| Question |
Meredith,
I recently purchased an orphan jack miniature donkey that is 2 months old.
He is very attached to me, but constantly nips and bites when I am around
him.
He is turned out with my mare who baby sits him, and he does not bite her.
I have tried various methods of correction, i.e.; pinching with "no",
slapping chest with "no", and most recently, walking with a small
stick, that I gently, but with continued determination poke him with, when
he even attempts to bite. For an animal that is so cute, he sure is nasty.
Is this behavior going to continue, or will he outgrow it as he ages. I will
have him gelded at 6 months. I do not know if this is "baby behavior",
and my corrections are not understood due to his young age, or if he is always
going to be like this. Help. I purchased your foal tape today, looking for
guidance. He is being fed out of a bucket only, and I do not feed him any treats
by hand.
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| Answer |
Dear Krista,
Thank you for your e-mail. This is a common problem with young donkeys and can
be with any equine. He just does not know what the limits are on his behavior
because there is no predictable consequence to his actions. believe it or not,
you would have more success with him if you did use the treats as described
in Tape #1 of our video series. We give the treats for desired behaviors only
and withhold them when the animal is not cooperative. They can get aggressive
for the treats, but in Tape #2, we tell you how to correct bad behaviors such
as biting and kicking. After getting treats for desired behaviors, it is natural
for them to test the limits and begin to demand treats much as a child would.
When they bite, for instance, they are making a demand. What is important is
how you handle this. Be assertive!Not abusive. A biter should be slapped very
hard on the side of his mouth and told, "NO!" in a very loud voice.
Slap the side of the mouth, then put your hand up like a stop sign. They will
throw their head back in the air and act like they are being abused. As soon
as the head goes back, there is an instant that they are still, before they decide
to back up, or run off. It is at this time that you should immediately change
your demeanor from punitive to friendly and say, "Good, Boy! (or girl) and
give them a treat for backing off and standing still.When this is done properly,
they may try to "test" you again, but you should only have to put your
hand up in the "stop" position and say, "NO!" and they should
back off, stand and wait for the treat. Animals will work for the right "payoff." When
you learn to dispense treats diligently and not randomly. They will want to perform
that which yields a treat. They can learn limits because the treats give you
leverage to teach them the lmits. They are not "paid" for bad behaviors.Bad
behaviors are stopped immediately and reversed to a positive direction which
is immediately rewarded. If you do not correct and redirect, they can learn avoidance
behaviors and things get progressively worse over time. For more details, visit
our website and read the 2 articles posted about how to use our resistance-free
training video series and about Behavior Modification. It should help you to
understand these concepts.Hope this does help.
Best Wishes, Meredith
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