Taming Goats and Sheep Part Two

Once your animal is prepared for training, you will be able to catch it without trauma, it will stay still and listen to you, and it will be absolutely convinced the click or substitute sound means, "here's a treat."

The next step, if the animal is untame, is to condition it to you. That should be relatively simple, just add one step to your click-treat routine. Touch the animal, simultaneously click, and offer the reward. Gradually expand this to a pet, and move around the animal's body (touch it's chin, then it's shoulder, then it's back, then it's head, then it's legs) until it associates contact only with more food. Move to a pet, set your hand solidly against them, and move it when they're taking the treat. Eventually, you should be able to pet them several times *before* you click.

Not every touch has to be rewarded, of course. But by offering a treat with it's first experience of contact, it should disregard it as an essential part in the pleasant routine of getting food. The more you pet and scratch the animal during the training sessions, the more confident it will become that you mean no harm.

Now, you can start teaching the "behaviors," that you hope to instill. Keep in mind two things. 1. Start with something they know, and 2. Move slowly (with baby steps, so-to-speak) to something they don't know. First decide on the behavior of your choice, then outline the steps you are going to take so that you can be consistent. Don't move on to the next step until the first is mastered.

Here are some examples of things you might want to teach a goat or sheep, and one method of teaching each behavior. There are countless ways to train by operant conditioning, so don't hesistate to modify these steps to fit your individual need.

Behavior One: Go to mark

Step One: Lead animal over mark, and reward when they stop on it.

Step Two: Stand on other side of mark (away from the animal), give command. Reward any movement toward the mark. If no movement is made, apply light pressure to the lead until they step forward.

Step Three: Stand on other side of mark, give command. Reward only when the animal comes close to or onto the mark. Continue until the animal will approach until they reach the mark every time.

Step Four: Stand in front of the mark, with the animal to the right of you and the mark, and give the command.

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