogs to go to a specific place (usu- ally their own bed or mat) and lie down when instructed to do so. This comes in quite handy when I actually have a per- son at the front door. When someone knocks or rings my doorbell, I send each dog to its place to lie down before opening the door. This way, I can deal with the person when I open the door, perhaps even invite him or her inside, without any unwanted behavior occur- ring from my dogs. They can't bolt out the open door and can't jump on the visi- tor, because they are lying down on their mats. I usually wait a few minutes before releasing my dogs from their mats when I have company. This way, my dogs can get accustomed to the new person in the house from a distance at first, so when they are allowed to come into contact with my guest, their behavior is calmer and more relaxed. With just a few simple concepts, taught over a period of time and main- tained by my frequent knocking and ringing of my own doorbell, I can enjoy the benefits each time a visitor comes to the house. I find this a much better approach than scolding my multiple dogs and having to hold onto collars while I try to let someone in the house, and having to apologize for my dogs' rude and jumping behavior. This "peace at the front door" can be accomplished with your dogs, too, with a small investment of time, and the right instruction of a train- er focused on teaching behavior, rather than cor- recting mistakes. 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