Goats, Grounding & Ginger Snaps: Inside Fairyland Farms’ Healing Sanctuary

Dixie: 00:00:00

Today we're joined by Cora Moore of Fairylands Farms, a sanctuary

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dedicated to rescue, healing, and the

unique bond between people and goats.

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Cora combines her passion for animal

welfare with goat-assisted wellness

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experiences that help people slow

down, reconnect with nature, and

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discover the therapeutic power of

compassionate animal interactions.

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Hi, Cora.

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How are you?

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Cora: I'm good, Dixie.

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How are you doing?

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Dixie: I'm good.

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I hear a lot of critters

in the background.

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Cora: Yes.

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We have 50 animals, and of course,

as soon as I picked up the phone,

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everybody's gotta go crazy.

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That's how it always goes.

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Dixie: I am excited to learn

all about Fairyland Farms.

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Give me a brief summary about

Fairyland Farms and what you do.

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Cora: So we're just a small

nonprofit animal sanctuary, National

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Wildlife certified wildlife habitat.

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And so we rescue animals,

and then we do goat-assisted

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wellness and education with them.

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And we have 50 animals on the

farm, and 20 of those are goats.

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So we mostly focus on rescuing goats.

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And then, like I said, we do

the wellness work with them.

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And we've just rebranded ourselves

because the therapy work we do

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with the goats, It's non-clinical.

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I am an educational psychologist.

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We don't diagnose, treat mental disorders.

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It's all about just learning how these

animals are co-regulators and co-creators,

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and goats are just really good at

teaching us how to heal and how to ground.

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And we take them, y- you

name it, we take them.

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Assisted living homes.

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We go to schools, universities,

libraries, museums.

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We work with veterans.

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We work with a lot of

special needs populations.

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We like to say that any way

these animals can spread love and

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happiness, 'cause they're just

really good at doing stuff like that.

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And and rebranding because of

my experience in psychology

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and education, we're really

focusing on academia right now.

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I teach online college classes mostly,

and I've taught in-person classes too.

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And so I was lucky enough in the

past couple of years to do a kind

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of program evaluation study with

some of my live classes, and I would

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bring the goats into the classroom.

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Students would interact with them.

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Even the big burly, like cop security,

campus security, they would melt

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to hold one of the little baby

goats, and it was really awesome.

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And so we've got some good data

from that, and we're just looking

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to kinda move forward from there.

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And then Dixie, if you want me to

tell you about some of our other

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animals, we can talk about those too.

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Like we have Stevie, he's our

Australian long-billed corella.

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He is supposedly only one of

two here in the United States.

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The only information we can find on

him, though, is over in Australia.

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So he's a fun guy, and he's

a rare guy in these parts.

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Dixie: And what is he exactly?

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I'm not familiar with those.

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Cora: It's a type of cockatoo, but once

again, they're native to Australia.

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So you could say like an

Australian cockatoo, would maybe

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be another way to describe him.

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Dixie: Sure.

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And what about the other animals you have?

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Cora: Oh, we have dogs and cats and

right now we've rescued donkeys.

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We've had rabbits on the farm.

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We've had turtles on the farm.

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But right now we have dogs, we have

cats, we have some guinea pigs, and

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then we have the yard birds, so it's

like guinea fowl, chickens, ducks, and

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then our turkey, Bob, who is actually

a pretty funny and fun guy, too.

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I never realized how much personality

turkeys had until we got him.

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So he's funny, and he loves the goats.

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He's always right wherever

the goats are, watching them.

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Dixie: Cool.

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I definitely wanna dive more

into the goats and learn a lot

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more about the goat- goats.

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I've never- … had anybody on talking

about goats before, so that's awesome.

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But before we get into that, tell me

how you got started in all of this.

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Cora: You know what?

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I guess it was a little bit of

luck and a little bit of craziness.

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I started my education in archeology.

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That was, like, from seven years old.

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I'm 47.

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So it was like, wanna be an archeologist,

'cause I love culture, love learning about

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the diversity of the human experience.

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And just by being out in the woods

a lot on my own, and I've camped and

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hiked all over the United States.

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And then my dad was a chaplain's assistant

in the Army, so we traveled around a lot.

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Traveling around was in my blood.

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And and working in archeology, I

was always like, "Oh, one day I'm

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gonna have me a little goat farm

and be able to, have a little farm

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out in the middle of the woods."

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And it took me let's see,

I've been here 13 years now.

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So in my travels going all over

the country I got my first goat

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out in the Mojave Deve- Desert in

California, and then that led me

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here to Tennessee, and took me a

couple years to figure out exactly

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what I wanted to do with these goats.

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Then I started working on my

PhD in psychology, and it was

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like, duh, animal therapy.

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It's like work with what you know.

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Don't burn the candles at

both ends, as they say.

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You know what I mean?

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Dixie: Definitely.

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How long have you had

Fairyland Farms or how long

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Cora: has it been operational?

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I've been here for 13 years, and we

have been a non-profit since: 2021

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It was funny because when I finally got

the idea to do this with the goats, it

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was I swear it was like the next day

COVID hit, and everything was shut down.

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And I'm like now what are we gonna do?"

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So we spent those first two years

during COVID doing a lot of virtual

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therapy visits with the goats.

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And then, so it's funny, Dixie.

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I would do a tarot readings with the

goats, and I have my one goat baby,

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who is still on the farm, and I would

have her with me in the session, and

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I would shuffle the cards and hold

them out to her, and the card that she

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decided to nibble on would be the one

I would pull and read for the person.

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We had people all over the

world doing those with us.

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So that was really fun and really cool.

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And then I found this group, it's

called Pets On Call, and we do

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virtual therapy visits to assisted

living homes all over the country.

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And we still do those.

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We just had one of those

yesterday that we went to.

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And so those are a lot of fun, and then

we do things like virtual animal crashing.

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And so it would be like maybe

corporation or like a university

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that they do meetings online.

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And so we come in, and like five,

10 minutes just show the animals,

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talk about what we do on the farm.

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And it's just a way to help, those people

feel connected, valued, and just have a

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little giggle and de-stress themselves.

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Because if anything, goats are

really good at helping us ground,

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and they're very healing creatures.

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They're heathens.

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I tell everybody, I'm like, "They're

the sweetest heathens you ever met."

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But at the same time, they have so many

physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual

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benefits that they provide in our life.

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And so that's why we have rebranded this

year to call it Wellness, Goat Assistant

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Wellness and Education, 'cause that just

aligns with, my experience, my education,

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my lived work with these animals.

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And yeah, like I said-- And

then like I said, I was taking

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the goats to the classroom.

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We partner with another local

university and did a a de-stress

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event during finals week with them.

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And e-everybody just loves it.

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They're, goats are very great animals.

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Do you have any experience with goats?

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Dixie: I do not.

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Other than just being around

another rescue that has some goats.

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I've always- … wanted

to have goats for myself.

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I really like goats.

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And I'm gonna tell you a story too that

I think you'll get a kick out of this.

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But yeah, as far as goats, that's

something that I definitely want to have.

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I do wanna get some goats.

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We do have some acreage that we're gonna

be building the sanctuary on, and so when

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we get everything, all our fencing and

everything that we need up there, and

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we're up there more full time, definitely

goats is something that I wanna get.

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I'm in a city right now.

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If I could put a goat in my

backyard, I would, but I can't.

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But but yeah.

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No, I'm gonna tell you a story

real quick about my veterinarian.

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Cora: Okay.

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Dixie: Okay.

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So my veterinarian had an old Corvette

that she would drive around in,

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and- … her passenger was a goat.

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So everywhere she would go, this

goat would drive around with her.

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He would chew on her seats.

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She didn't care 'cause the goat

would go everywhere with her.

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But anyway, aside from that, I do

wanna get more into goats, but I

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have another question for you too.

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Okay.

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You mentioned that you're also

a National Wildlife Habitat.

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So what is that?

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Cora: You know what?

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That is something that sounds like

hoity-toity, but it's awesome.

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It's actually something that is very

easy for anybody to set up and do.

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So we are certified through the

National Wildlife Federation.

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Have you heard of them?

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Dixie: I have heard of them.

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I'm not very familiar with it though.

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Cora: But yeah, so it's like as long

as you meet the criterion, it's like

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you've gotta have a natural place for

the wildlife that live on your property.

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You gotta have a, like a place

to where they can kinda, hide

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out, have their babies, have food

and water available for them.

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And then you fill out the questionnaire

form, and I think it was like 25 bucks.

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I haven't looked on the website in a

while, so I haven't checked that out yet.

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But then you fill out the form, you

pay the money, and they give you that

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status, and so they give you like a little

certificate and everything for that.

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And I actually discovered that

when we went and rescued these

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two goats, and the lady had it.

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And I was like, "That's so cool.

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How did you get that?"

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And she told it to me, and

I was like, "You know what?

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I think that is an awesome idea."

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And it perfectly aligns with what we

are trying to do here on our sanctuary

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because environmental and ecological

conservation is a big part of it, too.

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And then, like I said,

I worked in archeology.

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I've been out in the woods

for the majority of my life.

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I'm like the way I think I got conned

into chasing goats every day is say

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I got lost in the woods and went

away with the fairies, and they're

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like, "Hey, you wanna chase goats?"

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And I said, "Yeah, guys,

that sounds awesome."

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And then I was like, "Oh,

no, what have I done?"

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But still, I'm like, it's wonderful.

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I do not know what I would do

without these animals in my life.

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They're the whole reason I get up in the

morning, my whole reason for existence.

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And then when I see the way that

they affect other people and the

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happiness that they bring and the

interactions there, it's just no

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this is such a beautiful thing.

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We need more love and kindness and

beauty in this world, and if we just

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stop and slow down and pause and learn

to ground, nature will speak to us,

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and the animals will speak to us.

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And that's just…

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I like to say, even though, like

I said, , we don't really call it

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goat therapy anymore, we call it

wellness it's good for your soul.

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Goat therapy is good for your soul.

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Dixie: That's gonna lead into my next

question for you, which is why goats?

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And then also, where do

you get your goats from?

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Cora: Oh, see, and that is a question

that people ask us all the time.

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They're like, "Why goats?"

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So my birthday is April 1st.

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I am an Aries, which means that I'm

naturally a goat, so I have always

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had an affinity for these animals.

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And then, like I said, just in,

working with them for 15 years, living

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with them every day of my life, I

see that therapeutic kind of healing

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value that they add to our lives.

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And then I didn't realize when I first

started that goats were not considered

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official therapy animals 'cause

there's just not enough research and

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data to support how they can do it.

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And right now even as I know January,

I think, was the last article I

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read in the professional world of

psychology, everybody's still stuck

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in this mindset that you gotta train

the goats based on dog therapy models.

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And we had the first officially certified

therapy goat in the United States.

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Her name was Ginger Snaps.

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And I tell you what, Dixie I love

every goat that I've ever had

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on this farm, but that is the

best-tempered girl we have ever had.

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And sadly, we lost her back in the spring.

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That's the worst thing about working with

these animals is because they're prey

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animals, they will hide if they get sick.

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And no matter how much you stay on top

of them, how much you monitor them,

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they will hide it from you, and one

minute they're up running around, and

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then the next second they're dead,

and you're like, "What happened?"

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However, that's okay because Ginger Snaps

set a precedent, and her legacy lived on.

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So we started off training her

specifically based on the dog

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models, and she could do everything.

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She was perfect.

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She can come inside a building,

come inside a facility, come inside

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the house, and she's not doing

the crazy goat stuff that they do.

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A lot of time, if a goat's gonna get

in the house, they're jumping on the

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counter, knocking everything off.

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They're eating books, eating

paperwork, eating all your plants,

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eating anything they can get in

their mouth, they're gonna eat.

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But Ginger Snaps was very calm.

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She was very good with strangers.

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However, in doing that, we quickly

learned, too, and based on some

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of the other goats that we have.

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Now the other therapy goats we

were using, they're not certified.

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We have two…

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Let's see.

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We have six that are in the

goat training camp right now,

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so we don't breed every year.

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I think the last time we bred was

maybe three or four years ago.

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So we do ethical breeding on the

sanctuary, and we just do that

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because we want the best-tempered

goats to take out into public.

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So anyway, back to Gingersnaps, even

though she was able to-- and she was

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actually a rescue that was a bottle

baby, so she lived in the house.

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Since we're in goat training right

now with some of our new babies, and

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half of them are rescues, half of them

were born this year, they are in the

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house right now learning how to be

civilized goats, if that's possible.

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But yes it is.

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As I said, Gingersnaps

proved that was possible.

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But she also showed us that in

order to train, goats for this work,

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that you have to do it based on

goat psychology and goat behavior.

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And so like I was saying, in the

professional world of psychology,

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everybody's still "Eh, we don't

really know if goats are really gonna

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be good for therapy work because

you can't train them like dogs."

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And I've got some stuff in the works

coming up to where I hopefully am

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gonna get an article published to

talk about that, so then we can set

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that precedence and open that dialogue

in the professional world for other

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psychologists and researchers to start,

trying to think in the way that we are

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and how you train them for therapy work.

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Does that make sense?

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Dixie: Yeah, absolutely.

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And I love hearing it too because, when

you think about therapy, primarily you

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think about using dogs for therapy.

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Now, I just did speak with somebody

and she does equine therapy, but it's

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great to, to hear that you can do this

therapy and this wellness with goats too.

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I know you're talking too

a lot about grounding.

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I'm very familiar with grounding,

but for people who are- … not

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familiar with grounding, can you

explain that to our audience?

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Cora: So basically when you talk

about grounding, it's talking

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about we live in such a pa-

fast-paced society and fast-paced

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world, and we're always like go."

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And so when you think about

grounding, it's all about that idea.

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It's kinda like mindfulness.

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It's slowing down, being in the present

moment, focusing on that moment.

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And a lot of times, like with my

students, I tell them, I'm like, "It's

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about, being ok- it's okay that we slow

down and we take time for ourselves

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to, to take all that stress that we

have in life and ignore all of it."

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The Buddhists like to say we

have a monkey brain, so it's

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constantly chattering at us.

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And it's okay to tell our brains, "Stop.

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I don't wanna think about that right now.

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I wanna slow down.

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I wanna be in the present moment so

that I can reset my nervous system

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in order to deal with stress better."

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And then yeah, it's about learning

how to live in the present

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: 00:17:44

and learning that it's okay.

304

: 00:17:47

We are allowed to give

ourselves those moments.

305

: 00:17:51

Make sense?

306

: 00:17:53

Dixie: Yeah, absolutely.

307

: 00:17:54

Absolutely.

308

: 00:17:55

Yeah, like I said, I'm

definitely a fan of grounding.

309

: 00:17:57

Now I do a different kind of grounding

too, where I'll go actually barefoot

310

: 00:18:00

on the earth to kinda reset myself.

311

: 00:18:03

But I could definitely see how goats

are involved with that too, because it

312

: 00:18:07

does slow everything down, and that's

one thing that I'm always big on too,

313

: 00:18:12

is the whole energy of everything.

314

: 00:18:14

Because- Yeah … animals

pick up on your energy.

315

: 00:18:18

I do cats.

316

: 00:18:19

I see this in rescue all the time.

317

: 00:18:22

If the person is nervous and anxious,

the cat is gonna be nervous and anxious

318

: 00:18:27

too, because they pick up on your energy.

319

: 00:18:30

And - Absolutely … they can

also help change your energy, so

320

: 00:18:34

I could definitely see, how you

could use the goats for that too.

321

: 00:18:38

How do you manage to

bring them in facilities?

322

: 00:18:43

Do you ever have problems with

people saying they don't want a

323

: 00:18:45

goat in their facility or wherever

you're gonna be bringing them?

324

: 00:18:50

Cora: No, actually everybody is always

super excited to have the goats inside.

325

: 00:18:55

And part of their training is

that we do treat teach them to

326

: 00:19:00

use those puppy pee-pee pads.

327

: 00:19:02

And so when they're inside, it's

like you gotta use the pee-pee pads.

328

: 00:19:06

And the goats we the three that are

in the house right now I would say

329

: 00:19:11

they, they're doing pretty good so far.

330

: 00:19:13

They're probably about a seven,

eight out of 10 that they

331

: 00:19:15

actually hit those pee-pee pads.

332

: 00:19:17

The problem there is pooping.

333

: 00:19:20

They're, facility and be there for a

while, I will put diapers on them just so

334

: 00:19:26

we don't have to worry about that mess.

335

: 00:19:28

'Cause it's hard to walk around a

hospital or something with a goat

336

: 00:19:31

leaving a little poopy trail, or walk

into a school, into the classroom and

337

: 00:19:35

the little poopy trail following you.

338

: 00:19:37

So I do that too, and that's just

a safety thing, and of course

339

: 00:19:40

it's a hygiene aspect of that too.

340

: 00:19:43

Oh, and you asked me about

where we get our goats from.

341

: 00:19:46

So I told you that sometimes that,

that we ethically breed them, and

342

: 00:19:50

then most of them are rescues too.

343

: 00:19:54

So we have a mix of them.

344

: 00:19:55

And like I said, right now the ones

that are in the training program,

345

: 00:19:59

one, two, three, five of them are

rescues and four of them were the

346

: 00:20:04

babies that were born this year.

347

: 00:20:06

So it's combination is what we do.

348

: 00:20:09

Dixie: How long does the training take?

349

: 00:20:12

Cora: It, honestly a year.

350

: 00:20:15

A year and Ginger snaps, by the time

we decided that we should go ahead

351

: 00:20:20

and just officially certify her,

she'd been doing it for two years.

352

: 00:20:26

I can't remember off the top of

my head how many visits she's

353

: 00:20:28

had, but almost 1,000 hours of

visits that little goat has had.

354

: 00:20:33

And I think right now we're at

almost 200 with the three main ones

355

: 00:20:39

that were rescued from last year.

356

: 00:20:42

And a lot of it, it's just like I

said, it's based on their temperament.

357

: 00:20:46

It's based on living with these

animals and observing them and watching

358

: 00:20:52

them and trying to understand their

different personalities, 'cause

359

: 00:20:55

goats have so much personality.

360

: 00:20:58

And just like any other animal, they

all have their own personalities.

361

: 00:21:04

And in that that sense too, just

like all dogs or all equines

362

: 00:21:09

cannot be therapy animals, not

all goats can be therapy animals.

363

: 00:21:13

We have one that we can take to

outside events when we do them.

364

: 00:21:17

Her name is Rebel.

365

: 00:21:18

That should tell you

everything you need to know.

366

: 00:21:21

Rebel cannot come inside a building.

367

: 00:21:24

She goes insane, and the other two

that we train with her, they're

368

: 00:21:29

good inside as long as Rebel is

not there instigating the chaos.

369

: 00:21:35

Dixie: When you do events or when you

go visit places, are you selecting

370

: 00:21:40

out these places or are people

contacting you to bring the goats out?

371

: 00:21:44

Cora: It's a little bit of both.

372

: 00:21:46

A lot of times people will contact us

because, and that's with the rescue too,

373

: 00:21:51

'cause people are always like how do the

people find you and you rescue goats?"

374

: 00:21:54

And it's a lot of times people get

elderly, they get sick, can't take

375

: 00:21:58

care of their animals anymore, so

that's how we end up with them.

376

: 00:22:02

And then, yeah, when it comes to people

find us, and then sometimes we will

377

: 00:22:08

reach out to other people right now.

378

: 00:22:10

Since we have rebranded and we're , trying

to get data on how they can help in an

379

: 00:22:16

academic environment by supporting student

wellness, faculty, staff wellness, and

380

: 00:22:22

then of course that relates to like

community wellness, we've been reaching

381

: 00:22:26

out to a lot of the local universities

382

: 00:22:30

Dixie: That's amazing.

383

: 00:22:32

What about goat yoga?

384

: 00:22:34

I know that's a thing

on the internet lately.

385

: 00:22:36

Do you do any of that as well?

386

: 00:22:39

Cora: We do.

387

: 00:22:40

I have a yoga instructor, and she's

been with me for a few years now.

388

: 00:22:44

And so we have people come to the

farm, and we'll do goat yoga sessions.

389

: 00:22:49

And we've been to a couple of schools.

390

: 00:22:51

And we've actually been to

some pre-K classes that she has

391

: 00:22:55

gone and done goat yoga with.

392

: 00:22:57

Those kids have loved it.

393

: 00:22:59

Everybody that comes out

for the goat yoga loves it.

394

: 00:23:02

And the good thing about my instructor

is that she realizes that doing

395

: 00:23:07

yoga with goats means that people

really don't care about the yoga.

396

: 00:23:11

They're more interested and excited to

be able to interact with these goats,

397

: 00:23:16

and they got the little goats jumping on

them and goats chewing their shoelaces

398

: 00:23:20

and laying on their pa- on their mats.

399

: 00:23:23

And that in itself is very grounding

and healing because in that, we don't

400

: 00:23:28

always have to be serious, right?

401

: 00:23:30

Their life has humor, too, and

that's the great way that goats

402

: 00:23:35

can help us heal and ground, is

because they're silly creatures.

403

: 00:23:39

Dixie: With Ginger Snaps being the

first certified therapy goat, do you

404

: 00:23:44

assist others with training therapy

goats, or do you just train your own?

405

: 00:23:49

Cora: Right now, we are in the process

of training our own and creating

406

: 00:23:55

a national certification program.

407

: 00:23:58

That really is our goal because

what we do with these animals, it's

408

: 00:24:03

not my partner Joe he's a farrier,

he's a dog trainer, he's worked with

409

: 00:24:06

animals 40, 50 years of his life.

410

: 00:24:09

He's the board president of the

nonprofit, and we understand

411

: 00:24:13

a lot about animal therapy.

412

: 00:24:15

I'm sorry, Dixie, tell

me your question again.

413

: 00:24:16

I just totally forgot.

414

: 00:24:23

I'm so sorry.

415

: 00:24:24

Dixie: It was if you train others who

are interested in learning how to have a

416

: 00:24:28

therapy goat, if you offer like a therapy-

417

: 00:24:30

Cora: Oh

418

: 00:24:31

… Dixie: a certification classes basically.

419

: 00:24:31

Oh,

420

: 00:24:32

Cora: Yeah.

421

: 00:24:32

Okay, so y- so yeah.

422

: 00:24:34

So based on all of that what I just

said, we are in the process of creating

423

: 00:24:40

a national certification program.

424

: 00:24:44

Oh that's where I was going.

425

: 00:24:45

Because it's not about us.

426

: 00:24:47

It's not about Joe and I.

427

: 00:24:48

It's not a Just Better All Goats Here.

428

: 00:24:50

It's about goats in general, and we're

not trying to reinvent animal therapy,

429

: 00:24:57

human-animal interactions, animal-assisted

therapy, however you wanna term it.

430

: 00:25:01

What we are doing is adding another niche.

431

: 00:25:05

It's like these are other animals that can

provide these benefits for us, and so we

432

: 00:25:10

hope within five years we can have that

program put together and send it out to

433

: 00:25:16

people so that goats anywhere any farms

that work with goats, any, educational

434

: 00:25:23

learning environments that wanna add

goats and, to help with their wellness

435

: 00:25:28

and their flourishing environment then

they'll have the opportunity to do that.

436

: 00:25:33

So that you know pet partners, right?

437

: 00:25:35

Dixie: Yes.

438

: 00:25:36

Cora: Yeah.

439

: 00:25:36

The way they do it is they've got their

partner, they got their program, and

440

: 00:25:41

then, the big thing is about teaching the

handlers how to interact with the animals.

441

: 00:25:47

And so that's a lot of what we're thinking

about is, like, how do we create this

442

: 00:25:50

actual national program that we're not

gonna-- that we may not be involved, like

443

: 00:25:58

hands-on with whoever is in that program,

a way to do it that it's comprehensive

444

: 00:26:04

and understandable enough that we can

teach the people how to interact with the

445

: 00:26:09

goats and then how to, gauge which one

of those goats to take out in the public.

446

: 00:26:14

And that really I cannot reveal all

our secrets to training goats right

447

: 00:26:19

now, but I can tell you this: A lot

of it does have to do with training

448

: 00:26:24

people how to relate to goats.

449

: 00:26:28

And that gets a little problematic

with children 'cause, children, oh,

450

: 00:26:30

they're so excited to see the goats

and they wanna run right up to them.

451

: 00:26:35

They wanna grab their tails,

grab their horns, and it's no.

452

: 00:26:38

We have to learn how to be calm with them.

453

: 00:26:42

And then a lot of it is training them.

454

: 00:26:43

If you walk up to one of the goats

and the goat does not wanna be pet

455

: 00:26:48

right now, that's not a bad thing.

456

: 00:26:51

That is teaching us something.

457

: 00:26:52

Goats teach us about respect

and consent and boundaries, and

458

: 00:26:58

that's a lot of the way I phrase

it when we work with little kids.

459

: 00:27:00

I was like, "Are there days where

you just don't wanna be messed

460

: 00:27:03

with, don't wanna be touched?"

461

: 00:27:05

Yeah."

462

: 00:27:05

And I said the goats are the same way.

463

: 00:27:07

And when it comes to animals, we have to

respect that with them, too, because, the

464

: 00:27:12

more calmer and more, and more respect

that we can show to them, that then

465

: 00:27:18

is what is going to make the animals

calm down and then be more engaging."

466

: 00:27:23

Make sense?

467

: 00:27:24

Dixie: Yeah.

468

: 00:27:25

How do the goats like all of this?

469

: 00:27:29

Cora: The, for the most part, like

I said the main ones that we use,

470

: 00:27:32

'cause out of the 20 goats on the

farm we've never taken all 20 out.

471

: 00:27:36

There are goats that it's like, "No

you're not going out in public."

472

: 00:27:40

The ones that do go out, they do enjoy it.

473

: 00:27:42

They're social, they have

good temperaments, and they

474

: 00:27:46

like being around people.

475

: 00:27:47

But like I said, sometimes just

like us, they could have a bad day.

476

: 00:27:51

We were at one of our local fairs

we do every year all last week.

477

: 00:27:56

It was the hottest week so far this

summer, and the goats got tired there at

478

: 00:28:03

the end and were just "Eh, we just wanna

lay down and not really be messed with."

479

: 00:28:07

And once again, that goes

back to respecting them.

480

: 00:28:10

But for the most part, like

I said, no, they love it.

481

: 00:28:13

And when it comes to taking them

off the farm and thinking of all

482

: 00:28:18

of that, we limit the visits.

483

: 00:28:20

We usually do two hours with them, so

we're making sure we're not stressing them

484

: 00:28:25

out, and at the most we'll do four hours.

485

: 00:28:28

And that's interesting, too.

486

: 00:28:30

I in thinking about all of this I've been

researching stress and therapy animals.

487

: 00:28:36

It's like that's not

something we talk about a lot.

488

: 00:28:39

We always talk about how they help

us with stress, but it's like, how

489

: 00:28:44

are the animals we're using relate--

like what are their stress levels?

490

: 00:28:48

Because sometimes even dogs, they'll

get burned out and be like, "I'm done.

491

: 00:28:52

I'm done.

492

: 00:28:52

People touching me.

493

: 00:28:53

I wanna go home and sleep on my bed."

494

: 00:28:55

And so I find that there's not a

big body of literature on that, but

495

: 00:28:59

what I've been researching so far, I

was like, "That's very interesting."

496

: 00:29:03

And then because I mostly teach

college classes online, that's

497

: 00:29:08

one of the or- academic articles

I'm working on right now.

498

: 00:29:11

It's okay let's think about therapy

animals experiencing stress and

499

: 00:29:16

burnout and how then how maybe being

in a more virtual environment can

500

: 00:29:22

create calmer environments for them.

501

: 00:29:25

And at the same time, it's like,

how do we take what we're doing

502

: 00:29:30

with these goats and actually put

it into a virtual environment?

503

: 00:29:35

And like I told you, we do

like the animal crashings.

504

: 00:29:39

You take a class with me, and you are

going to see my animals in my lectures.

505

: 00:29:44

You'll see pictures of them.

506

: 00:29:45

I talk about them.

507

: 00:29:47

And that, actually, a lot of students

tell me they're like, "I'm so glad

508

: 00:29:51

you share the animals with us.

509

: 00:29:53

That makes us feel so much

safer in the classroom.

510

: 00:29:57

It helps us feel less stressed.

511

: 00:29:59

It helps us feel more connected to

you, to be able to reach out to you

512

: 00:30:04

with whatever we're dealing with."

513

: 00:30:05

And I'm like, "That is just awesome.

514

: 00:30:07

I like that id- I like that."

515

: 00:30:10

Dixie: Yeah, I could totally see that

too, 'cause it just helps you connect

516

: 00:30:13

with the person more too when you know

that they have this love for animals.

517

: 00:30:18

And then, y- you know- … it's

also like a little bit of a break

518

: 00:30:21

because, classes can be stressful.

519

: 00:30:23

Classes can be boring.

520

: 00:30:24

Yes.

521

: 00:30:24

So when you have that in there- … I can

definitely see how it makes everything

522

: 00:30:30

a little bit more enjoyable and makes

learning probably- Oh, yeah … easier.

523

: 00:30:35

Cora: Oh, yeah, absolutely.

524

: 00:30:36

Like I said, we did that two-year

program evaluation study and at

525

: 00:30:40

local universities, and that's what

students would tell me all the time.

526

: 00:30:44

And sometimes I would give them surveys

and journaling stuff, asking them

527

: 00:30:49

about the goats in the classroom.

528

: 00:30:51

But a lot-- I would say that

more than that is they would

529

: 00:30:55

independently reach out to me and

be like, "Are the goats coming back?

530

: 00:30:59

I really like the goats.

531

: 00:31:01

It really helped me concent-concentrate

and focus and, wanna study harder and

532

: 00:31:07

I did better on that exam I just took."

533

: 00:31:09

And I was like, "That's so awesome,"

because that shows a little

534

: 00:31:13

bit of the long-term effects.

535

: 00:31:15

It's like my students got to play with

the goats in our class, and then they

536

: 00:31:19

went to their other classes, and they

were still keeping that energy of what

537

: 00:31:23

the goats gave them, and then that helped

them be better students in those classes.

538

: 00:31:27

And I was like, "Guys, this is so awesome.

539

: 00:31:29

Thank you so much."

540

: 00:31:31

Dixie: Yeah, I think it's amazing,

and it helps those, too, who might

541

: 00:31:34

not be familiar with animals.

542

: 00:31:35

It introduces them to animals that

they might never see otherwise.

543

: 00:31:42

Cora: You are so right about that and

especially these younger generations.

544

: 00:31:47

Now, for us, we live in Middle

Tennessee, so it's rural Tennessee,

545

: 00:31:51

but it's so amazing to me the amount

of children that have no experience

546

: 00:31:57

with livestock or farm-type animals.

547

: 00:31:59

That makes them more curious and

excited about learning about them.

548

: 00:32:04

And I'm like, "That's a great thing,"

'cause then you guys can grow up and have

549

: 00:32:07

the animal sanctuaries and, find those

innovative ways to deal with livestock

550

: 00:32:13

in agricultural sciences or something.

551

: 00:32:15

I hear that a lot from ag students.

552

: 00:32:17

They're like, we talk a lot

about livestock as far as the

553

: 00:32:22

manufacturing side comes to it and

then things like climate change."

554

: 00:32:27

It's but we don't hear a lot about

the non-production manufacturing

555

: 00:32:32

side of animals, therapy animals,

sanctuary animals, rescue animals,

556

: 00:32:36

even wildlife res-refugees.

557

: 00:32:38

And it's a little synchronicity there,

Carl Jung and his synchronicity.

558

: 00:32:42

It's like I started looking into some of

this stuff, and then I run into people,

559

: 00:32:46

and that's what they want to talk about.

560

: 00:32:48

And I was like this is important

stuff to share," 'cause I didn't

561

: 00:32:51

tell anybody to talk about this.

562

: 00:32:53

They told me about it, and I

find that very interesting.

563

: 00:32:57

I'm like, that does kinda, put a

little more credence behind what

564

: 00:33:02

we're, what we are doing, and it

gives me a little bit motivation to

565

: 00:33:06

be like people are interested in this.

566

: 00:33:08

Awesome."

567

: 00:33:09

Dixie: Yeah, it sounds amazing.

568

: 00:33:10

It really does.

569

: 00:33:11

Before we end the call, do

you have any final message?

570

: 00:33:15

Cora: I would just like to say

that I really am so glad that

571

: 00:33:20

you are interviewing me today.

572

: 00:33:22

I really hope that what I'm talking

about with the goats maybe resonates

573

: 00:33:27

a little bit with your audience, or

at least makes them a little more

574

: 00:33:30

curious to learn more about it.

575

: 00:33:33

I really like that you focus a lot

on education because once again,

576

: 00:33:37

being an educator, that's something

really big and it's so important.

577

: 00:33:42

Our animals are friends, teachers,

guides, and companions, and I always

578

: 00:33:47

tell people, no matter what animal you

bring into your house, from a fish to a

579

: 00:33:54

guinea pig to a horse, it's so important

to educate yourself on that animal.

580

: 00:34:01

You know what I mean?

581

: 00:34:02

My fundraiser coordinator has

just come up with this really cool

582

: 00:34:06

fundraising campaign for the summer.

583

: 00:34:09

It is a coloring contest.

584

: 00:34:12

It's fundraiser coloring book/contest,

and she created some cool coloring

585

: 00:34:18

books for us, and you c- you can find

us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn,

586

: 00:34:24

YouTube, go to our website, and we've

got all that information put up today.

587

: 00:34:28

So we're really excited about that.

588

: 00:34:30

She came up with the coloring book idea

'cause of the whole therapy aspect.

589

: 00:34:34

She's "What's more therapeutic

and relaxing than coloring

590

: 00:34:38

and coloring with animals?"

591

: 00:34:40

So here in a couple weeks we're

gonna do a live coloring with animals

592

: 00:34:44

on YouTube and Facebook, and we're

just really excited about that.

593

: 00:34:48

And I'm so grateful for the team of

we call them our family, that we have

594

: 00:34:53

that believe in these animals and

that help us out behind the scenes.

595

: 00:34:58

And a lot of people don't

know about those things.

596

: 00:35:01

And I invite anybody to reach out

to me if they have any questions

597

: 00:35:06

or just wanna learn more about

goats in general, like you, Dixie.

598

: 00:35:09

If you ever need any help

once you get your goats, never

599

: 00:35:12

hesitate to reach out to me.

600

: 00:35:14

Dixie: Yeah I definitely know who to

contact now, so that's a good thing.

601

: 00:35:17

And I I am gonna get some goats,

so it's just a matter of time.

602

: 00:35:20

So I'm not gonna rush into it.

603

: 00:35:22

When the time is right, then

I'm gonna get some goats though.

604

: 00:35:25

Cora: And that's how life works, life

has a lot of joy, a lot of sorrow, and

605

: 00:35:32

working with these animals, I've gone

through a lot of trial and error, but

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: 00:35:35

I'm like, that's just the nature of life.

607

: 00:35:37

You live and you learn, and you keep

pushing forward, and that's one of

608

: 00:35:41

the great things about goats too, is

that they're always optimistic and

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: 00:35:45

always moving forward, and I love that.

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: 00:35:49

Dixie: Thank you so much for joining me

today, and I'm going to get the links

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: 00:35:52

from you to put in our show notes so

that way if anybody wants to look you

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: 00:35:56

up, they'll have all the links available

in the show notes so they can do

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: 00:35:59

Cora: that sounds awesome, Dixie, and

I thank you so much for your time to

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: 00:36:04

help us spread, the information about

goats and looking into, like I said,

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: 00:36:09

this kind of new type of animal that we

can use for to help us heal and ground.