Chat
Sabine is spot-on when she says Koby is insecure about being away from the herd. I personally do not like to go from driving toward home to driving away from home. Driving away from home is too big a step and too difficult until he's already well-trained in less distracting situations. What we have done with our goats is take them several miles from home in the truck so we have fewer distractions. Removing distractions sets yourself up for success, and then as training progresses you can start adding distractions back in. The second time I ever took Sputnik out to drive single, I took him by himself. I think this is one reason single driving "took" so well with Sputnik. Neither Phil nor I has taken Finn out for a solo lesson, so he's always had Sputnik there as a distracting influence.
Weather permitting, I hope to take Finn out by himself a few times over the next few weeks so we can concentrate just on each other. I think Finn's problem might be similar to Koby's--he's not completely confident in Phil. The reason I think this is because at the beginning of our last drive, a loose dog suddenly appeared on the golf course and came bounding toward us. Both goats stopped, but Finn was by far the more nervous of the two and not only didn't want to keep walking toward the dog, but actually tried to turn and go the other way. I went to Finn's head to reassure him while Phil stayed at Finn's reins. My friend Jordan was driving Sputnik at the time, and because she did not know him and was not confident about her own driving skills, she did not ask him to go on. But she didn't have to go to his head either. Sputnik stood without anyone at his head while I faced down the dog and told it to go home. Looking at Sputnik, I'm pretty sure if his driver had given a firm command to "walk on" he would have had the confidence to do so. A short while later we encountered a dead cat in the middle of the road and Sputnik walked past within two feet of it and only gave it a quick sideways glance as he went by. Finn, on the other hand, wouldn't go near the cat and once Sputnik and I got too far ahead to provide him with a "security blanket," he tried to turn and run back to the truck. Phil had to lead him past the cat and I had to go back for them so Finn would keep going. Finn did great as long as he was behind Sputnik, or if he was headed back to the familiar territory of the truck. This tells me that Finn's confidence level is not where it should be, and that he's more in tune with what's around him than with Phil. I probably need to work with Phil on driving technique as well, because it's also quite possible we're dealing with a matter of conflicting or ill-timed aids. Nothing discourages an animal faster than confusion about what is being asked of him.
Now is definitely not the time to introduce Koby to a bit. A bit should heighten and lighten established communication, not enforce behavior that hasn't already been learned. For this reason I plan to drive Finn in a halter when we do our solo lessons. A halter is fine for single driving and it's much better for leading if you have to go to his head.
I don't agree with the driving manuals that say you should have someone at the goat's head to help teach him to drive. I think introducing a second person is confusing to the goat because his concentration is now split between two people. Since he can't concentrate on both at once, he will probably default to listening to the person at his head, so he's learning nothing about taking commands from behind. It can be helpful to have a second person to walk in front during particularly scary situations, but that person should usually not try to lead the goat or give him commands. He's only there to provide emotional support and a physical barrier between the goat and whatever is frightening him. When Phil and I go driving, one of us always walks behind and stays quiet. I think you'll be fine training Koby by yourself.
Weather permitting, I hope to take Finn out by himself a few times over the next few weeks so we can concentrate just on each other. I think Finn's problem might be similar to Koby's--he's not completely confident in Phil. The reason I think this is because at the beginning of our last drive, a loose dog suddenly appeared on the golf course and came bounding toward us. Both goats stopped, but Finn was by far the more nervous of the two and not only didn't want to keep walking toward the dog, but actually tried to turn and go the other way. I went to Finn's head to reassure him while Phil stayed at Finn's reins. My friend Jordan was driving Sputnik at the time, and because she did not know him and was not confident about her own driving skills, she did not ask him to go on. But she didn't have to go to his head either. Sputnik stood without anyone at his head while I faced down the dog and told it to go home. Looking at Sputnik, I'm pretty sure if his driver had given a firm command to "walk on" he would have had the confidence to do so. A short while later we encountered a dead cat in the middle of the road and Sputnik walked past within two feet of it and only gave it a quick sideways glance as he went by. Finn, on the other hand, wouldn't go near the cat and once Sputnik and I got too far ahead to provide him with a "security blanket," he tried to turn and run back to the truck. Phil had to lead him past the cat and I had to go back for them so Finn would keep going. Finn did great as long as he was behind Sputnik, or if he was headed back to the familiar territory of the truck. This tells me that Finn's confidence level is not where it should be, and that he's more in tune with what's around him than with Phil. I probably need to work with Phil on driving technique as well, because it's also quite possible we're dealing with a matter of conflicting or ill-timed aids. Nothing discourages an animal faster than confusion about what is being asked of him.
Now is definitely not the time to introduce Koby to a bit. A bit should heighten and lighten established communication, not enforce behavior that hasn't already been learned. For this reason I plan to drive Finn in a halter when we do our solo lessons. A halter is fine for single driving and it's much better for leading if you have to go to his head.
I don't agree with the driving manuals that say you should have someone at the goat's head to help teach him to drive. I think introducing a second person is confusing to the goat because his concentration is now split between two people. Since he can't concentrate on both at once, he will probably default to listening to the person at his head, so he's learning nothing about taking commands from behind. It can be helpful to have a second person to walk in front during particularly scary situations, but that person should usually not try to lead the goat or give him commands. He's only there to provide emotional support and a physical barrier between the goat and whatever is frightening him. When Phil and I go driving, one of us always walks behind and stays quiet. I think you'll be fine training Koby by yourself.