Driving Lessons

[Sanhestar]

If you want to stick to clicker-training, here is what you can do:

introduce target-training. Maybe you need to start with a hand-held target (ball on a stick) to explain to Koby the general idea that he is supposed to move TOWARDS an object.

As goats pick up rather fast what's wanted, you can then switch to ground targets. For horses, we use small rubber mats or small wood plates - it needs to be something that is different from the ground around and the animal can identity by stepping on it.

Make walking to the mat a highly reinforced behaviour: many, many, many good things happen on a mat: food, resting, scratching, attention, etc.

Mat training will serve two purposes: you can explain the idea of walking ahead of you towards a mat, can lay mats in a single file, a circle, a zigzag pattern, whatever you like.

Second purpose is to teach self-controll because going to the mat is only allowed (this is a rule you have to teach) in a controlled manner, no rushing.

Pulling towards the side of the road: can also be taught with targeting. Offer a target he has to walk towards before he is allowed to eat. Use the eating as a reward that is always available but make rules about access to it.

IT IS NOT NAUGHTINESS! Eating is calming, eating is necessary for survival. Learn to read when he is pulling to the side and look at what situation triggers the behaviour. It might be that he is overwhelmed with a certain request you made, like f.e. going away or walking home slowly and he has to do something to calm himself down again. Avoid the trigger, teach an alternative behaviour (see targeting). Build duration slowly.

And yes, the baulking is stress about leaving the herd. A single goat in predator country is a dead goat. He has to overcome instinctual fear of being eaten to go out with you so that is a hughe thing you are asking of him.

Make it worth his while. Reinforce highly every step he makes willingly. Build duration. Accept the points at which he freezes. He might see, hear, smell things you don't. Teach him an alternative behaviour to freezing. Again: targeting. Here an hand-target (putting his nose to your hand) is one of the moste helpful things you can teach. If you do this often enough this task can become like a safety blanket in stressfull situations: it's easy to do, it will always be reinforced, it will become familiar and therefore reassuring.

When both of you have some experience with mat and target training, find real world targets. Look for things that stand out on your route: trees, rocks, gulleys, whatever. Make a game out of it: we walk to this...... and then you click and treat.

You can also start with counting steps loudly. First you might only get to "one, two - click and treat" willing, fluid steps. But animals understand the concept of "adding one more" and you will soon get to ten, then fifteen and more steps (you can skip the adding one after you get above twenty, then you can try moving in steps of five). The longest count has been recorded with pigeons who will pick an object 300 (!) times before they get a treat. Think about getting 300 steps without reinforcement (this will not be achieved in a matter of days, of course) walking without baulking, without pulling to the side. This will be a great game you two can play every time you go out.

Look at this link on how to build duration into any behaviour
http://iceryder.net/300peck.html