Books on Goat Training?

[SusanHawthorne]

We are getting two Nigerian goats when they are weaned. These will primarily be pets for our 8-year-old daughter and secondarily diary goats. Daughter and I have been busy reading all the goat books at the library. She is very interested in training the goats. Is there a book(s) that would be helpful? I could have sworn early on I saw a book on training livestock. But now when I search for it, all I find is on training livestock dogs. Or maybe a dog training book that would be particularly helpful. I am particularly interested in books rather than something online because I want my daughter to look first to books for information.

 

[StarSpangledNubians]

Don't know if you found one or not but here is one that seems good. I dont own it so can't tell you for sure. It does seem as though it has training method (not sure for what) and also a lot of other helpful topics. https://www.amazon.com/Nigerian-Kee...ocphy=9029557&hvtargid=pla-494303243257&psc=1
I have taught goats shake just by using a normal method you use for dogs. I'm sure most dog training book should at least point you in the right direction as far as what techniques to use. I will say, though it is very unlikely they would do tricks without treats(most dog books say don't use treats) Goats are super smart, learn quicker than any dog I've known. Training them is so much fun too. Just make sure they are friendly and settled in their new home first! Then pick a treat they like. Cheerios are great, as are some other cereals. Just make sure to check ingredients, and if they are a sugary cereal just don't give them too much. Maybe 15 pieces each max, for something like lucky charms, fruitloops etc. Another really great option is to get a bag of pretzels. My goat love them! I sometimes give 15 in one day to an adult goat. You can break them in half as well. I don't recommend that many though, I would say 5-8 is a safer number. Once they start wanting treats is when you can start training.

 

[rosti]

If you get a book on the principles of clicker training, it would be a good start. Training with markers/clickers is used across almost all species of animals with great success.

 

[B&B Happy goats]

I have two of my goats that will do what i want them to by pointing...i will point to tires ..she jumps up then onto ramp, and table and i can change directions and she will follow the directions. As far as training, mine come when i ring the bell on the back porch...when we let them outside of their gated area into OUR fenced area, they just hang out and eat leafs...they haven't even gone to the front of our property...BUT I spend at least a hour per day outside with them playing and loving up on them...my worst behaved is a bottle baby that I got at three days old. And my best behaved is a rescue that was left in a field to fend for herself and the other two that were with her...and she was two years old when she got here., she is the most loving goat ever.

 

[SusanHawthorne]

Thank you all for replying. I had been on the fence on the book just on Nigerians, and I decided to get it. I'm reading the 'ReadItNow" version that came with buying the book on Amazon. We'll look into cheerios and clicker training. Isn't the baby goat in my photo just the cutest thing?

 

[StarSpangledNubians]

Absolutely adorable! Make sure to post lots of pictures when you bring them home! I re-read my previous post it made it seem like I was saying only 15 pieces of cheerios. You can give quite a few cheerios to goats. It's pretty much just oats. Not saying you should be giving a whole box but you can probably give a snack Ziploc bag full each per day. I used half a box in one day teaching my buck to "spin" I've never had any ill effects from it. If they don't like cheerios you can always use alfalfa pellets or just their normal grain that works great as well.

 

[SusanHawthorne]

That is good to know. Our dog is a little on the plump side, and daughter is one that feeds her. Our dog's ideal weight is around 95 pounds. We got her from the shelter at around 72 pounds. Now she is about 110 pounds. So, I could totally see DD overfeeding the goats with treats.

 

[GypsyG]

I don't know of any books, but I thought perhaps you might find this website interesting!

http://www.workinggoats.com/?id=73