Post by mewz on May 1, 2016 21:56:27 GMT -5
I probably deserve a royal scolding for this, but it is so freaking funny I had to share!
I've been keeping Delilah and her now 5-week-old calf (Dicken) in a smallish (30' x 30') pen attached to the barn where I milk because I cannot catch her calf when they are out to pasture with the sheep and alpacas. He is wearing a halter and a short lead rope. He is a smart little bugger, and he has been harder and harder to catch. It doesn't help that I teach full time and don't have a great deal of time to spend with him during the week. When I get home to milk I bring Delilah in to the stanchion and then drag Dicken in (literally) and tie him up in front of her. I get a few minutes to cuddle him to try to convince him that humans are useful for scratches under the chin and fingers covered with molasses. He deals with it throughout the milking routine and then I go off on my merry way into the house to take care of the milk, equipment, dinner, etc. The next day, it's the same struggle: wash, rinse, repeat.
Today, Sunday, I was able to spend more time, but had a devil of a time catching him. When I did, it was the same tug-of-war and I grew tired of being The Bad Guy. So, I decided to let someone else be The Bad Guy. I clipped a full length lead rope to his halter and tied the other end to Delilah's halter! He and his mama played tug-of-war for awhile, but he was a lot less willing to be naughty with mama than with me. Of course, Delilah turned and looked at me as if to say "How could you???"
Once, he had calmed down a bit and I didn't have to tackle him, I worked on Lannie's technique in Halter Training. As it turns out chin/jaw rubs are irresistible! Pretty soon I was able to sit next to him as he was lying down and I just kept up the cuddles and rubs. At that time, I released both of them from the lead rope. When I came back later to milk, catching him was much easier. Once I tied him up in front of the stanchion he tugged for awhile, but when I was fiddling with the vacuum pump he came up to nudge me a little bit because I was paying attention to something else other than him.
Yippee! We are making progress!
I've been keeping Delilah and her now 5-week-old calf (Dicken) in a smallish (30' x 30') pen attached to the barn where I milk because I cannot catch her calf when they are out to pasture with the sheep and alpacas. He is wearing a halter and a short lead rope. He is a smart little bugger, and he has been harder and harder to catch. It doesn't help that I teach full time and don't have a great deal of time to spend with him during the week. When I get home to milk I bring Delilah in to the stanchion and then drag Dicken in (literally) and tie him up in front of her. I get a few minutes to cuddle him to try to convince him that humans are useful for scratches under the chin and fingers covered with molasses. He deals with it throughout the milking routine and then I go off on my merry way into the house to take care of the milk, equipment, dinner, etc. The next day, it's the same struggle: wash, rinse, repeat.
Today, Sunday, I was able to spend more time, but had a devil of a time catching him. When I did, it was the same tug-of-war and I grew tired of being The Bad Guy. So, I decided to let someone else be The Bad Guy. I clipped a full length lead rope to his halter and tied the other end to Delilah's halter! He and his mama played tug-of-war for awhile, but he was a lot less willing to be naughty with mama than with me. Of course, Delilah turned and looked at me as if to say "How could you???"
Once, he had calmed down a bit and I didn't have to tackle him, I worked on Lannie's technique in Halter Training. As it turns out chin/jaw rubs are irresistible! Pretty soon I was able to sit next to him as he was lying down and I just kept up the cuddles and rubs. At that time, I released both of them from the lead rope. When I came back later to milk, catching him was much easier. Once I tied him up in front of the stanchion he tugged for awhile, but when I was fiddling with the vacuum pump he came up to nudge me a little bit because I was paying attention to something else other than him.
Yippee! We are making progress!