Chat
02-06-2017, 10:15 AM
Yes, we taught "Snickers" several tricks. He was over a year old when we sold him, so we worked with him quite a bit. It's too bad he's become somewhat shy. He was very affectionate when he was with us. He was the baby that loved being held and would sleep on your lap for hours if you let him. The folks who bought him took excellent care of him, but they also had a lot of other animals so maybe Snickers didn't get quite as much individual attention.
We've found that goats work better off hand motions than voice. I believe we only worked on the clockwise spin with Snickers. I'd make a hand motion over his head like I was stirring a pot clockwise while saying "Spin". Usually to start I hold a treat in that hand so they kind of follow it around with their nose until they get it.
"Repent!" is when they go down on their knees. I put my hands together in a praying motion and bow a little bit like a Chinese man. This is a harder trick to learn and I don't remember how good he was at it. If we schooled him on it well then he should remember because it would have taken longer for him to learn. He may need to you to pull downward on his halter a little bit to remember.
He probably doesn't remember "lay down". He was the best of our three boys for a while, but the training was never completed. I got busy and stopped practicing it with him when the 2015 babies came so he was already really rusty by the time we sold him. I would say "lay down" while pushing on his withers until his front end sank. Then I would push on his bottom until he went down all the way.
Greediness about food is a very common "top goat" trait and one that gets a lot of wethers in trouble because they get too fat. I wouldn't worry about it, but also don't let him trick you into feeding him too much. You should be able to find his ribs down there somewhere. Your younger guys will probably get "greedier" as they age too. A good appetite is much easier to deal with than a poor one.
We've found that goats work better off hand motions than voice. I believe we only worked on the clockwise spin with Snickers. I'd make a hand motion over his head like I was stirring a pot clockwise while saying "Spin". Usually to start I hold a treat in that hand so they kind of follow it around with their nose until they get it.
"Repent!" is when they go down on their knees. I put my hands together in a praying motion and bow a little bit like a Chinese man. This is a harder trick to learn and I don't remember how good he was at it. If we schooled him on it well then he should remember because it would have taken longer for him to learn. He may need to you to pull downward on his halter a little bit to remember.
He probably doesn't remember "lay down". He was the best of our three boys for a while, but the training was never completed. I got busy and stopped practicing it with him when the 2015 babies came so he was already really rusty by the time we sold him. I would say "lay down" while pushing on his withers until his front end sank. Then I would push on his bottom until he went down all the way.
Greediness about food is a very common "top goat" trait and one that gets a lot of wethers in trouble because they get too fat. I wouldn't worry about it, but also don't let him trick you into feeding him too much. You should be able to find his ribs down there somewhere. Your younger guys will probably get "greedier" as they age too. A good appetite is much easier to deal with than a poor one.