Goat Diaries Blog by Alexandra Kurland
#9
Yeah, if the touch with nose doesn't develop on its own (and I suspect it might--the mouthing thing was already becoming less pronounced with both goats by the end of our first session), then we'll fix it later. For now I'm just thrilled that Sputnik was already standing on his hind legs to touch the target after one short lesson! This makes his "dance" trick much easier. He's gotten so huge that I can no longer offer my hand as a target like I did when he was younger. So for a while now he stands up but arches his nose downward toward my hand which puts him off-balance so he can't walk for as many steps. Finn does better with his dance trick, but I think that's because Phil is slightly taller than me and Finn is not nearly as big as Sputnik, so Finn isn't tempted to crouch while he walks on hind legs. This will also make it easier to teach the "dance" trick on a raised platform. Finn especially loves being up high when he does his tricks, but the hand motion for "dance" doesn't look the same when shown from a person standing below, so he hasn't figured out what Phil wants.

We always teach new stuff in short sessions. Phil's treat pouch is tiny so he can't hold more than about 20 peanuts anyway. Sometimes I have to give him more out of my bag when we're on a long walk or drive. Oh, and what is "slin-slicing"? I have no idea what that term means.
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RE: Goat Diaries Blog by Alexandra Kurland - by Nanno - 03-21-2018, 09:39 AM

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