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A follow-up to this thread, Phil and I started driving Finn and Sputnik as a team again in late February and early March. Finn was fractious the first couple of times, but he soon settled and he never took up sulking. He's happy to do tricks, comes running when called, and hovers around the back patio when I milk in hopes that someone will invite him in for attention. Finn has the cutest "begging" style. He rests his chin on the top bar of the gate, puts the tippety-tip of his tongue out, perks his hears straight forward, and stares intently at the back door. He's overwhelmingly adorable when he does this, and I'm sure he knows it.
Phil and I spent all last week in Florida, and when we came home Finn decided he had a little attitude. We took the goats walking yesterday and Finn was hovering around Phil a bit too close, so Phil told him to get back. Instead, Finn stood his ground and flagged his tail at Phil. Phil pushed him off without much effort, but this was Finn's first time challenging. Later on he did something similar with me. I sat down on a log and Finn's nose made it's way uninvited toward my cookie pouch. When I told him to get back, he moved his head away but didn't actually get out of my space. When I raised my voice and waved my hand he still didn't move back, so I got up and clapped my hands at him. He stood there looking at me like "Yeah right--you'll have to do better than that!". So I hollered, waved my arms, and stomped toward him. He ran off but circled the log and came back. When he came back I pelted him with a pine cone. That time he turned tail and trotted off. When I tell a goat to step out of my space, I want him to actually step back. When I tell him to go away, he needs to turn his tail and walk the other direction. And no goat, even if he's technically moving away, should ever do so with a flagging tail and a hairy eyeball.
Finn gave way pretty easily yesterday and I hope that was the end of it. It would be nice if we never had to flip him. Spring seems to be the time when the boys are most likely to challenge us. They're having growth spurts, they have too much energy from the green grass and the cooped-up winter, and they don't have cycling girls to keep them occupied. Cuzco is definitely losing his superiority in the herd and Finn is quickly taking over. He's starting to act like a leader, and that may include challenging Phil and I at some point. However, I'm hoping that if we can keep these little mini-aggressions in check, he won't try taking things up a notch.
Phil and I spent all last week in Florida, and when we came home Finn decided he had a little attitude. We took the goats walking yesterday and Finn was hovering around Phil a bit too close, so Phil told him to get back. Instead, Finn stood his ground and flagged his tail at Phil. Phil pushed him off without much effort, but this was Finn's first time challenging. Later on he did something similar with me. I sat down on a log and Finn's nose made it's way uninvited toward my cookie pouch. When I told him to get back, he moved his head away but didn't actually get out of my space. When I raised my voice and waved my hand he still didn't move back, so I got up and clapped my hands at him. He stood there looking at me like "Yeah right--you'll have to do better than that!". So I hollered, waved my arms, and stomped toward him. He ran off but circled the log and came back. When he came back I pelted him with a pine cone. That time he turned tail and trotted off. When I tell a goat to step out of my space, I want him to actually step back. When I tell him to go away, he needs to turn his tail and walk the other direction. And no goat, even if he's technically moving away, should ever do so with a flagging tail and a hairy eyeball.
Finn gave way pretty easily yesterday and I hope that was the end of it. It would be nice if we never had to flip him. Spring seems to be the time when the boys are most likely to challenge us. They're having growth spurts, they have too much energy from the green grass and the cooped-up winter, and they don't have cycling girls to keep them occupied. Cuzco is definitely losing his superiority in the herd and Finn is quickly taking over. He's starting to act like a leader, and that may include challenging Phil and I at some point. However, I'm hoping that if we can keep these little mini-aggressions in check, he won't try taking things up a notch.