# got my new boys



## willy the kid (Feb 22, 2012)

Blaze,reo and bandit are in training thay are coming along great  we are leading standing and following and not bad about hoof triming thay are polled alpine brothers thay are a year and two months old 30 to 31 in tall and about 125 to 130 lbs I was wondering if I should put a empty pack on them during short walks so thay get the feel for the pack and the noise i know thay shouldn't pack weight until thay are 3or4 but i am new to goatpacking a little info would be awsome thanks


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## vigilguy (Dec 12, 2008)

I don't worry about putting saddles on yearlings. I just take them out and have a good time, making sure that I don't over-hike them and wear them out.

Carolyn always told me if they associate having fun on hikes when they are youngsters, they won't dread it when they are older and are loaded up.


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## willy the kid (Feb 22, 2012)

Thanks for the tips
We went for a good walk today everybody had a great time playing king of the stump or what ever was tallest and tasting every last bit of mother natures bounty 
We have went on some good hikes and no pouting yet so I think I got some good boys!


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## jross (Dec 20, 2008)

Just going for hikes is the best training now. Teaching them to lead, hop into the truck (or whatever you use), and stay close when you hike with them are good lessons to work on. Also, they may have a tendency to follow other people. To stop that just leash one of them and the others will probably stay close to you. Also if you teach them to come to you when you show them a bribe (orange peel, peanuts, etc) it will make handling them later much easier. I taught mine to follow me when I whistle. That's been very useful. Have fun!


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## willy the kid (Feb 22, 2012)

We went on a good hike today about two miles give or take
when I taught them to lead I made them stay behind me a few feet and it must have carried over because when break or rather party time is over I holler lets go and everybody falls in line and we go. the first half mile thay figured out the order and from then on it was like clock work staying behind me in there order nibbling all the way I have had them about three weeks and thay had no training at all so I think we are makeing good steps
It is awesome to see them come together
Thanks for all the help everybody
if you think of anything else let me know


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## Bob Jones (Aug 21, 2009)

I would suspect that most of us don't do formal training per se. We simply develop a routine and the goats learn it. If there are specific things you need from them, you spend a bit more time.

My new goat carrier is a one-ton flatbed truck with duelies. It's a bit high to ask them to jump in, so I put the rear rack on the bumper to give a ramp half way up and spent a little time coaxing Pig up. After the first time he made it, no more training was required.

I simply asked them not to butt on the trail and they all behave perfectly as long as I am not watching them. A soon as I glance at them, someone misbehaves ;-)

I also only have high blood pressure when I have a cuff on my arm. All the rest of the time I am fine.


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## willy the kid (Feb 22, 2012)

Personally when finding a routine with my horses ,dogs or any animal I have had. finding one we both can live with and have fun with in the beginning goes a long way in the bonding process.
I think bonding is number one with any animal you work with and if you have a tight enough bond you will have trust and after you have trust the training is fairly smooth.sometimes there must be tough love to keep your dominate status but to earn this status there must first be trust.
my boys have shown me goats are no different.

I am new to goat talk but I have realized if you make them think thay thought of it thay have no problem doing it.

I don't know who said it it was on here somewhere but the greed and selfish attribute in a goats personality is a great tool to have!!!


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## jross (Dec 20, 2008)

Over the years I've had my goats and been hiking and camping with them they have learned that when I say "Let's go boys" in a very serious voice, it means follow me NOW. That has been very useful to get them off the trail or the occasional road when a car is coming. Or when horses are coming, or to get them to come to me right now when I think there is danger. They learned it pretty quickly. I guess they saw the danger themselves and learned to associate my command with danger, and now they are very reliable about it.


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## willy the kid (Feb 22, 2012)

Thanks for the help jross
A warning call is something I never thought of and could be handy we have a lot of moose around hear and when They calve in the spring they can get a bit moody I have had more bad experiences with them than any other animal
In the fall it is bears in my huckleberry patches
So this could prove to be very useful thanks again 
We will be working on this


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## Bob Jones (Aug 21, 2009)

My goats sneeze to alert each other, so I couple a sneeze with my whistle or call.


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## willy the kid (Feb 22, 2012)

We have had some snow this past week up here in Nw Montana and I haven't took the boys out until today.we have had about twenty head of elk hanging around our ranch and when me and the boys went out we came across some wolf tracks I could see some ravens about 200 yards ahead of us threw the trees so I took the boys home because I had no gun dumb move on my part I know better then I went back to the kill and found it was a elk that was killed last night to my surprise thay had ate most of it it looked like there had to be at least 6or8 wolves she was a vere big cow and thay took her down fast. When I came back to the goat house I followed the tracks and thay had circled threw the trees and came within fifty yards of my boys house. I have a six foot cattle panel fence with electric top and bottom on the outside just for this reason

Tonight I will have trouble sleeping if I do it will be lightly!!!


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## Taffy (Dec 9, 2011)

Time to make them a compfy bed next to yours!


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## willy the kid (Feb 22, 2012)

They didn't come back last night but we will be keeping our eyes and ears open. my wife said I couldn't make them a bed by ours but she would gladly let me go sleep with them!

Now that I think about it I wonder if she wanted me to protect the goats or get ate by the wolves :shock: 

I think I won't ask some times it is best not to know!


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## jross (Dec 20, 2008)

I know how you feel, worried about your boys. I live in mountain lion country and was worried a lot at first. So I built my goat fence about 8 ft tall. But my next door neighbor has some lion hunting hounds that start howling anytime anything goes on in the neighborhood. After 3 years no predator problems at all. I think the dogs help.

Maybe a motion sensor light near the goat barn would keep the wolves away? Do you have a watchdog?


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## willy the kid (Feb 22, 2012)

I have two dogs thay are good dogs but watchdogs they aren't
so I think tomorrow I will do a little wiring
good plan thanks again jross


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## willy the kid (Feb 22, 2012)

Bob Jones said:


> My goats sneeze to alert each other, so I couple a sneeze with my whistle or call.


 I have used the sneeze or blow or what ever that sound is thay make when there nervous in a few dog encounters now
it seems to work good reo my lead goat always looks up seeing the hazard and runs to me and the rest follow 
your a goat whisperer Bob thanks


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## Bob Jones (Aug 21, 2009)

If you sneeze, you can use a voice command at the same time. Eventually they will associate the voice command with the sneeze and respond the same way.

And I'm not sure that saying things under your breath is the same as whispering ;-)


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## willy the kid (Feb 22, 2012)

Believe me I have said a few thing under my breath to the boys I probably should not repeat on here  
I had to try it today my sister lives across the pasture and her dog is a pain in my woo hoo :shock: 
I've been using a voice command in combination for the goats and it's working like a charm
I use a slingshot for the dog today I think she got the picture we will see


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## jross (Dec 20, 2008)

Speaking of commands... my most useful command is "the sound of death". That's the sound I make when I want the goats to stop doing something (eating a particular plant, sneaking up on my tortilla chips, etc). I go "CH! CH! CH!" like a choo-choo train noise, really loud. They have learned that if the don't stop doing whatever they are doing when they hear that, things are going to start hitting them (pine cones, small sticks or pebbles, my hat, etc). It has been a very useful command. I started teaching them that with a water squirt bottle.


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## Bob Jones (Aug 21, 2009)

Speaking of squirt bottles. Pig discovered that the squirt bottle only has water in it. So when he found the rabbit feed, which is pelletized alfalfa, it had little effect on him. I guess walking in the rain with him desensitized him to it. So I got up close and squirted him in the eye. No effect. So I lifted his ear and squirted him. That got his attention. 

The next time, I lifted his ear and squirted inside. That got him away from it. 
The third time, he spooked as I approached his ear so I just squirted him from the distance.

Now he is properly responsive to simple squirts again. Goats are smart. So you gotta be just a tad smarter and never let them get away with something that you don't want them to do. It is much easier to control them psychologically than to manhandle them.

The 'ch ch ch' thing is too close to my sneeze for me to use it. I have used 'Git' on dogs, cats, bears, chickens and children, the goats have learned it from osmosis I guess, though it does not have much of an effect when they are eating something they really want. 

Maybe that could be an event at the next roundy. See who can get their goat away from a bucket of grain by voice commands only. I think we would sit around and watch goats eat to their hearts content. I suspect it would be an impossible feat if two goats were shoving over the same bucket.


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