leopuppy04 Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I know it's not exactly 'dog' training but.... it's still training :D Has anyone on here had some experience training pet goats?! If so can you please contact me via PM if necessary Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Easy, clicker training using food, they like to eat. Is there anything specific you would like to teach your goat/s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopuppy04 Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 (edited) Easy, clicker training using food, they like to eat. Is there anything specific you would like to teach your goat/s? Yup we're doing that It's not that he's difficult to train - he's incredibly smart and picks things up with ease :D Not my goat..... easier said by PM I need someone who is epxerienced with goat training . Edited September 30, 2009 by leopuppy04 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelpiechick Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Well Aidan, yours must be very different to mine - I tried to clicker train mine during a brief period of insanity and gave up after a couple of weeks. It certainly wasn't 'easy'. He was the most stubborn, cranky goat that showed no initiative to offer any behaviours, or indeed move at all for that matter (despite a fair bit of luring which goes against my instincts as a clicker trainer) and liked to head butt you if the treat wasn't forthcoming quick enough. Almost made me question my clicker training ability. Bob Bailey may have been able to train a chicken to weave but I couldn't train a goat to go through a gate. My horse has been a lot easier though. Good Luck with it. Maybe breeds of goat vary like breeds of dogs - with some being the 'BC's' of the goat world and others like my Angora male being the *won't name a dog breed at the fear of offending others ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 (edited) And here I was going to give you a hard time for misspelling "training goals" Edited September 30, 2009 by The Spotted Devil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiesha09 Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 (edited) Not exactly a goat, but I clicker trained my pet sheep :D I actually looked through Sue Ailsbys hints and tips on llama training and just tailored things to suit me and my sheep Not sure if I can help but what exactly are you trying to train your goat to do? ETA: with my sheep I rather than shape most behaviours I used targetting to teach them because 'roast' didn't really offer behaviours willingly. Don't stress, roast didn't actually turn into dinner Edited September 30, 2009 by kiesha09 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aidan Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I have two friends who trained goats, one for contracted weed control, the other for her Delta certification. They told me it was easy! Neither are on here, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopuppy04 Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 (edited) OK a little more information (just while I wipe my eyes from tears of reading TSD's post ) *Not my goat - it lives at work, and we need to train it *He is definitely the 'BC' in terms of goats - very quick to catch on. Understands a clicker, offers behaviours and has a repitoire of tricks! *we have a few goat specific problems that are causing OH&S issues and he needs assistance to correct this *We have ideas in place, but keep in mind, it's VERY hard to have ONE person handling him, we usually have multiples, which means different skills for these people too *tolerance is running low with his behaviour :D Edited September 30, 2009 by leopuppy04 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 By the sounds of it, LP, your problem will be with the hoomans not the goat :D I reckon you should apply your learning theory to the goat and create alternative behaviours and then run a few education sessions for staff at lunch time. BTW, can you guys email me the new cat seminar dates please! Ta x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Maybe try the clicker solutions yahoo group? I'm sure someone on there once was training a goat. They have had some good hints for marker training my hare. Training unusual animals is essentially the same as training a dog. You just have to make sure your rewards are right for your animal, although it sounds like you have already mastered that. I read an interesting tale about a walrus in Grey Stafford's book "Zoomility". Walrus was very touchy and would try to impale people if they accidentally frustrated him or touched him in a way or place he had not been conditioned to. They relied heavily on incompatible behaviours. And spotters! It sounded like sometimes the spotter would need to rescue the trainer by asking for a different behaviour. Stafford also spoke about a human aggressive dolphin who was brought around through desensitising to be quite safe and reliable, even doing things that were unpleasant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 You might wanna email Kerry Haynes-Lovell, semi-retired sea world trainer. Runs the clicker training and other species training for the delta course. She has lots of experience teaching very large animals basic care routines etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leopuppy04 Posted September 30, 2009 Author Share Posted September 30, 2009 By the sounds of it, LP, your problem will be with the hoomans not the goat I reckon you should apply your learning theory to the goat and create alternative behaviours and then run a few education sessions for staff at lunch time. BTW, can you guys email me the new cat seminar dates please! Ta x Yup - you got it in one TSD I will email you the dates tomorrow We are trying to teach him a 'place' - that's not a problem. at the moment it's a nobody but me can train him rule so that he gets some consistency. But I've since been told he's still continuing (funny, because he's supposed to be out of the yard when they need to get in)... so next is to get them to feed him treats and use treat balls when they put him away etc etc etc.... I guess what I'm looking for is something in the interim while we teach him his 'place' to be quite consistent You might wanna email Kerry Haynes-Lovell, semi-retired sea world trainer. Runs the clicker training and other species training for the delta course. She has lots of experience teaching very large animals basic care routines etc. Thanks SNT - as luck would have it, she was at work last week Gave us some great tips, but like I said, looking for more ideas seeing as there have since been two more incidences Got to find out the 'why' and 'when' first before I can come up with a more appropriate plan for the interim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gundoglover Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 What breed goat is he, how old & is he entire? Entire bucks tend to urinate on their front legs to advertise to the does about their virility! And if he was castrated late in life, he may still have this antisocial (to us) drive. If I've guessed wrong about the behaviour, I do apologize. I have kept goats, but not a buck, because of the aforesaid antisocial behaviour. I did have a kid buck that was castrated after 3 months old (too late, I now know) and had this behaviour - I sold him to the local butcher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 remembering that goats are herd animals may help you. Goats also have a 'family' sense, and are sticklers for routine!! (or mine are ,anyway) About the only thing I train mine to do now is to disappear thru the nearest gate when I say 'OUT!' ...this can also be used if said goat is about to bite the piglet's tail, pound a pup into the dust, or attempt to jump on someone's car! She stops whatever she is doing , thankfully They work well for food..One of my old girls had a harness, and I would attach a large bag..we would wander around collecting rubbish..me picking up- she pulling the filling bag. It worked well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
piper Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 We used goats as our other species whenI did my course with Delta. Rather than clicker training and free shaping through offering behaviours we target trained them. They were curious enough to investigate a target stick when presented with it and quickly agreed to do it a few times for food. They did require a MUCH higher ratre f reinforcement than dogs and seemed more selective on whar they would accept as a reward. There were 4 goats and they all had a different food preference. Also we were told if they are out on green grass (we were in a barn/shed with them) they are harder to get to cooperate as they will take the free food rather than work for something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff'n'Toller Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 You might wanna email Kerry Haynes-Lovell, semi-retired sea world trainer. Runs the clicker training and other species training for the delta course. She has lots of experience teaching very large animals basic care routines etc. Thanks SNT - as luck would have it, she was at work last week Gave us some great tips, but like I said, looking for more ideas seeing as there have since been two more incidences Got to find out the 'why' and 'when' first before I can come up with a more appropriate plan for the interim No probs, I kind of figured you'd probably already had contact with her. Thought I'd just throw it in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelpie-i Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 Sorry, never trained a goat....but I have trained a minature pot belly pig! Little buggers bite hard Wave some tree branches around and I'm sure you'll at least achieve recall with a goat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jigsaw Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I was going to suggest target training. If he needs to be in a specific place you could use targets for his hoofs and his head. Sounds like an interesting problem - maybe you'll have to video your training so we can all learn from your experiences! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corvus Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 On rewards.... I got the idea from something Temple Grandin had written about training antelopes to use dried apple as a reward for my hare. Grandin suggested the really good brands that are very wet and juicy. It worked really well. Apparently the antelopes like 'em heaps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Spotted Devil Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 LP, if you want a "stranger" to clicker train to help generalise the behaviour let me know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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