Congratulations, you own a donkey. If you only have one donkey, please consider getting your donkey another donkey to live with twenty-four-seven. Geldings with geldings and jennies with jennies always work best. Try to get the size fair as donkeys grab the neck in play and battle, and managing the weight is easier if the donkeys require the same amount of food. Looking for help with your donkeys, training, diet, tack, and shelter fences? Sign up in my store and select Donkey Trainer.
Understanding why your donkey is biting
Baby donkeys are energetic and constantly test their boundaries with their pasture buddies and humans. All donkeys bite one another in play, and in battle, they nip the legs, grab the neck, and use their mouth and teeth like humans use their hands. Just like we train a puppy to go potty outside, we must teach our donkeys basic social skills. Humans must learn how to become fair leaders every time they are physically with their donkeys.
I teach donkey owners and caretakers worldwide how to tame and train donkeys. Learn how to stop the bite, nip, and kick in my training program Donkey 101 video on demand sold with my E-book. The videos are quality-proven exercises with your donkeys, right and left sides. The E-book is where I teach humans how to tame and train their donkeys, most importantly become a consistent fair leader. Learning how to have excellent timing (three second rule), and learn how to be in the moment, I call this On Donkey Time ®.
How Do I Stop The Nipping and Biting
Donkeys are intelligent, and they train humans quickly to do only what the donkey wants to do. First, I never give a treat because a donkey is cute. I give a small bite of a carrot when the donkey does something I asked him or her to do, such as come to me when called. Giving treats to donkeys because they are cute creates a human treat dispenser. Soon, the donkey leads the human, and the donkey will do nothing the human wants.
Abused Donkeys
Never use pain, slapping, kicking, hitting, twitching, or tying up a leg to tame and train a donkey. Donkeys that have been abused by humans hold on to the pain. It’s called post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for life. Pain triggers can be a hat, cigarette, man, woman, gloves, or a sound. Rehabilitation of abused donkeys is sadly one of the reasons I began my training program, as so many donkeys are abused by frustrated and ignorant humans.
Redirect The Behavior, Give Endorphins
As soon as the donkey gives the correct answer to my question, such as walking up to me when called, I offer a small bite of a carrot on my open, flat hand. If the donkey comes at me trying to mug me for the carrot, I do not give the treat. I quickly massage the donkey’s mouth, careful not to get my fingers inside their mouth for at least two to three seconds. Next, I move my hands to the withers for a massage for a few seconds. No treat for a try, no treat for trying to bite me or mug me. I teach all of this in Donkey 101 Video On Demand. When the donkey returns wanting to push for a treat, I give another massage on the mouth and back on the withers. The more you rub the mouth, the better it is for your donkey. Donkeys are one of the most intelligent animals on the planet. Ensure your eyes are at eye level so your donkey can see you. Study the donkey’s eyes and learn what calm eyes look like compared to fearful or angry.
Ears On A Donkey Flat Back
Please remember that donkeys are not horses with long ears. Ears back can mean I am happy, thinking, or angry. Learn to study the eyes of your donkey, not the ears.
Socialization and Training are crucial for donkeys.
Training involves following the exercises outlined in the Donkey 101 & 102 video on demand with my E-book. Donkey 101 is foundation training for one hour. Take me, Melody Johnson, to the farm using any smart device connected to the internet. The great news about training donkeys is that no tune-up is needed, unlike the horse. Once you teach your donkeys to follow you as a fair leader, the donkey will follow you as a fair leader for life. I highly recommend one person do the training, after the donkeys are trained teach the rest of your family how to become a fair leader and be consistent. Consistency is critical when taming and training animals.
Thank you for investing in your donkeys,
Melody Johnson
Rate This