Chat
09-02-2016, 10:36 PM
Another great drive today! Sputnik is really awesome at this and seems to be having a great time. We drove in halters this time because we're conducting a harness goat class at the State Fair tomorrow and we'll teach using halters since that's what most folks will probably end up driving in if they train their goats. Also I won't have to worry so much if we let newbies take the reins. The boys were very good, but we did have to step out to adjust a few times when the halters slid into uncomfortable positions or got too tight.
We drove separate carts again today and this time while Phil and Finn went on down the normal route ahead of us, I turned Sputnik off onto a side road. He was very well-behaved about leaving Finn and going down an unfamiliar street. There was some hesitation, but all it took was a couple of little smacks with the whip to remind him of his job and he went right on with only a couple of worried baa-aa's. He got several cookies before we turned around. The rest of the drive I kept the whip tucked under my arm and never used it. He's starting and stopping almost completely on voice commands now. As we neared the end of the drive, I held Sputnik back (he really walks out and tends to leave Finn in the dust), and we let Finn get far ahead of us while we practiced circles and weave patterns in the road. He wasn't particularly happy to have to do this extra work when we were so near the truck and Finn was already almost back, but he was compliant so we didn't do it for long. I feel confident that the boys are well prepared for the demonstration tomorrow.
We drove separate carts again today and this time while Phil and Finn went on down the normal route ahead of us, I turned Sputnik off onto a side road. He was very well-behaved about leaving Finn and going down an unfamiliar street. There was some hesitation, but all it took was a couple of little smacks with the whip to remind him of his job and he went right on with only a couple of worried baa-aa's. He got several cookies before we turned around. The rest of the drive I kept the whip tucked under my arm and never used it. He's starting and stopping almost completely on voice commands now. As we neared the end of the drive, I held Sputnik back (he really walks out and tends to leave Finn in the dust), and we let Finn get far ahead of us while we practiced circles and weave patterns in the road. He wasn't particularly happy to have to do this extra work when we were so near the truck and Finn was already almost back, but he was compliant so we didn't do it for long. I feel confident that the boys are well prepared for the demonstration tomorrow.