How To Train Your Baby Goats

Time to learn how to train your baby goats. Having a well-behaved goat is worth the time and energy to invest in. Think about the times you want to leave and need someone to take care of your goats. So the better behaved they are, the more apt your neighbor will be to take care of them for you. There’s also something to be said about goats with manners that aren’t a headache or constant risk around you, your family, or visitors.

Train Your Goats With Manners

Train your goats with manners. You will notice that some goats may be overly vocal. Do not pay any attention to it. When you respond to their constant cries for you it reinforces that behavior. As a result, if you yell back, they will learn that ‘yelling’ is how they communicate with you.

There are a few manners your goat should definitely have.

1. They should NEVER take (steal) hay from your hand while feeding.
2. They should never address you with their head. It is cute when they are young, but as they get older they learn that it’s okay to horn you. However, it is never okay for a goat to horn you. To train this, never touch the horns of a goat and only push them away by the neck. Goats communicate with their horns, if you touch them it opens the door for them to use them on you. This may sound extreme but you will find the balance. It is crucial to NEVER strike, hit, slap, punch, or otherwise physically inflict pain on a goat. Especially for packers, their relationship with humans must preserve a strong positive bond.

Training With a Squirt Bottle

Training with a squirt bottle, Goats HATE water! The squirt bottle is a fantastic training tool. Be sure to use voice commands with squirting them, so they begin associating them together. This tool is equally essential in the pasture and in the backcountry for pack goats. Set camp boundaries and keep goats from getting into food, tents, and packs. Training with a hissing sound gives you the ability to correct at any time. To learn how to train your goat with a squirt bottle without using any touch to the goat, which is important for them to trust us. Check out this quick video on youtube squirt bottle training. Get your Squirt Bottle here.

Flipping a Goat

When training your goats, flipping a goat is a useful thing to know how to do. Use it to correct aggressive goats or to prevent goats from becoming aggressive. A goat communicates with other goats with their head, but it is NEVER okay for a goat to communicate with people with their heads. If a young goat begins addressing you with their head or rears up to horn you, flipping them is your best line of correction. Flipping a goat shows that you are the dominant alpha over them; it is uncomfortable and very arresting for them to be on their back.

Do not let the goat up for at least 20 minutes. If you let the goat up too quickly, it will not get the point across and has a greater chance of you repeating the process several times. Holding a goat down for 20 minutes should be the end of it for a first time offender. The more times the goat is allowed to use its head with you, the harder it is to stop the behavior. If it’s not the goats’ first offense, leave them on their back even longer. After you’ve flipped your goat, be sure to re-establish your bond by loving on them; otherwise, they will distance themselves from you. Positive reinforcement in the form of loving them is crucial for maintaining a loving bond with your goat.

Watch this youtube video with Marc Warnke Flipping A Goat and why it is important.

Train Your Goat with the Help of a Course

When the time comes to train your baby goats or just need some manners refreshed with the older goats. At packgoats.com our mission is to become a leading resource on all things for owning your goats. In addition, help you feel confident about the information and be successful in caring for your goats.

Now is the best time to buy your baby goat. So, don’t risk it, purchase with packgoats.com and have the built-in support of that kid, in information on how to raise, train, and gear up your packer for his entire lifetime.

Get the How to raise a baby goat course or the Pack Goat 101 course and be successful in raising happy healthy goats. Not sure what your goat lover needs, we have gift certificates available.