# Discouraging bad habits



## jcooke1 (Apr 15, 2011)

I think one of my little girls is starting to develop a bad habit and I would appreciate any advice I can get on how to discourage her and break her habit. If I am sitting on a log and paying attention to one of the other goats she will come up and push against me with her head to get me to pay attention to her. I don't know maybe it is not a bad habit. She does not hurt me and does not ram at me or head butt me. She just bends her head down and slowly pushes against me until I pay attention to her. I just need to know if this is something that may develop into a very bad habit later on as she gets older, and if so how I can discourage it.


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## elevan (Apr 15, 2011)

I think I know what you mean...

I have a doe and a wether you will come up to me when I'm out sitting on the bench in the field and put their head against me and sort of gently rub against me.  They don't do it hard (I've seen them do this to the barn wall pretty aggressively so I know they are being gentle with me).

When they do this I will take their chin in my hands and say "I see you" and that seems to be enough.  It's not a bad experience for me or the goat.  My goat kids are a lot more aggressive in their want for attentions  

I'm sure if someone has a bad experience with this they'll chime in.  For me and my herd it's no big deal...these 2 goats do the same thing to the other goats and then they love on each other, so I'm pretty sure they just consider me a member of the herd and are showing their affection.


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## jcooke1 (Apr 16, 2011)

elevan said:
			
		

> I think I know what you mean...
> 
> I have a doe and a wether you will come up to me when I'm out sitting on the bench in the field and put their head against me and sort of gently rub against me.  They don't do it hard (I've seen them do this to the barn wall pretty aggressively so I know they are being gentle with me).
> 
> ...


Yeah she is not being aggressive she just puts her head down and pushes against me. I was just worried about it because she has horns and everyone says to make sure they are not encouraged to use them. If I continue to let her push against me am I encouraging her?


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## elevan (Apr 16, 2011)

Not correcting her is in a way a form of encouragement.  My 2 that do it don't have horns (disbudded prior to my getting them).

You may have to be proactive and acknowledge her before she rubs you.  If it's the same as my goats then they just want their necks rubbed or their chin scratched (pygmies are so lovable).

Each goat is different and you'll need to figure out what works for your goat.  But certainly try what I do...when she approaches and goes to rub (don't let her start) take your hand under her chin (very gently) and tell her that you see her and give her the affection she craves.  Or if you don't want to give the affection, tell her you see her and walk away.

You certainly do need to be more cautious and more proactive with the goats with horns since they can hurt you without meaning to.


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## jcooke1 (Apr 18, 2011)

We are trying to be very proactive with our goats.  We are in and out of their pin very often to feed them, pet them, and just hang out with them. We try to make it a habit to stay in the pin with them when we feed them. We watch them eat and than it is a funny reward to us when once their tummys are full they come over to us, as if to say thank you and get a good rub.   I want to start training them on leash because once they get full grown there will be no more carrying. Any suggestions?


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## elevan (Apr 18, 2011)

Ah, it is a sad day when they are too big to climb into your lap for cuddles     I have a little buckling who thinks he's a lap goat and my DH just adores him.  Sometimes I wish I didn't want him for a herdsire or I'd wether him to keep him sweet and sweet smelling   

Training goats requires consistency and constancy the same as most other animals.  Do it often and the same way.  I find that training with a "reward" works best...whether it's food or love, most animals respond to some type of reward at the end of training.

We've trained our animals to go to the barn for their dinner by stepping out of the house and yelling "winner winner chicken dinner" and they all head in from the field and into their stalls...the chickens even head for the main barn area for their scratch.

The chickens have learned to go back to the coop when we say "bedtime girls"  Their reward is filling their feeder.

After feeding we'll sit on a bench in the barn and say "who wants to visit?" and the goats rotate through and spend a little time with us.

Each of these things we do every day and their reward is consistent. At first things were frustrating cause we had to "filter" the animals to where we wanted them to go...but after a couple of weeks everyone got it.

They say it takes 21 days to form a habit...I believe this holds true for animals as well as humans


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## jcooke1 (Apr 18, 2011)

21 days huh? Well we have had the kids for 8 days so far...13 more days to go.  Eventually we plan on letting them out into our large field but we have to do a little fence patching first. By then they will know when dinner time is (as if that would ever escape their knowledge  ) so they will know when to make their way back to the pin.


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## TigerLilly (Apr 19, 2011)

When my goats started showing jealousy, I would ignore them/walk away. If that didn't work, the water gun did.


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## elevan (Apr 19, 2011)

TigerLilly said:
			
		

> When my goats started showing jealousy, I would ignore them/walk away. If that didn't work, the water gun did.


I've got a mini horse I'd like to use a water gun on!


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## jcooke1 (Apr 19, 2011)

Ok, the kids are starting to be noisy. I think it is because they see the neighbors outside and want attention. They quiet down once we go in the pin. The kids are not deprived of attention, in fact maybe they are being spoiled to much (if there is such a thing  ) Any suggestions on how to brake them of their crying, we don't want the kids being a nuisance while we are gone to work. Our thought to break them of this habit is to not give in and instead just let them cry until they give up, once they quiet down then go to the pin and give them attention. What do you think?


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## elevan (Apr 19, 2011)

jcooke1 said:
			
		

> Ok, the kids are starting to be noisy. I think it is because they see the neighbors outside and want attention. They quiet down once we go in the pin. The kids are not deprived of attention, in fact maybe they are being spoiled to much (if there is such a thing  ) Any suggestions on how to brake them of their crying, we don't want the kids being a nuisance while we are gone to work. Our thought to break them of this habit is to not give in and instead just let them cry until they give up, once they quiet down then go to the pin and give them attention. What do you think?


When I brought 3 of my goats home as a group they would run to the border fence and holler at the neighbors when they saw them out.  The neighbors ignored them and it lasted about a week before they quit.

My advice would be to do just that...ignore them when they cry for attention only.


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