What do you do when a goat jumps on you? Or, as the case was this evening, when a normally friendly goat head-butts you in the thigh because you turned to give someone else a treat *after* she had received hers? In the first case I acted as I would if a large dog tried to jump on me-I kneed her in the chest and said "down!". I was rather taken aback by the second situation and am ashamed to say I whacked her on the head with the scoop I had in my hand. In both situations the goat in question seemed duly chastened but I don't want to mess up their goatee heads if this is the wrong thing to do. What do y'all do?
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yeah, raisins are a favorite here too - I dont soak I just stick them in the micro for a few seconds to soften and I mash them then. they all love raisins - but one would rather have dried cranberries LOL - but will they eat carrot pieces or corn husk? no way.
Oh, I like the ear thing Kare! Especially since I've had some older does trying to beat the snot out of younger ones for no discernible reason. I mean, I understand the pecking order and all that but occasionally I think they go a little overboard. Good to know y'all use the knee in the chest thing too-I was worried that I was being an abusive goat parent! And the jumping on me is always related to raisins! Rachel mentioned her goats liked them so I decided to try (I agree that marshmallows are icky) and as I think I mentioned before the goats go absolutely crazy for them.
That's what I do too. Knee in the chest and either say "down" or "no". Sometimes I just quickly back away so they have nothing to jump on. It seems to work, but you have to keep doing it consistently for a few weeks.
When a goat is being unnecessarily mean to other goats, I grab them by the ear and say no. I figure if they bite each other on the ear, that must be a show of dominance.
I use most of the same techniques as I use with dogs -- knee in the chest when they jump up, etc. I tend to yell, "No! Bad goat!" just out of habit when they do anything inappropriate. I think does are MUCH easier to train than bucks though. And I have almost never had an adult doe jump on me. One day I spent about 10 minutes kneeing a buck in the chest, and he'd still jump on me about every 15 seconds, so it made absolutely no difference.
When my babies jump on me I push them down on their chest and use the same command "off" everytime. They are starting to do really well and realize I will not pet them until they are standing not jumping on me. One of my goats tends to bite when she is upset and I flick her in the nose and tell her "no". She is a lot better than when we first got her. Goats are smart and they do learn things if you are consistent....
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That's what I do too. Knee in the chest and either say "down" or "no". Sometimes I just quickly back away so they have nothing to jump on. It seems to work, but you have to keep doing it consistently for a few weeks.
When a goat is being unnecessarily mean to other goats, I grab them by the ear and say no. I figure if they bite each other on the ear, that must be a show of dominance.
When my babies jump on me I push them down on their chest and use the same command "off" everytime. They are starting to do really well and realize I will not pet them until they are standing not jumping on me. One of my goats tends to bite when she is upset and I flick her in the nose and tell her "no". She is a lot better than when we first got her. Goats are smart and they do learn things if you are consistent....