# Teaching kids to behave



## tatumhills (Feb 8, 2014)

Our very first goat kid is now 9 days old. He lives with his mum but we don't have other goats. Unfortunately his mum only had the one so he is a bit short of playmates. How do we teach him that we are his friends but not goats so he can't play with us by head butting us and jumping all over us? Thanks!

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One Saanen and her beautiful baby boy!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

Butting they get smacked or their ear pulled a bit. Jumping up the get kneed till they get down, don't get the hint they get popped on the nose, biting and chewing I pinch their lip. Yes it sounds harsh but if they are seeing you as a herd mate then treat them as one. If a kid pulled anything that another doe did not approve of they usually get butted or bit in the ear. You can try a water bottle but my problem is I forget it half the time and you want to be consistent with it. Make sure you still give him loves but also don't be afraid to show him what you don't approve of


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## harleybarley (Sep 15, 2014)

We have great success with the blowing in the face technique. We say "no" firmly before disciplining. Discipline isn't mean, it's a controlled method for teaching them good behavior. Bad goats go to the freezer. If the goat gets to live with good behavior, helping them develop good behavior is kind, even if they don't like the process much.

The "ear biting" has mixed success for us - seems like it needs to be a good pinch (fingernails help) - but when pinched properly, they do learn well. Also, just walking away - end play time - seems to make them more interested in playing nice. Zero tolerance for head-butting, you DO NOT want them doing that when they're big. We add "bad goat!" before using harsher discipline. Reserve hitting for serious behavior that doesn't correct with other techniques. Hitting is a big gun that can backfire on you. Pushing them away so they can't continue the behavior is more effective most of the time.

The climbing on us, we tolerate (enjoy) it and they grow out of it when they're too big and we aren't down on the floor with them. But they're not allowed to stand up and lean on us. If you don't want them climbing on you, use "No!", blowing, push them away (use a collar or push on their body, never on the front of the face).. best training for goats, prevent them from doing what you don't want them to do.


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## tatumhills (Feb 8, 2014)

Thank you. I have been trying walking away, sharp NOs and pulling him away by the collar. Today I tried the ear pinch which I had read about somewhere else and he definitely jumped away. Was back at it 3 seconds later but a second pinch made him give up. We'll see how we go next time. He will be casteated and hopefully stay as a pet with us for the rest of his life, but I have a 4 yr old human kid and I run farm visits for other human kids so can't have any misbahaviour

www.tatumhills.weebly.com 
www.facebook.com/tatumhillsfarm
One Saanen and her beautiful baby boy!


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## tatumhills (Feb 8, 2014)

We love the climbing on is too but we are worried about a grown up goat trying that. Good to hear they grow outbid it! Tried the ear pinch today and seems to work... We'll see how he behaves tomorrow.

www.tatumhills.weebly.com 
www.facebook.com/tatumhillsfarm
One Saanen and her beautiful baby boy!


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## Jessica84 (Oct 27, 2011)

I don't put up with the crawling on me either, and for the same reason you just said. I mean I do to a point when they are just a few days old but it doesn't take long for a full sized goat to get big enough that it starts being unpleasant. It's also pretty much the same as jumping on you really, they are not respecting your space. I do agree as they get older the joy of jumping and crawling and playing becomes less as they mature, but those little hoofs still hurt. So anything the do being small and cute I think is it going to hurt when they get big, if yes I try to put a end to it.


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## kccjer (Jan 27, 2012)

If you have a baby goat that is use to climbing on you when you are sitting, they WILL continue to do that as an adult. If you don't want them doing it as an adult you need to discipline it to some extent now and make it only when YOU allow it. Or just don't plan on sitting in the pen with them when they are grown.


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## kc8lsk (Jan 10, 2014)

My son's bottle raised baby goat still plays with him at almost 2 years they run and jump around together he made her into a lap goat and I told him he would be sorry about that but she folds her legs and still lays on his lap at almost 3 months pregnant it is really fun to watch and she is so spoiled but he does have to sit down before she will sit on him so... I got her to stop jumping on me by bringing my knee up into her sternum when she jumped up.


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## harleybarley (Sep 15, 2014)

I agree with everybody that goats need to be well-behaved enough to live with people. 

We sit in the barn every night to give goats attention and observation. Nobody climbs on us except sitting in our lap (but this isn't the buck barn!). There's a special bench where we sit - the younger ones climb up and stand next to us, sometimes sit in our laps, mostly lean against us for hugs and petting. 

If you're uncomfortable with training, it's probably safer to banish climbing (hugs are also a lovely way to interact with babies). But climbing doesn't make them automatic monsters when they grow up. Our first kids, we overdid it and let them do anything they wanted. We had to do a lot of training to stop the standing/leaning on us and pawing at us, and they were 50-lb lap goats before we set limits. They are well-behaved now. OTOH, we had kids born during a really busy time this year and dropped the ball on socialization. We used climbing to get them interested in bonding with us again. They are very friendly but don't climb on us anymore, even when we sit on the floor.


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