# Taming the shy or wild Goat . . .



## Sonrise Farm (Sep 18, 2008)

Saca (soon to be renamed) is pretty wild . . . she doesn't like to be touched . . . any tips on this? I know it takes time, but any surefire ways on doing this?


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## Amos (Oct 2, 2008)

Besides treats, I would just recommend being with her everyday, talking to her calmly and quietly, let her get used to you. It always takes some time. Not to discourage you, but it took our buck over a year of being with him daily to even trust us getting close to him, and we still can't pet him! He was probably abused before we got him, but they'll warm up to you, just takes time.


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## MysticHollowGoats (Sep 10, 2008)

Just sit down there and hang out, read a book. Just be sure to have treats in your pocket and when she comes near offer one to her.
Always works for me.


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## Sonrise Farm (Sep 18, 2008)

She hates having her legs touched or anything, I have to sneak my fingers up her back and start scratching her withers fast to convince her to stay. thanks so much


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

I usually have a long rope and dog collar on the goat.........have a grain bucket.............take her in a coral or small penned in area.................pull the rope with tension to get her to come to you....she will fight ........... when she takes a step.... let off the pressure of pulling ........this technique also works with lead training ........talk to her in a soft voice...... she will struggle ......pull with a little tension until she takes a step.....repeat until she gets reaches you..........scratch her between her horn area ........that is about every goats favorite spot.....................she might not want .........the grain at first.........but ......try feeding her some grain from the bucket......if she doesn't want it............no worries.......keep scratching her......between the horn area.............try to scratch her cheek area.....when you get to her neck area she may not let you ......keep working with her on a daily basis.....after a few times you could probably bring a chair in and sit down while you do this......keep offering the grain or hay.........eventually she will start giving in........ 

when she is not afraid of you....... and trusts that you will not hurt her................. in the small pen.........have her on the the long rope...............sit in a chair and gently pull her to you....using the same method above......... by now she should volunteer more.........pet her and feed her some grain.....or hay from the bucket or your hand........as it gets easier... she will voluntarily come to you ..................then you will not need the rope on her anymore............and you will be able to lead her anywhere you want..........you just killed 2 birds with 1 stone....LOL 

take the rope and dog collar off of her after each.......training session.........


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## nancy d (Oct 5, 2007)

Amos my experience with a wild doe was similar. Almost a year!!
Where they came from they didnt get treats. They were from a large herd. 
But I spend lots of time with them. We could catch them for meds but this one particular doe now comes to me asking for skritches. When Im working out there they pretty much ignore me but not her...she'll just stand by me, leaning into me. We have gone from polite request for horn skritches to full blown shoulder and back massage demands which oft times exceeds the legal limit.
One of her yrlng daughters is right there too showing promise of learning to take on her dam's ability to flat out use me.
Just keep working with her, she will come around as she learns to trust you. The only time I push them is when its meds time.


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## Amos (Oct 2, 2008)

Well atleast I'm not alone. Yeah the only time we push him to cooperate is when we give meds or hoof trimming. One time he lost his collar and we needed to get him to the back pasture across our land, and he wouldn't let us get near him.. luckily we ket him with our wether, whom he can't live without so he just followed me while I lead the wether back there. But he still doesn't have a collar. We're at the point where we can just pet him with the tips of our fingers, but other than that he won't let us get too near.


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## SDK (Jun 26, 2008)

you know what.. i'm going through the same thing right now with daisy's niece and my new love..kevin :drool:  :drool: (picks up jaw) 

but i've found out the quickest way to a goats heart is (like a man) through their stomach. I used black eyed peas, BOSS and some calf manna, and i took them out on short little walks.. and kevins already got most of it.. he's still a little stinker to catch. but im making great progrees with both.. the doe is just much slower


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## QotL (May 27, 2008)

My first goat Loopa was pretty wild. She was used to having people feed her... and not much else. 

I sat out with her everyday, several times a day. Often I fed her animal crackers. Other times I would just talk to her, or read a book. The big key, imho, is to let the goat make the moves. When Loopa came close for a cracker, I fed her and petted her with my other hand. At first I couldn't pat her at all. Then just the cheeks.. eventually the neck. 

She's been here 5mos now. She's still silly and fey, hops around like a mustang if I catch her at the wrong moment. But I can lead her (did same.. animal crackers. She's better on the leash now than the dog!!). I can, if she's hooked and has grain, even clip her hooves fairly easily. I can pat her entire body, although she dances around if I touch her belly. 

Be patient. It will definitely take time.. and try not to get frustrated. A few weeks in I felt like giving up.. it was sooooo disappointing. I was trying so hard, but just seemed to have come to a standstill. Then we got Granny, sweet girl. Granny would be great in a petting zoo- loves attention and nothing scares her. Having such a calm roommate helped I think. It went much more quickly from there. And I stopped feeling like a failure, and let it run along by itself. Keep your sense of humor about the whole thing, and accept your goat for who she is. She may never crawl in your lap, and that's ok. 

Today was the first time that, while I was with them, Loopa lay down and closed her eyes, contentedly chewing her cud. It was wonderful, and peaceful. I love both my girls- they are like night and day.

Meghan


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## MissMM (Oct 22, 2007)

I'm watching this thread with great interest too..... I've got three new goaties that are 6 mo. old & wilder than your everage feral cat. I've been sitting with them about 20 minutes a day for 3 weeks now. The buck & wether: Stinkybutt & Chance (in a pen where they can hear but not see the other goaties) are coming along OK. They're eating from my hand now, but still very shy if I try to pet them for more than half a second. 

Hope, on the other hand, wants nothing to do with me. She's in a pen by herself (wasn't supposed to be that way, but the other doeling I bought died in transit). She can see the other "older girls" but cannot reach them. She will not approach me at all no matter how long I sit there, nor how many animal crackers I throw her - she loves them but won't touch them if I put the cracker within arms reach. 

I tried putting Hope in with the other girls briefly (they are 2 years old now) and they all ganged up on her - head butting her so hard she fell over. I quickly got her back in the pen by herself, but she still won't let me touch her...... :hair: 

any suggestions?


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## Amy Goatress (Oct 2, 2008)

I agree with everyone here, we had a wild doe and now she's practically in our laps wanting pets ( she's 75% Nubian ), her most favorite treat was horse treats though, they loved the peppermint flavored ones though, actually all the goats like the horse treats especially the ones we are trying to tame and the ones that were bottle babies or already sweeties love them, they practically try and eat our fingers or if they know we had them in our coat pockets too.


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## Amos (Oct 2, 2008)

"they practically try and eat our fingers or if they know we had them in our coat pockets too."

Lol! So do ours, and they love the peppermint horse kind too, we give them some after vacc and hoof trimming. 
But as for our donkey, he would actually eat my fingers thinking they are the snack though.


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## sparks879 (Oct 17, 2007)

i have had three un catchable goats, the first was cally she was extremly wild, she had to drag a lunge line around with her for six months. that way i could catch her when i needed to. But for the most part i would catch her and rub her all over and talk to her until she quite cowering then i would let her go. Taking her to a show made a huge difference. she cowered in the back of her pen. By the ed of the three days she was practically climbing out wanting people to pet her. Juju was the same way. Chrome was a little tougher. she comes to me when SHE wants to now. but if i want to catch her she doesnt want anything to do with me. 
Like others have said treats lots of time spent out there. Sing to her or talk to her to get her used to your voice. tell her a stry or how your day was. 
beth


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