Goats have become so popular as pets in recent decades, and it’s very easy to see why.
They’re just as full of love, affection, intelligence and cuteness as dogs and cats are, and they easily uplift a homestead with their energy.
Are goats easy to train?
Goats are really fast learners, and are learning all the time.
From the moment they’re born, they’re learning how to get rewards and avoid danger in the best ways possible.
They are able to train themselves to be aware of all kinds of danger, and all kinds of reward, and so this ability to take note of the environment around them translates very well to training.
You’ll need to establish trust and communication between you and your goats first, before any real training can take place.
It will make caring for your goats much easier, even if you don’t plan on formal training.
Distressing events like vet visits, brushing and hoof trimming will be much easier if the goats trust you fully.
For the best results, you should begin training your goat from a very young age.
You can certainly train an older goat, but it’s going to be more difficult.
Whether or not they’re easy to train will depend on what exactly you want them to do, but in general, it is not difficult to train goats if you approach it in the right way.
The thing to remember is associations. Goats, as I said, have great memory, so they will begin to build up associations in their minds.
Visual and sound memories can be connected to an event.
Simple things, such as telling a goat “No,” will begin to stick very quickly as they are better judges of our body language than you might imagine.
The best kind of basic training for almost anything you want them to do is positive reinforcement.
Have something available as a treat, and give them one when they do what you want them to do.
They will remember both their own satisfaction at getting a treat and your satisfaction, and it will quickly become natural to them.
If you want them to do a trick, this might take a bit longer, but it will work in the same way.
Can goats learn commands?
Most of the same principles apply to commands, except most of these will be quite a lot easier for them to learn, especially since they’ll be able to do so as a whole herd.
Goats that are well socialized are more likely to respond more quickly to commands, so, again, it’s important that you start from an early age where possible.
Goats have been used for such a variety of purposes over the years that it’s easy to imagine they must be able to learn commands.
Even simply moving a goat herd around for pasture requires the ability for them to respond to verbal commands.
Being herd animals, goats will respond very well to verbal and auditory commands.
The positive reinforcement isn’t even as necessary here, as your goats will get the satisfaction from being a part of the herd when it’s moving.
For teaching individual goats commands, like heel or back up, you may still need to employ some kind of positive reinforcement.
Ultimately, though, goats being herd animals puts you at a distinct advantage.
They are not only great at vocalizing and at listening, but are also extremely eager to please at all times.
Can you clicker train a goat?
Clicker training is a great option for almost any species.
Clicker training is another form of positive reinforcement and association in which, when you’re training an animal and it exhibits the desired behavior, you push on a clicker which makes a distinct noise which the animal will quickly come to associate with commands and instructions.
It’s a great option for goats as it will work with several at once, whereas you would need to give each of them a treat individually.
So, goats are brimming with intelligence and are always eager to please, provided they get the right reward.
Training your goat will be a breeze, whether you want to train it for basic commands or for full on tricks.
If you have all the right tools, soon your goat will be following you and doing as you say without hesitation or doing backflips off the top of a bucket (okay, maybe not that).
Either way, goats are great at learning tricks or just simply at learning basic commands.