The friendly/desensitizing game

Hopefully your goat will let you touch it and comes running to you in the field.... If not then you need to play the catching game. If your goat comes to you but is not comfortable with you touching it, or when you are introducing a new piece of equipment, you need to play the 'friendly' game.

The idea behind the friendly game is that by going to your goat's threshold and then backing off, you can gradually build up their confidence. You take a great big fear and chop it up into littler pieces which are much easier to tackle. For instance. Say your goat is ear/head shy. You probably will not accomplish much if you just keep going directly for their head again and again. You may even make the fear worse. Start at the shoulder. Most goats are comfortable with being touched there. (If you are trying to catch a goat approach it at an angle towards the shoulder but that is another topic.) Just hang out and scratch it. Gradually move up the neck towards the sensitive area. As soon as you think the goat is un-confident, or even unsure, back off. Go back down the neck a few inches.... wait, and then go back up. Maybe a little further this time. Be sure to keep your "personal energy" neutral while you do this. Eventually, one would hope, the goat will decide that maybe you aren't actually going to rip its head off and will be comfortable being touched on the head

Here are some things to try to test your friendly game/goat's confidence:

1. Touch the goat all over with your hands (if they are comfortable with it). Make a note of any sticky spots to work on again later.
2. Toss a rope gently over them six times.
3. Put on your halter in a polite fashion.
4. Stand by the shoulder and "helicopter" the rope over your's and your goats head. Don't wack anyone!
5. Flap a raincoat
6. Open an umbrella
7. Get the goat to go across a tarp spread out on the ground

Of course you don't need to/shouldn't try all of these immediately. I'd try the first three before you start doing other games (unless you have an aggressive goat in which case respect comes first) and then come back to the others as you and your goat progress.

Have fun! Happy goating
M.