Chat
03-12-2014, 09:37 PM
The thing about this type of playing is that it's not really playing. Play is one of the ways animals establish their pecking order. He's two years old, and I've read that it's quite common for goats his age to go through a "phase" where they start testing you.
I think it's great you used the bucket of water. I personally don't like the flip method much. I tried it on Cuzco a few times with varying results. He seems to love the physical altercation (in his mind it's better to fight and lose than not fight at all). Once he's down he's mad for about a minute before he practically goes to sleep. As soon as he's on his feet again he's ready for round two. I've had better success just giving him the "lay down!" command and then making him stay down for five minutes or so until he's calm and relaxed. He gets up in a much better, calmer frame of mind than when he's been flipped over and sat on.
For making Cuzco back down, I found that a water gun is not only much easier on me, but puts fighting out of the question. With water in play, Cuzco's urge to escalate the situation vanishes and he simply beats a hasty retreat. This worked very well right up to the time we got girls, at which point his attitude took a sudden dive and we resorted to using a shock collar during his bad spells. Hopefully Luke never needs something that drastic since you're catching it early. I wish we'd been able to train Cuzco sooner. Unfortunately, he was primarily a horse companion at that critical age and was fed and handled by several different people, some of whom allowed him to chase and intimidate them without correction.
I think it's great you used the bucket of water. I personally don't like the flip method much. I tried it on Cuzco a few times with varying results. He seems to love the physical altercation (in his mind it's better to fight and lose than not fight at all). Once he's down he's mad for about a minute before he practically goes to sleep. As soon as he's on his feet again he's ready for round two. I've had better success just giving him the "lay down!" command and then making him stay down for five minutes or so until he's calm and relaxed. He gets up in a much better, calmer frame of mind than when he's been flipped over and sat on.
For making Cuzco back down, I found that a water gun is not only much easier on me, but puts fighting out of the question. With water in play, Cuzco's urge to escalate the situation vanishes and he simply beats a hasty retreat. This worked very well right up to the time we got girls, at which point his attitude took a sudden dive and we resorted to using a shock collar during his bad spells. Hopefully Luke never needs something that drastic since you're catching it early. I wish we'd been able to train Cuzco sooner. Unfortunately, he was primarily a horse companion at that critical age and was fed and handled by several different people, some of whom allowed him to chase and intimidate them without correction.