# How to make a goat trust you?



## airotciv (Mar 6, 2005)

Rocky is the most loving/trusting goat in the world and then there is Lilly, she is a very shy goat. I have been working with her for 2 years and I still can't get a halter/collar on her. Vet said "Sit down at the barn and bring potato chips, (friut doesn't work)". Well, potato chips/crackers aren't working. How do I get this goat to trust me?


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## andabigmac (Jan 10, 2011)

Have you bred her before? Try being there when the babies are born and take them away immediately. Let her lick the birth fluid off of you. Then milk her. You will become her baby. This might not be feasible for you though. Then again she may become a nightmare that you can't catch to milk either. If I buy a goat that isn't friendly this usually works but I usually pull babies anyways.

Some goats just aren't friendly. I've had Skwiss for 3 years. I've never done anything meaner than trim her feet, given her shots, and fixed boo-boo's. You would think I beat her. After three years I can scratch her cheeks if she feels like it. The only reason I got this far with her though is I pulled her babies one year. That's just Skwiss, though. If she comes up for love, she gets it heaped on her. If not, I give her her space. I have tons of goats that will fall all over themselves to get loves from me. I just accept her for who she is. It's hard not to take it personally though.

Keep petting your other goat and maybe she'll learn to tolerate you.


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## Copperhead (Sep 12, 2011)

I think this is reverse psychology of sorts . . . but if we have a shy or hard to catch goat (or calf or horse . . .) we leave a leash on them at all times. They aren't tied to anything, the loose end just drags on the ground: its usually only about 5 or 6 ft long, but all we have to do is walk up quietly and step on the leash. After the first couple of times, they realize that they are caught and quit trying to escape. 

You'd think they'd learn to run away from you and keep a larger flight zone, but the opposite is true. First they learn there is no escape, then they learn to be comfortable with you in their presence. 

For larger cows (that could take me, leash and all for a "sleigh ride"), we lasso/halter/leash them, and tie them to a stout post for an hour so they learn they can't beat the rope. Once they calm down, we get out the horse brushes and spend 20 minutes or so brushing them, combing the mud out of their coat, and talking gently to them. We start at the SHOULDERS to keep away from the back legs so we don't get kicked, but it doesn't take long until they start to like it and gentle down. Once they are calm, we brush them over their entire body. Some like belly rubs more than others! Repeat daily or as often as able, leaving the leash on them so they're easy to catch and don't learn to run away. This is how we "domesticated" a pair of 600 lb heifers. Even today, I can walk up to them in the field and touch them. Because they are so calm, and because they are now my herd queens, the entire herd will let me walk within 5 or 10 feet of them to give them a close lookover.

Yep, we tried graining the heifers to encourage them to gain our trust, but we got LOTS more mileage out of a simple horse brush. Try it!


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## Heritagefarm (Feb 21, 2010)

Andabigmacs suggestion works the best IMO (except that for me, the birth fluid is always on the towel). We had one goat who was shy, not psycho or anything, just shy. She gave birth here and was still shy, but would let me pet her and work with her. Had another one who was psycho. No matter how much I worked with her, she was still psycho and always ran from me. Had for for three years in a herd full of perfectly nice, friendly goats but it never changed her attitude. Then some days she would just walk up to me and let me pet her and everything, as if to say, "Hey, look, I can be normal. I just like giving you a hard time!"


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## Alice In TX/MO (May 10, 2002)

We have a line of goats from Princess O'Chocolate (got her from Emily), and we were warned that she had an attitude from the beginning. Yes. Her daughters have an attitude, too. Very aloof. It's better with the granddaughters, but with her and her daughters, you just KNEW she was going to be standoffish every day.

Princess









Snowbelle


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