# Rough goat on the trail



## Mt Nebo Goats (May 18, 2012)

I have 4 goats that I pack with. One of the goats is extremely large compared to the others. When ever we are out on the trail with their saddles and panniers loaded, if one of the other goats come close to me or tries to get in front of him. He will bash into them, knocking them to the ground. Does anyone have any ideas on how to get him to stop this behavior? I was thinking a shock collar.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Sounds like a good plan to me. Does he do this sort of thing at home? There is always going to be a herd boss so its kinda hard to teach em not to act like goats, so as drastic as a shock collar may sound, I dont know if anything else would even register. Good luck.


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## idahonancy (Dec 13, 2008)

There have been a few discussions on this forum about no rough play around humans. This may fall into that category. Goats can be goats but the behavior needs to move away from people. Use a verbal command and apply negative feedback with bad behavior and positive reinforcement with good behavior until they learn what you want. In time you should just be able to use the command. I had good luck with the long reach of a super soaker squirt gun. No rough housing with packs on is important because things can get broken. I have a shock collar and would use it if I had to. The collar worked wonders on the dog.


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## ryorkies (May 4, 2010)

Julio is my bully. I use my walking stick to block him. He has horns. So at times he gets a bonk on the horns
along with a "NO". He backs off. The other goats also know what the stick means. They are not allowed to 
butt the dogs either. And they all know what NO means.


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## SMaxwell (May 20, 2012)

Shock collar works. It takes a lot of juice to deter them though, so you will have to crank it up to make it something he is not willing to endure again.


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## Mt Nebo Goats (May 18, 2012)

Thanks for thoughts and input. Yes he does act like this at home. One time he went after another male and I just happened to be in between them and I took the hit. Its a good thing I remembered what Rex had wrote about slamming them on their side and holding them down. This worked really well. Its also amazing how well you can man handle a 200+ pound goat when you mad! He respects my space a lot more now. I will give the the shock collar a try and let you know how his behavior changes. Hopefully for the good.


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## idahonancy (Dec 13, 2008)

Just for clarity for new folks on the forum. There is a process where members talk about flipping a goat on it's back. It is a form of serious punishment where by you have total dominant control of the goat. It is not a "slam" but a flip, not because you are mad but there is a very bad goat behavior that needs to stopped. Almost anyone can do it but you should never loose your cool or the goat won. The hardest part of this control exercise is cool dominance.


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## TDG-Farms (Jul 12, 2013)

Legion is already to big for me to even bother to try it  Then again he is just the sweetest boy in the world and would never ever do anything to warrant a tossing...  In reality, its just easier for me to smack em on the nose. They really really dont like that. The last time I "tossed" a goat, he stood up and looked at me like "WTF?". Granted he stopped doing what he was doing but I never got the feeling he understood what happened and why.


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## Huckleberry (Mar 12, 2010)

My large and in charge "meat goat" (Nubian/Boar) started to get very dominant around me while he practically melts in my husband's hands. Anyway,I got really good at flipping him, but he almost seems to enjoy it and falls asleep and actually snores! I started doing two fingers across the nose and then holding him under his jaw forcing him to look at me while telling him no in a very stern voice. He would become so ashamed and drop his head unable to look at me for several minutes. He has now stopped bossing me around.


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