# Difficulty leading



## gretchbr (Jul 23, 2012)

Hi - I've been working with a great 4-month old Alpine wether on leading. I've had him for about a month - he's a friendly, low-key guy who is pleasant and enjoys human companionship, but he really hates to be lead much of the time. He plants his feet and resists. If I pull, he resists even more (I am using a halter). If I release the pressure on the lead to just a bit of tension and try to verbally coax him forward, he will continue to plant himself and generally refuse to move unless someone behind him pushes him along. Occasionally, he'll respond to treats offered to entice him forward, but will eventually plant himself again and resist.

Conversely, he follows well off-lead, for the most part. We've taken him out to trails for walking session and get frustrated quickly trying to walk him on-lead, but once we let him off, he'll come along unless he finds good browse, in which case he'll lag wayyyy behind.

I'm really concerned about creating walking practice sessions that are unpleasant for him - any suggestions for creating some kind of positive way to encourage him to walk on-lead, and also how to keep him focused on staying with us on the trail instead of stopping to munch for a few minutes while we're walking on the trail? 

Thanks for any advice!


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## Nanno (Aug 30, 2009)

At only four months old, he's small enough that right now you can physically drag him along, which is a really good thing, because in a few more months you'd need a truck to move him if he's not trained! 

First, you should try to find something he likes to eat because reward is very important. Second, don't have anyone behind him. Having a person behind him may be one reason he's pulling back. He's paying attention to that person and trying to be close to them instead of you. 

When he pulls back on the halter, yank firmly in a series of very strong tug/drags until he comes up with you. Then give him a treat. Always, at the very first hint of him coming forward on his own or dropping his head and relaxing his stance, release the pressure on the halter and feed a treat. At the very first hint of him starting to drag on the halter or lag behind your legs, sharply tug on the halter until he comes back up.

You don't ever want to lean on the halter and give a long drag, because he'll just pull back and it becomes a game of tug-o-war, which he'll eventually win as he gets bigger. You don't want to give him something to lean against. If you tug/release/tug/release very quickly, he can't set against it. He also can't find a "comfy spot" where he can lean back and almost seem to "rest" on the halter. Your tugs should be strong enough to physically drag him forward one jolt at a time to the place you want, and once he's there, quit tugging and reward. Start walking and tug him along as you go, stopping every so often to reward if he's doing well. At first, even just a few steps on a loose leash is praiseworthy. Before long he'll be wanting to stay up with you. 

And yes, it will be unpleasant the first few times, and you'll feel like your goat will hate you forever. But goats don't think that way. While you're remembering the unpleasantness of yanking him along, he's remembering that he got a cookie for coming with you.


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## joecool911 (Jul 3, 2010)

Tie him up first and let him fight with himself. Then leading will be easier. Walk away so he freaks out and wants to come with you. Feed other goats, whatever it takes to convince him that he can't beat the lead. Then you should have better luck with him and you won't have to fight him.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Anything above the neck, the dont tend to respond to fast to. A trick I learned from Curtis is to hook a lead to a collar and run the collar back behind the front legs, back up the other side and wrap it around the lead. So you are more or less making a second collar around the chest. Pulling from here, instead of the neck, I was able to teach Legion to walk in under 3 minutes and only two short drags. Not saying it will be this fast for em all but it worked well for me.


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## ryorkies (May 4, 2010)

Do not pull straight. Pull sideways. He can not plant his feet sideways. Only when you are pulling him straight.
You can take him in complete circles. As soon as he moves let up on the lead. Later see how little pressure you can use to make him give to pressure.

Here is a weblink for horses.
http://www.naturalhorsesupply.com/pressure.shtml
Maybe it will help.


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## gretchbr (Jul 23, 2012)

Thanks so much for your advice! Will continue to work with him incorporating your suggestions. Really appreciate it!


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