# Problem Goat



## kevint (Oct 26, 2014)

I have two weathers 3 -4 yrs old. One goat (goat1) has never been an issue, he is loving, follows me wherever, whenever, crosses creeks, hops in the truck all without really any issue and minimal bribery / fuss. One a 1 -10 scale I would rate goat 1 at a 9 or so. Goat2 used to be ok / functional , but he is progressively getting worse. It started earlier this year, when on a walk, he just did not want to follow my wife. He would follow me , but sometimes would refuse for a while. Then he started not wanting to get in the bed of the truck, requiring some force or lifting. Finally, on a recent trip he decided not to cross a creek and ran the trail all the way back to the trailhead. Since that time, he seems to have regressed further, to the point he isn't functional. He refused to cross a creek, until I finally put a leader and pulled him across this weekend (the other goat crossed several times as I tried bribing and example). He often, just starts to go back the way he came, requiring me to run and catch him. The most recent trip, he just refused to go up a little ridge and would only go with a bit of leader, but soon as he was off he would not go. I had to lift him into the vehicle at the end if the trip (he did cross water much better after he got pulled in the creek). I don't want to write him off as a bad goat, but he has clearly regressed from being functional, to being more of a problem than he is worth from a packing perspective. 

Is there anything I have done wrong ? Do goats regress ? As he is, he is no longer functional, while the other goat is very good and easy to work with. 

Thoughts and Ideas ? 
Thanks in advance


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

I know nothing about packing....but first thing that came to my mind was equipment. You don't say if they are carrying packs or not. If they are....is the one that's become a problem having a pack fitting issue? If it's an equipment issue that doesn't get resolved, it can progress (or regress) from there. At least that's how it works with horses.... Or...could it be a chiro issue? My daughters horse is fantastic right up until her back goes out and then we have all kinds of problems that resolve as soon as we make a visit to the chiro. Can you get chiro work on a goat?


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

PM Goathiker. She will be able to help you.


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## idahonancy (Dec 13, 2008)

The 1st thing that came to my mind is the age of the goat. Only one of my 3 goats did similar things between the age of 2 and 3. It was a tough year and required firm but caring hand. I felt like if I did not get him under control he would not make it as a packer. He was then and still is a smart goat. He became very stubborn about getting in the truck. I backed the truck up to a bank so the tail gait was close to the dirt and he would walk in easily on a lead. In Idaho banks of earth or rocks are not hard to find so I just move the truck. Every time he ran in the other direction I would gather the other 2 goats put them on leads and run the other way urgently making plenty of noise like "lets go, lets go". It worked every time. Chasing this teenage goat was futile. Often times I kept him on a lead for entire hikes lasting many hours. If he dragged on the lead I put a pinch collar on him. The collar is made for dogs but it worked great for this goat. He is a great packgoat now. We just needed to get past that teenage stuff. For me it was definitely worth the work. 
Good Luck, IdahoNancy and the Oberpackers


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## kevint (Oct 26, 2014)

Thanks , that sounds more like teenage than anything. I will work on it like that


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## m57gonefishing (Jan 26, 2012)

Kevin,

I'm glad you brought this up as I'm having the exact same issue with a saanen/lamancha, Coconut, I have. I'll admit that this last year I only got them out a couple times before I took them on a couple 4-5 mile hikes. But including pack weight, only packed them with 20 lbs max and he is 3 years old. The saanen/alpine is 2. On their first real hike ever we went with another family and it was much better. Maybe because of all the people/herd. We only stayed one night and walked back out as well. They were off lead most the entire trip, except night. The second trip was a 5 mile moderate hike up to 8900 with my friend for an archery deer hunt. The hike into basecamp was off lead without a hitch. The next 3 days I basically didn't pack any weight on him. He was very stubborn. Sitting on trail, and very resistant to moving forward. Fine on the flats but the second an incline came, PLOP, down he went. Even after resting pack free for 24 hours his poor attitude didn't change. Like you, when we were packing out he ran off ahead of us. I put him on lead for awhile after I caught him. I let him off lead behind me after a mile and he took off cross country. I was able to cut him off when he slowed realizing they were alone in the forest. What was the problem? He is the dominant male at home with the milkers. I attribute mine to lack of conditioning, lack of enough trail training(repetition), and thanks to Nancy some teenage trouble. I was going to give him one more year with many hikes and me doing my part to get it together. This year was tough due to moving and work. We will see. The alpine cross, Casper, kept on like an energizer and picked up the slack for the other. No give up at all in him. He's definitely a keeper, just need to decide if the other is. I'm a newbie just trying to figure it all out.


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