NAPgA - General Information

Training your goat is easily done with short lessons. There are as many ways to train a goat as there are owners of goats. Some methods will work for you and some won't. Adjust your training methods to fit you and your goats personality. Not all goats respond to the same training so be flexible and open to new ideas.

Step One. You Need To Stay Here
You need a collar that is sturdy or a goat halter to train your goat to tie. If using a collar, make sure that it isn't too loose. You don't want your goat slipping the collar off while it's learning to tie. If you are using a goat halter make sure that the crown strap (the strap that goes over the head behind the ears) doesn't slip down the neck so far that the bridge of the nose is getting too much pressure when the goat is standing quietly.

Your Goat should learn to tie quietly. Start by tying up your goat for short periods of time while you stay close by and watch to make sure they don't injure themselves. Goats tie better if the slack in the rope is not longer then 18 inches and it's tied at about the height of the goats back. You need to stay close by so you can rescue the goat if it gets caught in the rope. They can get their legs caught over the rope, they can twist the rope around their necks and they can even fall if they fight being tied.. If this happens, calmly untangle them and retie them. After a few tying sessions they should accept this quietly.

For goats that really have a hard time learning to tie I just use a double-ended heavy snap and snap this to the goats collar and the other end to the post or fence. This doesn't allow them much movement and it only takes a couple of times clipped up this way to learn to stand. I then tie them with a longer lead so they can practice standing without getting caught up in the longer rope.

Step two: Follow Me Please
Once your goat can tie you need to teach them to follow you. There are different ways to teach your goat to follow. You may need to try several different ways to see what works best for your goat.

The easiest way to see if your goat will follow you is by turning your back to your goat and give a tug on the lead as you say something simple like "come along" or "lets go". Use the same phrase each time so your goat can start to build it's working "vocabulary". If the goat follows you as you walk off praise the goat, and do it again.

Gently give and take on the lead rope to encourage the goat to follow you. When the goat moves forward release the pressure and praise your goat. Keep repeating this until your goat gets the idea that you want him to follow you. If your goats feet get stuck, and they can't seem to move, then lead the goat off in a 90 degree turn. This unbalances them and they will take a few steps to regain their balance. Praise them for moving.

Have a pocket full of treats that the goat likes and help them forward by showing them the treat as you ask them to "come along" and when they walk forward give them the treat. Walk off again a bit further, ask them to "come along", show the treat and when they get to you give it to them. Keep increasing the distance they must go before you offer the treat. They will soon be following you close behind looking for the next handout.

If you have a shy goat that just doesn't have the courage to follow you, have another goat that is led by someone else in front of your goat so he can follow behind that goat and as you still hang onto your goats lead. This works good for older goats that can't seem to learn to lead. Once they get the idea of leading you can have the "lead" goat follow your goat. This gives your goat more confidence in himself and the job you are asking him to do.

If the goat is being really stubborn, reach back and lift up the tail with one hand as you give and take on the collar to encourage forward movement. Usually just one tug on the tail and your goat will be scooting forward fast. This is good to use when teaching to load up into the truck also.

There are some goats that will just lie down when you start leading lessons. If this happens get the goat back up on his feet and try again. I have seen a goat throw it's self down on the ground in a fit because it was asked to lead and it didn't want to. If your goat keeps throwing a tantrum or lying down and nothing seems to work for you to get him to lead, you need to get yourself another goat. If you can't get the basic training taught to your goat it will never be a good trail companion.

Once you get your goat to "come along" they may start to rush past you. This is another way to avoid leading. If this happens, then say "get back!" stop your feet, turn around and when the goat hit's the end of rope, stand for a second then ask your goat to lead again in the new direction. Goats that learn to rush need to be corrected right away. This is a bad habit that can cause you problems on the trail, not to mention it's irritating to have to pull your goat back all the time.

Goats can learn to lead in a couple of days or some take longer. Remember, every goat is different and has a different personality. Take your time with lead training and it will pay off later.

Step three: Stand
This command is another one that is best learned before you venture out on the trail. The "stand" or "wait" command comes in handy at home and you will use this command on the trail often. Start by leading your goat around, and as you stop say "stand" or "wait". If your goat doesn't stop easily, then lift up on the collar firmly to stop him. If you just tug on the rope the goat will just walk in circles. Pull Up. Repeat this command until your goat will stop once you say the verbal command and before you pull up on the collar. Goats do seem to like to forget this command so practice it often. This command is used while saddling up, unsaddling, when you need to stop along the trail or when you need to access the panniers on your goat. It's not fun trying to get something out of your panniers and your goat just walks away. If your goat ever gets tangled up in something, this command might save your goat and your gear some damage.

If your goat is large enough for a regular size pack saddle then by all means put one on. If your goat is still a bit small for a full sized pack saddle you can buy a small "soft pack" that is fine for light loads and training. Most full sized packs weigh between 4-7 pounds including the pad.

Let your goat see the saddle pad, they may even "taste" it. Put the pad on your goats back and gently set the saddle on. You will need to tighten the cinch strap (the strap that goes under the goats body, a couple of inches behind the front legs,) before you fasten up your breast collar (the strap that goes in front of the goats chest) and the rump strap (the strap that goes around his rump). Why you tighten the cinch first is so that if your goat tries to walk away or something happens the saddle will stay in place. Make sure that you can still fit two fingers between the goat and the cinch strap.

Once you have the saddle on practice all your first lessons with your goat again. Lead the goat around and praise your goat to let them know that they are doing fine. It's a good idea to lead them and not just turn them loose at first. Some goats may try to get out from under their saddles at and you don't want them getting spooked and taking off scared. Be calm and patient with your goat, work slowly and keep letting them know how wonderful they are.

I once had a sensitive yearling goat that took off with a soft pack on when it heard the weeds scratching along the sides of the bags. The more the goat ran the more sound the weeds made. When the goat got tired and stopped it was very upset, and after that goat didn't trust the panniers anymore. After much work the goat was still untrusting so I ended up selling the poor goat to a lady that wasn't going to pack. If I had taken the time to get the goat trained to the sounds of the brush while on a lead I probably would still have that goat.

Let your goat carry his saddle when you go for walks. After a nice walk most goats seem to like their saddles and enjoy the extra attention. They even seem to get jealous if they don't have a saddle on and another goat does.

A caution on using soft packs. Never put too much weight in a soft pack because it puts too much pressure on the goats rib cage and spine. You are better off buying a quality soft pack that has cushioning on both sides of the goat's spine. These are more money but you can use them to carry more weight and they are better for your goat.

Step five: Adding Weight
The amount of weight your goat is going to be able to carry is going to be decided by the age, condition and what your goat weighs. Another deciding factor will be your goats conformation.

Most packers give their mature goats that are in condition 1⁄4 of the goats body weight. A really large, strong goat in excellent condition can carry up to 1/3 of it's weight if the terrain isn't too hard to negotiate.

Our young goats under a year old usually hike along without any pack on. If we need them to carry something we give them something light like coats or a blanket. We use a soft pack and never put more then 5 pounds in it. Young goats are still growing and putting too much weight on them may do damage to their growing bones not to mention make them dislike packing.

Once your goat fit's a full size pack, sometime during the yearling year they get to hike with their saddle on and we start adding small amounts of weight to the panniers until they reach about 10 - 15% of their body weight. Remember to stay on the light side of adding weight if your goat is not in top condition.

For goats in good condition the following table may be helpful. There is no set answer for people that are looking for a firm answer on how much weight their goat can carry. Just use good sense, pack on the light side, and pay attention to your goat so you both will enjoy packing together.

It's a good idea to keep track of your goat's weight. This way you will know if your goat is gaining or loosing weight. Most people see their goats every day and it's hard to see the small changes in weight until it's a large weight gain or loss. Try to weigh your goat every month and keep track of their weight by writing it down on something like your calendar or your goat record book if you have one.

Every day when you handle your goats, run your hands over the goat's ribs and take notice of any change. The goat's hair can hide the fact that your goat is getting too fat or too thin. The ribs should have some flesh over them but not so much that you have to press hard to feel the ribs. On the other hand you don't want to be able to easily feel each rib individually. By checking your goats weight frequently, you can adjust your feeding before you have a problem.

Loading your goat up
You and your goat should practice loading up into your vehicle several times before you plan on going anywhere. If using a stock or horse trailer it's easy to get your goat into these. They will be able to step right in. On the other hand if your using a pickup truck or a high trailer your goat needs to learn how to jump in on command.

Have the goat face the truck bed at all times that you are trying to get them in. You may have to place the front feet up on the tailgate to give them the idea to jump in. You may also have to hoist the rear end of the goat up into the truck a few times before they get the idea.

Have a little treat ready for them in the truck bed to encourage them and let them know that this is an OK place to be. Feeding the goats in the back of the truck is another way for them to get used to getting in and out. A note of caution on this... Goats will also go under trucks that are high off the ground and they like to taste the wiring so be careful and never leave your truck unattended with the goats about.

You can build a ramp for those goats that just aren't able to jump in. Some meat goat crosses just can't make the jump into a high pickup bed. You can also have a block for the goats to jump on first and then jump the rest of the way into the truck.

River and Stream Crossings
Teaching your goat to cross streams and rivers is easily done. Goats have a reputation of disliking water. If water training is done right the first time we have little problems later on with the goats and water. And, yes, goats can swim!

Your frame of mind is the most important factor when it comes to training goats to cross water. People have heard that goats have problems with water crossings and so they start to believe this also.

So here you are, standing at the edge of the river worried that the goat will have a problem or refuse to cross the river. Since goats are sensitive to people's body language and they can pick up your tension right away about the water they too will start to worry about it. So you are really training your goat to distrust water from the start. This pattern of distrust is passed from one goat to the next and before you know it all your goats will not like to get their feet wet! If you had approached the river, and without hesitation walked right in, more then likely the goat will follow you in without too much trouble. If the stream or river is not too wide the goats will jump over or if there are rocks or boulders the goats will try to cross by jumping from boulder to boulder. This is ok.

We keep a lead on the first goat in line so when we get to the water we just keep on going. There are times when the lead goat needs a tug on the rope, but we never stop walking. The other goats follow along this way. Sometimes we get a goat further back in the line that doesn't cross right away. We will just keep on walking away and the goat will finally cross because it doesn't want to be left behind.

We have never had a goat flat out refuse to cross water by using this method. Now since we have written this, we probably will come across a stubborn young goat that won't cross the rivers. By starting out the right way with the first goat, all other young goats joining our pack string don't have a problem with water because they have not been trained to be leery of it. Retraining a goat can be hard so start them out right.

If you have to stop to scout out a safe place to cross the river be positive about it. Once you locate a good crossing area take a hold of your lead goat and the next goat in line and start out across without making a fuss. Let the other goats know you're leaving by giving your command of "Come Along". Hopefully all the other goats come across, and if not, keep walking away so they will want cross to be part of the group again. If you do have a goat that is known to have problems with water this goat should be led across with your lead goat.

If your goat has been already been started and is leery of water then work with him and be patient. You may need many stream crossings before he will accept it and just follow you right in. Use your basic commands from lead training so your goat has something familiar to hear as you work with him on gaining his trust of water. Never give up with them, you may get a laugh out of it later on and have a great story to tell about your aqua-phobic goat that now insists on cooling off in the river on hot days with his saddle and panniers still on.

Walking sticks, my personal preference, can be used to keep goats behind you on the trail. Just swing the stick back and forth and when the goat tries to get ahead of you he gets a rap with the stick as we say, "get back". If the goat is trying to pass you on a narrow ledge use your stick to poke backwards at the goat. Goats will usually try to pass you on the inside or the higher side of the hill, so you get pushed to the edge or the downside where it can be very dangerous. Never poke or rap the goat hard. You can cause injury to your goat.

Give the goat a squirt of water if they try to get into the panniers. Once the goat learns how to get into your panniers they will forever be on the lookout for the panniers to be unattended so they can sneak something out.

Picket Training
If you taught your goat to tie correctly, picket training shouldn't be too hard for your goat to learn. To picket train your goat you will need a rope at least 1⁄2 inch thick and at least 15 feet long. While practicing picket training you need to keep a careful watch on your goat since they can get tangled up in the rope and some goats can get the rope wrapped around their legs so tight that their circulation can get impaired (Or even break their leg). Be cautious and watchful while your goat is picketed.

The most popular way to secure your goat is to use a overhead line picket or what some call a highline. Your rope is strung between a couple of trees at about 5-6 feet off the ground. The goats leads are attached to the strung rope with a distance great enough that the goats can't get tangled up in each others lead ropes or debark the trees on the ends. Using this method you can easily tie a tarp onto your highline and stake the other end down to the ground to create a temporary sun or rain shelter for the goats.

A ground line can be used if there are no trees nearby. You need to stake your rope out and pull the line tight. Tie the goats leads to the staked rope the same as if they were on a highline rope. This works good if you can find stakes long enough and strong enough to secure the ground line. If you know that you are going to be using this method then you should look into the spiral stakes used to secure dog chains.

Another way to picket your goat is to drive a stake into the ground and secure your rope to this. Attach the other end of your rope to the goat collar. This gives your goat a bit of room to walk and browse for food. You will need to move your goat often to prevent him from overgrazing his circle. If you have more then one or two goats this method takes quite a bit of space and goats are more prone to getting tangled up in the rope using this method.

You should practice all the types of picketing at home before you expect to need to use it. Some goats are going to learn quickly and some may take more time. Some goats will prefer one method over another. It's better to find out now how your goat will react to each type of restraint before you hit the trails.

Stringing Goats in a Line
There are going to be times when you want your goat to stay close together as a group, or where by law you must keep livestock under restraint in some areas. Stringing your goats together may be your only option so this is an important thing to teach your goat. If you are starting out with all young goats this can be a bit tricky.

The best way to teach your goats how to stay in line when strung up together is to figure out which goat prefers to be in what place. Take your goats out for a long hike and once they settle down and fall in line note which goat is in what place.

Take the first goat, your lead goat, and the goat that was second in line out for a walk. The first goat will be led by you with the second goat behind wearing a goat halter that will be attached to the lead goats collar. Practice all your commands that you taught both goats in the basic training section. Using a halter to teach the second goat makes it easier for your lead goat to control the second goat if he decides to be stubborn. If your second goat keeps trying to pass your lead goat use your water bottle to help teach him to stay back in his place. Once your goat has learned his place in line and will follow willingly the lead goat, you can attach the second goats lead to the back of the goats saddle in front of him. Now you need to teach the third goat to follow your second goat. Use the same method that you used for goat number two. Keep adding goats till all of them are in line.

When Not to String:
Do not string your goats together on rough terrain or if you know you will be crossing water where the goats will have to jump. It's safer for the goats to be able to pick their own way over and thru obstacles without being pulled off balance by another goat jumping over, on or into something. One goat getting pulled off balance can wreck havoc in the whole line of goats. For safety you can use a small thin leather strap tied around the back of the pack saddles and have the lead ropes attached to this, so if a goat gets really tangled up, the thin strap will break and save the rest of the goats getting tangled or injured. Only use the thin leather strap on fully trained goats. You don't want your goats in training learning that if they pull back hard they can get out of line once the strap breaks.

General Information - Training Your Goat