A Donkey Diary

Winter weather ...

2012-01-15T19:48:00.000-08:00

Well, after a mild and fairly dry winter so far, everything changed yesterday with a dump of hail that froze as it hit the ground. It was still here today and didn't melt as an arctic front moves in. We are promised more snow and cold this week.

The donkeys walked around happily today as there was some low sun to warm their bodies. They gravitate to wherever the brief beams shine and can easily be found, lined up and soaking up rays. I think that's the last of the sun though and the moon is waning, so we are in for some cold dark days and nights for the next while.

I go into winter mode when the temperature is in the minuses overnight. That means the following:

- deep, fluffy bedding in the breezeway

- extra shavings in stalls and a sprinkling on the walkways for traction

- water buckets always topped up to max and an extra bucket filled. When the water line to the barn freezes, I'll resort to the water in closed barrels that I stored in the fall.

- hoof picking every night to remove snow and ice

- extra snacks of either barley straw or low quality hay and plenty overnight in Nibble Nets, troughs and hay bags

- Deenah gets her blanket on during the day if the weather is both wet and windy

and clicker training lessons in the barn if they are snow-bound or kept in because of weather. I intend to start
blogging on ideas to teach in a stall!

The Importance of Mentorship

2012-01-06T13:53:00.000-08:00

I have been lucky to have had several important mentors in my life and I am grateful for the experience and guidance of those people. For what better way to learn something, than to be shown the ropes by someone who has passion and skill and wants to pass that on.

Now it's my turn to be a mentor! I have been working with my neighbour each week and teaching her about the donkeys: how to care for them and train them; about donkey personalities, their body language and how they interpret ours, how to provide a clean and safe environment for them and how to keep them and ourselves safe. Everything we do is infused with clicker training.

My neighbour just turned nine and sometimes she brings her eleven-year old sister. Both girls are very interested in animals - they love the chickens too - and we have a great 1 -2 hours each week together.
They ask some great and insightful questions and they listen while I do my best to provide answers.

Although I have no idea how this may or may not be important to them as they grow into adults, I'm hoping that my enthusiasm might translate into something like a "life's lesson." That they will take away and incorporate some of the skills and relationships they have nurtured here with my donkeys and some day infuse their own lives with these ideas. I do know that our work together is important to them now and for that, I feel very honored.

Yesterday, both girls came and we took Dorica out on the road. One girl led her down the road and the other led her home. Along the way, we practiced asking Dorica to stop, to back and to turn and then to walk on again. The big "lesson" for yesterday was how to lead with very soft hands. Every time we handle a lead rope attached to the donkey's halter, we are communicating something to the animal through the use of the rope. Grabbing, jerking and pulling are not acceptable.

When I first learned about soft hands, I was amazed to realize how much we "do" without thinking about the consequences. Just watch people with dogs on leashes ... soft hands? Hardly ever! Same with horses - we are rough and tough, mostly, I think either out of fear or from an urge to control. Clicker training fools around with your head though and replaces ideas about control and punishment with ideas about relationship and partnership.

My neighbors really seem to get this and it's so lovely to witness young people get a start in this way. Explaining things to them also helps me to articulate ideas and reasons for doing things a certain way.
I think things through and plan what we'll do next week.

I would dearly love to introduce more kids to the donkeys but in the meantime, I know that the three donkeys and I are truly benefiting from our time with the two young sisters across the road!

Spending time with animals can change your mood!

2011-12-15T08:38:00.000-08:00

The dark, wet and chilly days of winter can put a damper on anyone's mood and such was the case the other day. I was feeling tired and not interested in my work and sitting in front of the computer was giving me a headache.

Bundling up in coat, scarf, gloves and boots, I forced myself to go outside and visit the donkeys and then decided to head out for a walk along the road with Siog. She was keen to go, so after settling Deenah and Dorica in the barn paddock area with some hay, Siog and I headed down the driveway.

We were gone for about an hour and the experience was such a powerful mood and energy changer that I felt I had to write about it. I came back enlivened and uplifted. What had appeared gray and dull from inside the house looking out, became sparkling, crisp and fresh when outside.

Taken July, 2011 by Mitsue Nagase

Siog and I wandered down a dirt road, jogged a bit together, headed up a trail through moss and ferns and checked the mailbox before coming home. She was a terrific companion.

Dental work for Donkeys is so important!

2011-12-12T15:15:00.000-08:00

If you're like me, any thought of the dentist is enough to enable my best procrastination methods! However when it comes to my donkeys, it's important to stay on top of their needs in this department. Teeth, hooves and gut health are critical to avoid the very worst problems.

Deenah has healthy but extremely worn teeth. When I first met her and looked in her mouth I thought perhaps she was fed a diet of sticks for a long time! All donkeys will develop hooks and sharp points as their teeth wear and change. In both young and old donkeys, things can change relatively quickly as caps fall out or teeth loosen.

Deenah has been choking lately. She'd eat a leaf of salal, or even an apple core and something would go wrong. She'd become very quiet at first and I could tell that something was caught in her throat just by the way she was holding her mouth, as though she wanted to spit something out. Sometimes she'd become mildly agitated, walk around, put her ears back - but any food offered was refused.

Staying by her side, I'd wait for her to start salivating, trying to work the offending thing up and out. Copious amounts of saliva would ooze forth and then she'd cough. The saliva is a good thing but this could be dangerous, as she could aspirate. I'd try to wait it out, often with my finger poised about the vet's phone number.

If the vet was called, she would sedate the donkey, then insert a nasal-gastric tube and pour in a mixture of water and mineral oil to flush matter out. This is the same procedure used for colic and not very pleasant although it could save a life. Every time Deenah chokes, I wonder if I should call the vet out but my intuition so far has been to stay with her, time the episode and see if Dee can work it out herself.

So far she has but after four such episodes, a vet call seemed appropriate to try to discover the cause.
The vet came yesterday and immediately spotted the problem, thank goodness! Deenah's front incisors were not meeting properly, causing her lower jaw to protrude a bit sideways and her chewing action was compromised. I had noticed that she seemed to be moving food in her mouth to a place more comfortable for her the chew.

Deenah also has a wave mouth - upper and lower teeth sitting in a wave-like pattern. The vet has been trying to correct this gradually to give her more of an even chewing surface. After a whole hour of rasping and filing, the vet felt she had corrected the problem and the ordeal was over for Deenah who was so amazing through it all.

Two things I have found so helpful are:

1. a bowl of soaked hay cubes or soy hulls or soy/beet pulp mash is a lovely offering for a sore mouth

2. Paste Banamine (Flunixin) is an oral anti-inflammatory pain reliever. A small dose (in Deenah's case 1 cc.) immediately after the dental work works wonders in helping to prevent discomfort. Note* Current thinking is that equine owners should NOT inject liquid Banamine inter-muscularly as it could result in a dangerous abscess! Although not to be used for a prolonged period, I have kept Deenah on a small dose of paste Banamine today and will use it again tomorrow if necessary.

For further reading, click here:
Donkey Dental Info from the UK Donkey Sanctuary

Slow feeder hay nets for donkeys - findings.

2011-12-08T12:08:00.000-08:00

I've been using my new slow feeder hay nets for a couple of weeks now. I have 3 from Purely Ponies and 3 from N.A.G. Bags. All of these bags have 1" holes. (see previous posts)

I also have 3 Nibble Nets that I've been using for quite a while, one attached in each stall, each with 2" holes created with sturdy webbing, not netting, and a solid backing.

I've been very cautious about the hay nets as they have not been recommended (by the UK Donkey Sanctuary) and could be dangerous. Consequently I use only the Nibble Nets overnight and put the net bags away for daytime use.

In reading about how to use hay nets, it is recommended that they be full all the time but I have found this to be too much hay for donkeys. So here's my current feeding regime (always subject to change!)

7 AM - I feed loose hay in troughs in the barn. The 3 donkeys are separated into stalls so they can eat slowly and peacefully and each can receive whatever supplements I am offering in some soaked soy hulls.
I choose not to use the hay nets first thing in the morning.

While the donkeys are eating, I might stuff some feed bags with barley straw or else I come out mid-morning and offer them straw - either on the ground if the weather is dry or in hay bags (the kind with the big centre hole) I hang the bags fairly low in the breezeway - that way any wasted straw becomes part of their bedding.

Noonish - now I toss out a N.A.G bag with about 1/2 a flake of coarse hay for each donkey. I tie the ends tightly and work the cord back inside the bags and then throw them on the ground (in the sunshine if there is any!) like pillows. The donkeys spend a happy 1 - 2 hours pulling strands out, heads down.

I make sure they also have barley straw available in the afternoon.

Dusk (whatever time that occurs) - now I hang the 3 hay nets from Purely Ponies, each with about 1/2 flake of hay. If it's not raining, I hang the nets from a piece of sisal baling twine attached to a fence rail in the paddock. I hang the bags low so the donkeys eat with their heads down. If by any chance a donkey gets caught up somehow, the sisal twine will break, freeing the net from the fence. But so far, no one has created a hole in the mesh large enough to get a foot or head stuck, thank goodness!

9-10 PM - last feed of the day and now I use the Nibble Nets in the stalls for hay and the hay bags in the breezeway for overnight barley straw. I have been so concerned that the donkeys have something to last them all night but it seems the best I can do is make sure the straw is ample enough, even as bedding, that they will eat it if they really need something.

Herd dynamics

2011-12-08T11:31:00.000-08:00

I've had donkeys for 10 years now and during that time, we've offered a home to a variety of ages, sizes and genders. This has me thinking about how the donkeys have related to each other and what factors contribute to creating the right dynamics. Of course the donkeys themselves will ultimately determine how they get along, but I realize now that since I'm limited by the size of my land and barn space, I am creating an intentional herd so to speak, and if I'm going to look for a donkey to adopt, I might want to consider some options that I hadn't thought about when I first started.

Dorica & Siog at Play

First of all - age is important to think about. Donkeys, like other animals, are best socialized by their own kind. What I mean by this is that mother donkeys are the best teachers for their young. They teach their foals how to behave by body language signals using their ears, mouth, hooves etc. Although we humans need to teach them about appropriate donkey-human interaction, I think it's important that they get a lot of information from their mothers and other herd members. I had an orphaned foal who had been raised for his first year on a bottle. He thought nipping, rearing and kicking were just fine. He also thought he was a person.

My first two donkeys were young and on their own. The jenny was 2 years old and the gelding, just 13 months. Now I see that this was like having two toddlers alone in the house with no one older and wiser to guide them. I think they were a bit lost. The gelding spent a lot of his time hanging onto the the jenny's neck and she, although bewildered, didn't have the experience to discipline or instruct him. They both needed an older protector.

When donkey Annie tragically died, Dorica was completely bereft. I went searching for another donkey and found Deenah. Without realizing it at the time, bringing home an older mature "auntie" for Dorica was the very best thing I could have done! Deenah took Dorrie under her experienced wing (hoof?) and Dorica's confidence grew. Many people starting out with donkeys will choose two youngsters to bring home. I'm not saying this can't work out, but in my experience, an older animal can be of great benefit.

Gender is another factor. Male donkeys are really different than the jennys. A young male, whether gelded or not can have a lot of restless energy. He needs someone to rough house with who shares his enthusiasm and male temperament.

Ringo was 6 years old when he came here. He was also the biggest donkey and consequently he hassled the two jennys. When he wanted to play, Deenah, being old, ignored him. Dorica tried at first to play but being a mini, ended up getting hurt, so when big strong Ringo got playful, she'd go and hide in the barn!

When Ringo left, Deenah and Dorica were here together. Then Siog arrived. At three years old, she brought out the very best in Dorrie! Although Deenah and Dorrie are pals, Dee is just too old to romp around and so Dorica would stand quietly by her side. Enter Siog the youngster and watch the minis play together!

Now this is a great little herd of jennys. Dorica has her auntie Dee to offer security but also has little Siog to romp with and groom. Siog has her older mates but at least one who is young enough to play with her.
Deenah is the matriarch and watches over the others but is also closely bonded to Dorica.

My only consideration now is whether three donkeys creates the right dynamic. I would dearly love to add just one more! With four, the donkeys could pair up and I could take them out in pairs if need be. So if I were to add a fourth donkey, what would I look for?

Knowing what I know now, I would add either another mini or a small Standard female. And considering age, I would probably choose someone in between Siog, now 4 and Dorica, who is 13.
I want to ensure that the youngsters have playmates, but also that there is an older, experienced female.

Given that I want to walk, trek and pack them, I'd also look for a healthy donkey with good bones, good hooves and a gentle disposition. If I had more land, I'd adopt any donkey needing a good home!

Negative Reinforcement vs Positive Reinforcement

2011-11-18T11:54:00.000-08:00

I've been reading a lot lately about negative reinforcement - this is a confusing term because the word "negative" actually means the removal of the stimulus that is causing some sort of pressure or coercion ... usually pressure from the lead or bit or reins. Removing this pressure is actually a positive thing!

So "negative" doesn't mean punishment, it means subtracting or removing the stimulus that the animal would prefer not to have. Since I am doing ground work with my donkeys, I am thinking about this in terms of lead ropes attached to halters at the moment. If and when I start ground driving, this will then apply to a bit and reins or long lines and IF I ever get a larger animal that I can ride, this would then be applicable to my legs and seat on the donkey as well as my hands on the reins and how that affects the bit.

Back to lead ropes and halters. How is negative reinforcement applicable? I am asking the donkey to walk beside me and ideally, I want no pulling, either forward or to the right, no crowding into me and no stalling. But all of these are probably going to happen and how I use my hands on the lead to "correct"
or change the behaviour I don't want, is called negative reinforcement ... i.e. pressure and release of pressure.

Say the donkey starts pulling away from me to the right, maybe because there is green grass or another very good donkey reason! I slide my left hand gently down the lead rope to the snap and ask for a softening or yielding of the donkey's head towards me. I want to keep my hands soft, not tense, not jerky on the lead rope but the second the donkey complies, I want to release ALL the pressure on the rope. If I was working in a round pen or on the property, I could even let go of the lead rope completely.

This is negative reinforcement - I am releasing (subtracting) all pressure and this is how the donkey learns what I want. Because I am using clicker training, I would add this in too - as soon as the donkey yields, I would click as I release all pressure on the lead and offer a treat - positive reinforcement.

Negative reinforcement actually occurs before the wanted behaviour - I use pressure to instruct the donkey as to what I want. Then I take away the pressure when the donkey complies. Many people stop there but all the animal has learned is to yield from pressure ... not a bad thing but there can be so much more!

Positive reinforcement occurs after the behaviour - I capture the exact moment of the behaviour I want with a click - a signal which marks the moment of the behaviour and I follow this with a reward.

Positive reinforcement really speeds up learning - the food reward given correctly, reinforces the action that I captured or marked with the click, builds a great relationship between handler and animal and keeps the animal feeling supported and positive. Animals trained this way love the challenge and will offer behaviours they have learned to see if they can make you click them!

As long as we are working with leads, bits, reins, etc. we are working with both negative and positive reinforcement (but not punishment!)

More slow feeder hay nets!

2011-11-15T09:29:00.000-08:00

I'm really keen to be able to offer my donkeys more access to food but at the same time keep their weight down. Sound like an oxymoron? I'm trying to get my head around this concept and have been reading a lot about slow feeders (see my other posts.)

The idea is that animals eat slower, imitating grazing to a point and this slows down digestion.
Hay also helps to keep them warm (by fermentation in the gut) and forage buffers gastric acid in the stomach which can cause ulcers.

I still offer some loose hay, especially for Deenah and I always feed loose hay if I think they are especially hungry, i.e. first thing in the morning. I am watching to see if the hay nets are causing frustration and if/ when I see this, as they are still getting used to them, I offer some loose hay beside the net. The donkeys now seem to enjoy the puzzle.

Having a whole bunch of slow feeder hay nets placed here and there, might just be a great thing! When I feed hay, I always have more piles than donkeys (this minimizes squabbling) so having more than 3 hay bags seems like a good idea.

I can pre-fill them and they are ready to go and if I'm not going to be home, I can know that the donkeys have something to nibble!

These new ones are small and I am using them as little stuffed pillows lying on the ground. They are from N.A.G Bags - a BC company that makes many different sizes: www.slowfeeders.com

Midnight Escapades!

2011-11-03T20:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had to leave home by 7:15 AM so I was out very early and in the pitch dark to feed the donkeys their breakfast. Imagine my shock and horror when I discovered that the barn and the paddock were empty!

Deenah always greets me in the morning with a soft "whicker," Siog sometimes gives a full throttle bray but yesterday the silence was deafening! I turned on the outdoor lights and checked all the gates - they were closed. So where on earth could the donkeys be?

Grabbing my flashlight, I started to search. Black donkeys can literally disappear in the dark but luckily Deenah's colouring stands out and my beam caught an eye, then a donkey and there they all were, standing quietly OUTSIDE the gate in the grass!

I opened the paddock gate and they all walked in, glad to be in familiar territory. But I was very worried! How long had they been out, how much grass had they eaten, how the heck did they get out ... questions flooded my mind.

They all looked a bit glum but I offered some hay and they nibbled, although not with their usual gusto.
At least they weren't too stuffed to swallow. The minis ate some soaked soy hulls with a bit of probiotics mixed in but Deenah turned her nose up at that. I didn't dare give any supplements as my brain told me to keep it simple and help any ill effects of too much grass through with plain old hay and straw.

But, needing to be on that early morning ferry, I left a big note for my partner and drove away, my stomach in knots.

Further investigation showed that a gate had been left unlatched and although it was closed, the donkeys must have pushed it open, only to have it blow shut behind them in the wind. We also discovered piles of manure, giving us clues to where they had gone and also proving it seems that they had been out for quite awhile!

There was a smorgasborg of edibles, both good and bad for them on that dark chilly night. Thank goodness they faired well (smart donkeys that they are!) and stayed close to home .... gosh they could have gone anywhere!

I was so relieved that nobody colicked ... or ate anything poisonous (ragwort or Fall mushrooms!) ... or got tangled up in fencing, hoses, lumber or tools ... or stepped on a nail in our burn pile ... or left the property!!

Lead training with Siog

2011-10-31T21:20:00.000-07:00

Today was absolutely gorgeous, cool and sunny. Siog and I headed up the road and she walked willingly but her new "thing" is to pull her head away to the right. If you don't have a donkey's head in your control, you are not IN control! While this may be no big deal while walking with a mini, it's a VERY big deal with a larger animal!

So I have been asking Siog for a lateral flextion in her neck by sliding my left hand up the lead, gently towards the snap and asking her to soften and when she does I click and treat. This has been going on for awhile now though on our walks and she still pulls away. I don't want to create an unwanted training "loop" - this means that I might be inadvertently training Siog to pull her neck away from me while walking, then soften towards me and then get rewarded. She might interpret this as "first I pull away, then I soften, then I get a treat!"

So today I tried something new and it worked! I chose a tire tread line on the road and walked on it, keeping my own steps in a straight line. I held Siog's lead rope, giving her some length and keeping my two hands together at my stomach. I did not ask her to soften but just kept walking in a straight line.

Siog would pull away to the right and the lead rope would become taught but I just kept on going. Then she got the idea to release the pressure on her lead by softening towards me and - eureka! ... she got clicked and treated!

I had to make sure I stayed vigilant and rewarded her every single time she released the pressure on her own and came towards me - I tried not to look at her and kept a steady pace, even while rewarding her.
No big deal that you're doing the right thing, eh?

It was so interesting! An animal will learn faster if they put 2 + 2 together rather than you doing it for them and this was a great example. It took very little time for Siog to realize that if she released the pressure on her lead by moving towards me, she would get rewarded! I didn't have to do a thing except be kind, keep going and reward her when she earned it!

Slow Feeder hay nets

2011-10-31T20:56:00.000-07:00

Here is Siog with her new slow feeder hay net from Purely Ponies: www.purelyponies.com

It has 1 inch holes and I have hung it from a piece of sisal baling twine from the fence, trying to keep it low so her head is not raised while she is eating. I have just introduced these hay nets - the idea is that the donkeys eat more slowly, consume less hay and fill their tummies thereby reducing stress, ulcers and boredom!

During this "introduction" period, I also offer free choice hay so the donkeys don't get frustrated as they learn to eat from the hay bags. The bags can be moved anywhere - I have not left them overnight yet as I want to be absolutely SURE that they can't get tangled. So far so good!

Deenah

Dorica too!

Clicker training-a wonderful approach!

2011-10-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

I continue to be impressed by the effectiveness of positive reinforcement training - aka clicker training.

This approach really relies on a communicative relationship between animal and trainer (human) and since it's a "two-way" process, learning takes place quickly and easily.

What I mean by this is that the trainer has to be tuned in to each individual animal - for example, who is this, what does he/she need to learn? What would I like this animal to learn to do? What is this animal capable of doing?

But the animal is also engaged in the "game" of learning and trying to figure out the rules and the agenda. This is true as long as the trainer ensures that the animal is reinforced and supported for every "try," every nuance, every attempt at the right answer to the training puzzle.

If BOTH of us are listening to each other (in a deeply observant, non-verbal way) then human and animal seem to develop a compassionate understanding of one another, a willingness to learn and to please. If the animal is to learn without intimidation and retain new stuff , the trainer must be generous, rewarding every try, exercising the utmost patience. Then it's FUN!

Our sessions are full of laughter (me!) and amusement (donkeys!) I always end my training sessions in a good mood, never frustrated.

I've been seeing such amazing changes ... in trust, in willingness, in understanding. My donkeys are such good buddies!

Progress with Deenah!

2011-10-10T18:20:00.000-07:00

I have been trying so hard to figure out what will help Deenah feel less anxious if I take Dorrie for an outing. It's been a long and sometimes discouraging journey. But lately we have made great progress!

I have tried to establish a routine.
Everyday at approx. the same time (about 11:30 AM):

1. I go to the barn and get hay.
2. I put Deenah and Siog in the barn paddock with several piles of hay here and there.
3. I feed Dorica outside of the barn paddock but nearby where Dee can see her.
4. While Dorica is eating her (smaller pile of) hay, I get my treat bag and her halter and
wait for her up by the gate.
5. Deenah notices all this but keeps eating.
6. I ask Dorica to come up to the gate and click and treat her when she does.
7. Halter on and off we go, quietly, no muss, no fuss.

I have explained to Deenah that we will return and now she seems to get it. We're gone for about an hour and Deenah calls a few times but doesn't seem inclined to jump the fence.

When we get back, she is a bit anxious but not hyperventilating like she used to. Phew - I am thrilled that this is working! I make sure to reward both Dee and Siog when I get back and everyone is reunited.
This is a HUGE step and I will try hard to maintain some kind of routine so it becomes "normal."

My new little video!

2011-09-24T10:18:00.000-07:00

New Photos (by Mitsue Nagase)

2011-09-07T20:34:00.000-07:00

The donkeys have been taught to walk on either side on me and match my pace.

Here I have asked them to stop.

Deenah in the barn paddock paying attention.

We love to run together!

Dee's separation anxiety

2011-09-01T21:03:00.000-07:00

Here's my problem: Deenah goes crazy if I do anything with Dorica, like take her for a walk or even do a lesson with her on the other side of the fence. Deenah will try to jump fences that she can't clear, push through fencing, get her head stuck, cut or scrape herself ... get the picture? And she has hurt herself.

She has an ulcer too and I don't want to exacerbate that. She hyperventilates and really gets worked up.
So I have been very careful and reluctant to do too much with Dorica, thus avoiding upsetting Deenah.

But Dorrie needs exercise and stimulation and she's so keen to do stuff one on one with me. She seems sad to always be left behind if I walk either Deenah or Siog. And she's overweight and needs at least 30 minutes of exercise per day.

So tonight by some miracle, she separated herself from the other two and I was able to close Deenah and Siog in the barn paddock. I'm not at all confident that Dee won't "try" to jump the fence but I struck off with Dorica, leaving an anxious Deenah trotting and braying.

Dorrie and I had a blast, skittering down the dark, steep path through the forest to the marsh and up again. When we emerged, Deenah must have been in the barn (I always leave her with hay) and didn't see us, so we crept by and through the gate to the road.

Dorica is so well trained - she is soft, alert and attentive. She softens her neck in a lovely lateral flextion towards me. Off we went up the road in this fashion to the halfway crest of the hill. She offered a trot a few times (lovely girl!)

And then turn and back down, the two of us jogging together in tandem. It was so much fun and I long to do this with her every day - she is so wonderful! It was late in the evening, near dusk - Deenah was okay when we returned but oh my, it is so hard to do this! I have witnessed Deenah jumping gates, catching her leg and landing on her back, slicing her nose on fencing, ramming through stock fencing as well as our portable fence panels ... all very dangerous and worrisome.

What can I do so that Dorica is free to work with me, come for walks and have her time out and make sure that Deenah is safe and doesn't cause too much anxiety for Siog either?

The donkeys today

2011-09-01T17:29:00.000-07:00

Inis Eile Dorcha

My ol' Deenah

Inis Eile Siog

Great progress today on leading training with Siog

2011-08-31T16:39:00.000-07:00

Back to kindergarten for Siog and lead training ... baby steps and a high rate of reinforcement.
Today I took her on a long walk - about 2 hours - and carried my small click stick with me.
It really worked to have the target stick to focus her and she only stalled once, which is not bad.

She threatened to get stuck a few times on the way back which was uphill for the first half of the walk, but I found she responded well to the target stick. Much better to this than my outstretched hand.

But I know I should be working a bit every day in the paddock or a small space, however the days are filled to the brim with so many Fall tasks like stacking firewood, picking plums, apples, tomatoes, etc. A walk out with a donkey is a real treat!

Trailer loading session

2011-08-25T12:33:00.000-07:00

It's so important to teach trailer loading before you need it! In an emergency, you want to know your animals will load easily and a happy animal is a safer animal too.

So this morning, I decided to hook up the trailer and back it into the barn paddock. Dorica has been through this drill before, but the only time Siog was in a trailer was last November when she left her home on Pender Island.

Dorrie stepping in.

Dorrie's in!

When I brought Deenah home in 2006, it took me 2 hours to load her and since then, she has pretended not to notice a trailer - it isn't a word in her vocabulary! And I have to confess, I haven't used the trailer much, even though I have had the best of intentions.

Today both minis went in and out easily but Deenah wouldn't even consider it. So after some supportive rewards for the minis, I tied them to fence posts and set about teaching Deenah how to load.

This is where clicker training can work miracles! Deenah has been trained to follow a target stick. I haltered Dee and asked her to follow the target and we walked all around the truck and trailer, stopping and starting several times. When we arrived in front of the trailer's open doors, I stepped in and extended the target for Deenah to touch. I didn't ask her to step in yet.

With clicker training, it's important to work in baby steps and not rush things, so I unhooked the lead rope and clicked and rewarded Deenah for staying at the back of the trailer and being interested. Very gradually I held the target stick further inside and she'd crane her neck to touch it. That's just fine.

Eventually she stepped up with her two front feet - click and reward! But I wanted her to feel comfortable and not force her, so when I could see that she wasn't going to step in with her back feet, I snapped on the lead rope and walked her around again.

Back to the doors, step up, step back, click and reward for trying. But now I decided to increase the reward, so I got a big handful of her favorite hay and place it on the trailer floor at the farthest corner. After just a few tries, she stepped in and stood happily munching. Success without any force!

You can see the target stick in the foreground where I left it for the photo.

Hay!

2011-08-22T13:57:00.000-07:00

Hay truck in the ferry line-up - every strand of hay has to be covered!

And here's my pick up with a small load.

On the island and backed up to the hay loft.

Got this used hay elevator last year - what a huge help it is!

Up and into the hay loft - 89 bales in total.

2011-08-19T07:47:00.000-07:00

Couldn't resist posting photos of my new pullets! Blue Cochins & Light Brahmas, all with feathered feet! Separated from the others for a day or two.

Summer grazing

2011-08-09T07:20:00.000-07:00

Thoughts about habitat and health

2011-08-05T08:44:00.000-07:00

It is so hard to keep the minis slim! They seem to inflate even with very limited grazing. With my recent investigations into carbohydrates and sugars in hay (and straw) I really think these components are to blame for weight gain. Fiber with very little carbs is what they need ... but also "chew time!"

Equine are meant to be grazing for about 16 hours a day. Take that away from them and you are also having an effect on their emotional health. So, the trick is: how to keep equine slim and trim, emotionally healthy and stimulated?

I used to think having a lot more land would be the answer. While it's true that I do crave a few more acres, it would have to be comprised of the right kind of mixture of bush with not much grass. We have some forest on the property but it isn't fenced and has some pretty treacherous, steep footing. We also have several acres of marshland - beautiful habitat for birds and beavers but not donkeys!

I know many people with large acreages who can't let their horses or donkeys "out there" because it would be to much grass for them. Really the ideal climate for these animals is desert but I imagine that would be harsh in other ways. Probably solve any hoof issues associated with wet weather and eliminate laminitis though.

At the top of our road is a 17-acre parcel of land that was rudely clear cut about 10 years ago. I say rudely because the loggers took everything and didn't leave any seed trees to regenerate the land. So it's been slow to recover and consequently I think of it as prime donkey land! It's high and hilly with sparse vegetation. Native grasses, foxgloves, salal and wildflowers are slowing taking root. I sometimes walk a donkey up there as the view is superb and I muse about "where I'd put the house and barn" if it were mine!

But back to the problem facing horse and donkey owners: this question of management and how to create a healthy (emotional and physical) environment for our equine. I believe that nearly all health problems that our equine have, are created by us and our management practices. Not intentionally of course!
But Siog's diarrhea is undoubtedly due to something she's eating, not something she was born with. From metabolic issues to boredom - we owners are usually responsible.

If only I can find the right hay or straw that tests for low carbs, low sugar and low protein! Then they could eat free choice and weight gain wouldn't be such an issue. (I'm waiting for test results from some hay now!)

Here are a few ideas I have for stimulation, remembering that anything the donks and I do together is also good exercise for me and relationship building for us all!

1. Take a donkey for a walk! I try to take someone out nearly every day, even for a short walk up the road.

2. Set up an obstacle course. I have a cavaletti jump, cones and other stuff that I can set up for fun.

3. Both minis love to play with a huge exercise ball (Deenah isn't at all interested!) They'll chase it around and roll it with their noses if I get them going.

4. In the evenings, I like to wander around the paddocks with all the donkeys. If I break into a run, they usually do too and we play hide and seek in the trees and jump over logs together!

5. Instead of a big open field or paddock, think of setting up a pathway or track using temporary fencing and step-in posts (thanks for this idea, Sola!) I haven't done it yet but the idea is to create a trail for them to keep them moving. You can set up different things along the way, like a sand area for their feet or to roll in, sprinkle bits of hay along the trail, some obstacles, etc. I intend to try it along the inside edge of my meadow, so that one side is permanent fencing and the other is step-in posts.

6. Any clicker work is stimulating and engaging as the donkeys view it as fun and it appeals to their sense of curiosity.

More about Hay ...

2011-08-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

Click on this link for an excellent site all about growing and feeding hay!

Donkeys need coarse, fairly long stemmed hay, not fine, soft or short hay. But it's important to feed them a good quality hay too.

Local Island Hay 2011 - my analysis: many thin stems, which could mean higher fructan as grass stores sugar in the stem. Not as coarse and crunchy as I would like but not bad! A sample has been sent away by a friend for testing.

Some people have the misconception that donkeys can eat crappy old hay with no nutrition. While they are efficient in digesting the maximum nutrition from what they eat, they still need to be fed carefully and well. They need lots of fiber and while hay provides fiber, it also has too many calories so that's where the addition of barley straw can be useful, especially overnight to give them something to munch on.

I've found a source for barley straw and buy it in late August. I do have a couple of concerns about it though - it can have a fair amount of grain still in it and last year's straw tested higher in sugars that I want. This is the non-structural carbohydrate (NSC) component of both hay and straw and for donkeys that number should be no greater than 10%.

Last year's hay tested at 16.5 to 18.8% NSC and the straw came in at a walloping 13.9 - 15.8%! This year I think I might be better off to find an over-ripe coarse hay with the seeds gone than offer straw but I'm still debating.

A few days ago I went to visit a number of farms offering hay for sale. I brought back sample bales from 5 places and set about opening them up in my hay loft to see what I could learn.

Here's what I'm looking for:

1. coarse, crunchy hay, not soft
2. stemmy but coarse, lignified stems, not thin stems as they are the part of the grass that retains fructan
3. green not too brown
4. little or no seeds remaining in the seed heads (too much protein)
5. probably first cut but mature
6. a mixture of grasses such as timothy, orchard, rye, canary reed grass, native grasses, etc.
7. if fertilized, then with manure as opposed to chemicals or a "light" amount of fertilizer low in nitrogen
8. dry bales with a low moisture count so they will store well

All of the above depends on so many factors - the weather being a big one, when the hay was cut (morning cut is lower in NSC than afternoon) and whether the grass was stressed while growing, as stress due to lack of nutrients or moisture can result in the hay having a higher amount of fructan.

Some the the things on my wish list are pretty easy to see - but it's impossible to know what the level of protein, vitamins and minerals and NSC are without a lab analysis. Donkeys only need a protein level of about 5%!

Vancouver Island Hay 2011 - see all the moss? Could mean the hay was grown in acidic soil, possibly stressed as I know it wasn't fertilized, so it could be higher in fructans! just a guess ...

After sifting through my 5 sample bales, I chose 1 and sent a sample of strands pulled from inside and outside, to the lab. If the results are what I'm looking for, then I'll buy 100 bales and will be able to recommend this as "good donkey hay" to others in the area. If the results are wrong for us, then it will be back to the drawing board and the search will have to continue.

In the meantime, I have been soaking hay for both Siog and Dorica for over a week now - so far ... perfect poop! So this may indeed have been Siog's problem.

This is hay from last year that I thought I'd consider instead of feeding straw this winter. When I opened the bale, I see that it is almost 100% canary reed grass - not a bad thing in a mix of grasses but I wouldn't want to feed it by itself. One thing you can test for: if you twist a handful of hay, it should shatter. If it makes a rope instead, this could happen in the donkey's belly and cause colic - not good! This bale will go into my garden as mulch!

Shopping for the right Hay!

2011-08-02T08:58:00.000-07:00

Nutrition is such an important key to good health but it's often not until something goes wrong that we think about it seriously. While we might think of offering donkeys a mineral or salt block, maybe some treats or supplements sometimes, we give them plenty of hay. And, hay is "hay" ... right?
Wrong!

Although I have been sending off samples of hay to be tested for protein levels every other year, I have now delved ever more deeply into the variations on hay in an attempt to find the perfect hay for donkeys.

The first year we had donkeys (2002) I followed the lead of a friend and bought hay from the same supplier that she did. She was feeding horses though and I soon learned that this beautiful horse hay was far too rich for my donkeys. What does "too rich" mean? Donkeys need protein levels in hay to be around 5% and this hay was 12%! Back then, I don't think many people were even thinking about sugars in hay ... more on that dreaded component later.

Back to hay - ever since Siog arrived, 9 months ago, she's had intermittent diarrhea and this has been of great concern to me.

I've carefully dewormed her, had an equine panel done to see if she has a bacterial infection (no, thank goodness!) had her teeth floated, given her probiotics and Ulcerex and Bio-sponge ... nothing has helped!
Next I was reluctantly considering acupuncture and Chinese herbs! Reluctantly because a) that's expensive treatment and b) I prefer to keep things as close to "natural" and uncomplicated as possible!

But as luck would have it, an equine nutritionist suggested that Siog is probably suffering from a fructan overload! Too much sugar in the hay and straw! Oh boy - a possible diagnosis and not that hard to fix!
So this is what has led me on the path to learn as much as I can about hay.

Out of the blog-o-sphere, comes a traveler!

2011-07-11T17:12:00.000-07:00

Just had a wonderful meeting with a stranger who loves donkeys! Mitsue has started her own blog called The Curious Donkey, but since it's new, she hasn't fallen into a blogging routine and forgot the address. When she Googled it, she also found this blog and got in touch.

It turned out she was able to make a trip to the island to visit us and it was a fortunate encounter for both of us, I think! She is an avid photographer and took over 500 pictures of the donkeys. We got out most of our gear - cones, balls and other stuff and had a delightful evening showing Mitsue what we could do.

All three donkeys were so engaged and seemed energized by her visit and eager to jump over logs, trot, stand on stumps and mats and chase the big exercise ball. It was a lot of fun, great company and I was so proud of all three donkeys! I hope to post some of Mitsue's photos later in the summer.

Thank you blog for bringing this traveler to us! A wonderful connection was made and our world was enlarged.

Siog enjoying the sunshine

2011-07-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

Siog still has a lot of winter hair to shed - a testimony to how chilly this Spring has been! Every day I groom all three donkeys using my "Fur-Buster" tool. Here is Siog resting after the morning hour + of grazing.
Click on the image for a larger shot.

Horse training demo

2011-06-24T17:14:00.000-07:00

Went to watch a horse training demo last night ... natural horsemanship style. A young trainer was showing how she works with a halflinger mare. She did a mounting block session as well as trailer loading.

What I really liked was that this trainer remained quiet and calm and had infinite patience. However my exposure to clicker training has made me especially sensitive to HOW pressure and release of pressure is used and I came away feeling a tad uncomfortable with what I saw.

In no way was the mare "hurt" by the training ... it was more about "poisoning" the tools for the horse. For example during the mounting block session, the trainer was trying to teach the mare to position her back and stand square next to the mounting block. When the horse moved too far forward or turned, she indicated that this was the wrong answer but she did that by using the Parelli carrot stick in an abrupt fashion, snapping it in front of the horse's face to show that direction was closed. This is a correction by using the crop in an aversive manner as opposed to blocking the horse's way through use of the crop as an extension of her arm.

Rewards came in the form of stroking, so when the horse responded correctly, she got lots of strokes by the trainer's hand. This particular horse didn't seem to mind that (treats would have made the process so much faster!) but it wouldn't have meant all that much to my donkeys, especially from a stranger.

Trailer loading is hard for this horse and took a long time. The trainer was very patient and when finally loaded, she allowed the horse to get back out, rather than close the doors ... nice. But this time, she used the carrot stick crop across the back of the horse's rump - again, not painful per se, but you could see the horse quiver, so definitely aversive. In my opinion it didn't speed up the process and I left before the horse loaded a second time, the first couple of times obviously not reassuring enough to repeat the process!

It was an interesting session and the trainer clearly has a calm, clear way with horses. But the relationship was "boss- subordinate" as opposed to "partner" and this seems common amoung equine people, the idea being that you have to let them know that you are the boss at all times, so don't try any funny stuff. Watching this horse's body language, her anxiety was always close to the surface, although she had moments of relaxation too. It's been proven that fear closes the pathway to learning - we can "obey" when we're fearful but behaviour doesn't necessarily change under duress. So clicker trainers try to avoid putting an animal under stress by rewarding the animal for even the smallest "try" towards the correct behaviour.

There were no obvious bonuses or jackpots at the end of any sessions - the horse did whatever was asked, finally and that was that. This particular horse HAS had the benefit of some clicker training, her owner loves the process, so it made me especially sad to see that rewards were withheld, as once an animal learns the "YES answer system" of positive reinforcement, it seems almost cruel to change to a form of training where now the same animal is NOT being rewarded for doing the right thing. She must have wondered why.

I am not an experienced trainer, but having now attended 3 clinics with Alexandra Kurland, several with Monty Quinn and Sola Wolff plus Clicker Expo, I do understand the extraordinary benefits of the positive reinforcement rewards based system of training and while I recognize that many people choose other training methods, I can't really understand why!

Rainy Day reflections ...

2011-06-24T16:32:00.000-07:00

End of June and it's pouring - personally I love summer rain - it makes me less concerned about the garden and the water table. I just booted the three donkeys off of their afternoon grass patch before the downfall. They have taken cover under a grove of trees and I retreated to the house.

Dorica is starting to look like the Good Year Blimp - worrisome and something to watch - they get so little grass but it shows on her especially fast. She just turned 13 and her figure has become matronly. A thirty minute walk uphill everyday would help a lot but I still struggle with Deenah's extraordinary separation anxiety and tend to give in to her stress instead of pushing her to accept Dorrie's temporary absence. It's a problem as I'd love to do more off the property with Dorica.

As I type the sun is pushing through the rains clouds. Perhaps I'll manage a walk after all. The 3 donkeys have yet to completely shed their winter hair but it's coming out by the handful and they appreciate my "fur-buster" grooming tool and shedding blade. As this will be Siog's first summer here, it will be fun to see her looking sleek - they really do look amazingly different winter to summer, their coat even changes in colour and hue.

I have been seriously considering adding to the herd and taking on a 4th donkey. The dynamic of three means that someone is always on her own and it would be good to see them pair up. However I am taking it very slowly ... time, expense and responsibility are all considerations.

Dental drama

2011-06-11T14:43:00.000-07:00

As I sit here with my little orange tabby cat who is recovering from surgery, I'll take the time to write about Siog's experience with her first dental session. Siog will be four next month and has never had a vet look at her teeth. I became aware that she had a problem when she started quidding ... that is wadding up pieces of hay or straw and dropping them. A fecal float also revealed undigested food so I knew it was time to call the vet.

Donkeys don't have their full set of teeth until they are in their fifth year and they will loose caps or baby teeth
which cover the new permanent ones growing in. Siog had recently lost the first of 4 caps and 2 more uppers were loose and easily removed by the vet. But the caps had sharp protrusions that had cut the inside of Siog's cheek which is why it had become painful for her to chew.

She also had sharp points (not unusual) that had developed and needed to be filed down. The whole procedure took about 40 minutes under standing sedation but it left my little donkey a wreck! She had a very sore mouth from the work and also from the lacerations in her mouth that the caps had made.

Once the sedation wore off, she was truly not able to eat .... anything! And that can quickly become a very serious situation as donkeys are prone to colic, hyperlipeamia and ulcers from stress and lack of fiber moving through their gut. Heck of a diet plan for me too as I was so stressed out that I could barely manage a mouthful of anything myself.

Luckily I have a supply of things on hand to tempt a donkey and lucky too that she was felt like eating but was just sore. So offerings of soaked beet pulp/ soy mash, soaked timothy hay cubes and soaked timothy pellets that I use for clicker training, laced with bits of apple, ground flax and herbs to soothe ulcers were placed in front of her several times a day and she began to readily accept them.

After the first day or two, she was able to grab short bits of grass, nothing long or fibrous but it has taken a week for her to fully recover. I had her on paste Banamine for 6 days, hoping each day would be the last but gauging her response to offerings of hay and straw before withdrawing this anti-inflammatory pain killer.
She started with a dose of 2 cc and I was able to gradually reduce that to 1/2 cc.

In my experience, donkeys become very quiet when not feeling well, so I was anxiously waiting for her loud raspy bray, which began tentatively but is now full blown again, thank goodness. Needless to say I am not looking forward to "regular" dental care, something every donkey needs since "chewing" is vital to health!

But our vet is wonderful - caring and compassionate so we will come up with a solution that is not so intrusive.

Clicker Training Clinic, May 2011

2011-05-31T09:55:00.000-07:00

Here I am saying hello to Blossom the white donkey and Flower the mule.

Alexandra Kurland is showing me how to use body language to invite them to follow my hand target down the fence line. We are working on either side of the fence because these rescued animals are still very wary of people and feel most comfortable knowing they can leave if they choose to. We don't want to rush things by making them feel confined or pushed as this will reinforce the poisoned behaviour they have been subjected to, which has made them fearful. Most probably they have been severely punished in the past. It will take a long time to regain their trust, although it looks as though they really want to be friends!

I am inviting Blossom to follow my outstretched hand and the direction that my feet are pointing to walk along the fence line. Because we don't know each other and to keep her feeling comfortable and not crowded, I am staying a few feet away. Notice how she is watching me and is very responsive!

Ears!

2011-05-23T13:13:00.000-07:00

Unhappy with her new fly mask! The ears are a good 4 inches too long but I couldn't resist a photo!

Clicker Training Clinic, May 6-9

2011-05-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

Back from an amazing clinic with Alexandra Kurland in Cochrane, Alberta. She comes to Canada once a year, so this is a great opportunity, although too far to take my donkeys. But this year, I attended as a participant instead of auditing and that means a "private" lesson a day, master class style (with the rest of the class watching.)

Alex has people working with people, before including the horses. That way you get to practice rope handling mechanics and body posture/ language on a person before messing up your horse. And your person/partner can tell you if you are rudely jerking the lead or if your body language is confusing. It's a great aproach.

Alex says: first practice with a chair (attach the end of the lead to a chair) then with a person and THEN with an animal!

What I particularly loved about this clinic was the emphasis on body language. With Blossom, the very shy rescue donkey, I was asking her to target my hand through a fence, then guiding her along the fence and having her turn her head into the fence to reposition for a walk down the other way. I practiced using my shoulders, then adding my arms and hands like a symphony conductor, with awareness of hips and feet too.

So both she and I were flowing, so to speak, along the fence line and her turns became deliberate as she anticipated what we were doing.

I also worked with Snowy, the clicker star pony and what a great experience to feel how a well trained animal should move. With rope reins used as a lead, I was sliding my hand softly down to the snap and asking for
lateral flextions. I realize I said (hand, singular) when actually both hands should be in play, moving in opposite directions and then releasing AS SOON AS the animal yields. I have a very bad habit of hanging onto the lead rope with my right hand!

Alex is the most thoughtful and articulate of instructors. Every action, method and approach can be backed up by a veritable treatise that has been mulled over well and planned. This made for very long days as we started discussions over breakfast at 8 AM and continued until well after dinner. I realize though, that a head full of theory is useless unless you can put it into practice. It's one thing to write pages of notes and "think" you get it but quite another to work beside a living breathing animal!

Meanwhile, it's a gorgeous spring day and the garden awaits - more thoughts later ...

Training for vet work

2011-04-28T15:36:00.000-07:00

Today was the day for West Nile Virus vaccinations> After some reading, I decided to go ahead with the vaccine (many equine owners worry about the pros and cons of giving this) because the virus is in the are and the disease is awful and nearly always fatal.

Of my three donkeys, Dorica is the one who is afraid of needles. Although she's pretty easy to handle, she'll try to scoot away and tense her neck so that it's hard to get the needle through the thick layer of muscle.
This means that she will usually have a nasty welt and a hot spot around the injection site.

So about a month ago, I began to work with her to desensitize her for the procedure. Here's what I did:
Step 1: begin by tapping the side of her neck, click & treat when she is standing still

Step 2: squeeze/ pinch her hck lightly, click & treat for stading still

Step 3: IF and only IF and when she is okay with this, apply more pressure, either by pinching a bit harder or graduate to the point of a ball point pen or blunt nail. Keep her on a high rate of reinforcement for standing still.

Step 4: I tried using the tip of a bamboo skewer to simulate a needle - never hurt or break the skin though!

Today all that preparation worked and she stood for the shot like the stoic angel that she is! I could have added one more thing though and that would have been to ask the vet to do a few pinches, clicking and treating before she gave the shot. Sometimes, everything you (the owner) does can fall apart when a new person tries (especially one who smells like a vet!)

I was very pleased it went so well and she has had no reaction, swelling or hot spots this time. Siog and Deenah had their shots without incident.

Conversations about clicker training

2011-04-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

This is a conversation via email that I have been having with a friend about clicker training. It started when she mentioned that she felt her horse would “turn himself inside out” if hand fed as in clicker training. This is such a common worry about clicker training .... the concern about hand feeding.

I have shared this concern too but have realized that for most animals, the potential to nip or bite is quickly addressed through teaching good manners first, respect for personal space and safety.

I responded to my friend’s concerns by sending her Alexandra Kurland’s article from her website (theclickercentre.com) called Mouthy Horses and Hand Feeding.

Here is her reply followed by further correspondence, which is interesting enough to post.

K: I wonder if clicker is the most "positive" of all training disciplines??

ME: I really think so. I'm sure not an authority on the subject but I have had a bit of Parelli experience and have heard a lot about what clicker trainers think of it as a method. Basically, in Parelli, there is "always the threat of Phase Four" - i.e. increasing levels of pressure if the horse isn't giving the response you want. So even if you don't have to go there, the horse knows there is a lingering threat. The reward is just the letting go of pressure.

But don't quote me - many people love Parelli or some version of it. Ringo had a complete melt down with it but I know it has been useful for others.

Clicker training does use pressure and release of pressure - legs, reins and lead ropes all come with pressure. But there is an experience called "the poisoned cue" and so many things can become "poisoned" - your hand, the lead, the halter, - almost everything can be used with an underlying, veiled threat attached.

The animals know this and although you can achieve "good" behaviour in an animal who has not been clicker trained, you don't get the same willing partnership, eagerness and downright joy from the animal. They can be obedient but shut down, or obedient but not engaged.

Clicker training is so effective basically because you are always keeping the animal feeling supported - even for trying - even for a muscle shift.

And because the animal doesn't know at first "what" to do and "when" to do it, they become engaged and curious and then "click" they get told YES!! you did it! So because of this, they learn fast - they look forward to learning.

Clicker training is used with many wild animals in captivity, from dolphins to gorillas and also with search and rescue dogs, seeing eye dogs and horses, sniffer dogs and for dressage as well.

But it's not simply to teach behaviours, it's also to teach body awareness (for the animal) and balance ... ultimately for a happy, healthy horse/ donkey and a dynamic partnership!

K: This is quite interesting for sure. I often think that a blend of things is what might work and even then it needs to be tailored for our own particular animal and their unique temperament. Just like parenting... and that we do the best we can at any give moment and only later when we look back do we really see it clearly. Mind boggling really and I guess we may as well accept that we will for sure make mistakes along the way! I would like to know more about this.

I think what may have given us a negative impression is back when we first started trying to educate ourselves on the various methods of horsemanship we watched a Utube video of horses crossing a stream. Every few seconds the horse would turn it's head and be given a treat on cue to the clicker. It seemed awkward to us then and maybe we prematurely judged the concept. I am not sure why we took exception to this really...just a notion that it looked "over done". But I wholeheartedly admit that we may have judged way to soon. So I am going to look again with an open mind because I do love the idea of putting relationship first.

ME: I've watched a lot of clicker training videos too and, like everything else, there are "good" trainers - and not so good trainers too!

The horse crossing the stream may have been terrified of doing so and needed to be on a high rate of reinforcement - but as the animal learns (and clicker training teaches confidence too) duration is built and the treats can get phased out. Think of it ... no rider wants to be stopping and treating their horses every couple of minutes! That would be tedious and counter-productive - but as clicker training is really a method tailored to each animals' "needs," -some animals need to be supported more for learning particular things that they are scared or unsure of. And what's so neat is that the animal tells us what he/she needs to learn.

For example, Deenah is so easy going with shots but Dorica is terrified. I don't need to teach Deenah how to stand still for a blood draw but I need to teach this to Dorica

Clicker trainers break down lessons into really small steps. It looks easy but actually it requires a lot of thought and planning. Because you are watching the animal all the time to assess how they are doing, you need to figure out different approaches - this is really fun and stimulating!

Ringo would resist any pressure on his halter. I could have whacked him until he moved forward, but instead I looked for something that would help him overcome his resistance because I know it was probably in response to previous handling. His halter could have become "poisoned" for him ... meaning it could bring up memories of punishment or harsh treatment. I want him to want to walk with me, not to do it out of fear of getting punished. So I began to ask him to just touch my closed fist on the cheek of his halter - no pressure - click, treat!

Then bit by bit, move my hand to his nose, then forward, then a teeny bit of forward pressure, releasing immediately when he relaxes.

Once he learned this and that stepping out was okay, I didn't have to work on it anymore. We (animals) remember things that are being encouraged and rewarded. Punishment may stop behaviour in the moment but it doesn't change behaviour - you never know when it will crop up again, usually through fear and lack of understanding.

Double trouble!

2011-04-08T17:43:00.000-07:00

Just came back from a lovely walk with Siog. She saw her first bonfire today and that had her puzzled.
Also encountered 3 bikes together, then 1 bike - she was very interested but didn't spook.

She is better (but not perfect) about not stalling out and if and when she does, I walk way out in front of her, holding the lead rope but without pressure. I walk from side to side, changing hands as I walk back and I do NOT look at her. This seems to encourage her to walk again! I don't click and treat her right away though as I don't want to inadvertently create a behaviour loop.

On the way back, Siog surprised me by suddenly rolling in the middle of the dirt road. Poor donkeys are all so itchy but I don't think I should have let her do that!

Back in the barn paddock I decided to work with both Dorica and Deenah at the same time. So I got out a mat and a curry comb and asked 1 donkey to stand on the mat while I groomed the other one. This worked great while Dorrie was on the mat as she has become very good at standing. I kept them on either side of me so I could click and treat both at the same time.

It was a bit tougher with Dee on the mat, although not bad really for the first time at this. Dorrie can get SO jealous of any other donkey in the proximity though so I put a halter on her as she really is respectful with a halter on. The lead was attached but not really in play.

I will try to do this every day and eventually add donkey #3!

working away ...

2011-04-06T21:37:00.000-07:00

9:30 p.m. - just came in from the barn - a gorgeous clear night, new moon but dark. It's still cool, Spring is here but a coastal tease ... long and lingering, cool and damp. I was away all day and missed playing with the donks so tonight we all sent time doing a bit of stall work before I filled their hay bags for the night.

Each donkey is eager to practice her new lessons - Deenah seems to love backing herself into a corner and then displacing her haunches. Dorica is practicing targeting the hanging jolly ball in her stall and standing still.

Siog is just eager for attention and treats. She is getting so much better at standing still while being touched in different places. But she seems ravenously hungry all the time. She has been having a struggle with internal parasites and I've dewormed her 3 times now. Hopefully the next float will show that she is "clean." Otherwise I'll have to keep treating her as the harm caused by parasites is more harmful than the chemical dewormer.

Everyone is itchy and starting to shed.

Yesterday Forrest was here to spend time and help with chores. We trotted Dorrie over the cavalletti jump
and Forrest enjoyed it as much as Dorica. We also took Siog through a short woodland trail that I want to clear. Had to do some bushwacking.

Daytime Nightime

2011-03-31T21:39:00.000-07:00

It's happened! There are now more hours of daylight than hours of darkness! It's light by 7 a.m. and not dark until after 8 p.m. ... yay!

A training weekend

2011-03-29T09:42:00.000-07:00

Sola was just here from Seattle - her second visit and an action packed weekend of training for all three donkeys. There's lots of notes to share here, but first a few photos:

Siog is learning to enjoy grooming - she has been very squirmy, hunching her back and moving around when being groomed.

Here, Sola is introducing the curry comb. If Siog moves, Sola moves with her but as soon as Siog stops, Sola will wait a second or two, then click and treat her for standing still. Waiting creates a break between the unwanted behaviour and reinforces the behaviour you are looking for. If you clicked as soon as she stopped, you might be creating a behaviour loop - "donkey always moves before stopping."

Adding a bit of space, helps to discourage the "unwanted" part and more clearly defines the part that IS wanted, i.e. standing still.

Once Siog was standing still, we added the curry comb and then decided to count backwards to increase the length of time she was standing still. We did this so that Siog would always hear the count "ONE" and know that a click and treat was to follow. So initially, we would start the count at "ONE" then click and treat if she was still. Then "two, ONE!" click and treat, "three, two, ONE" and so on. If Siog moved during those increments, we would reset the count and begin again.

She was a quick study and was soon standing like a statue!

And here is Deenah, watching over the fence as Dorica is busy working with Sola. Deenah gets very anxious when separated from Dorica but here she is doing so well, just watching with interest!

My apprentice

2011-03-16T22:08:00.000-07:00

I have a young apprentice - she lives across the street, she's eight, I think and she is wonderful! She comes once a week and we do donkeys stuff together - today was her fourth visit.

So far I have learned a lot from her, although I think it's supposed to be the other way around! I have learned that we have to mix some "fun" in with the chores and that I need to let her figure some things out and not always be suggesting "the way I do things!"

So today was the first day in a week or so when it wasn't pouring with rain. The donkeys finally had a day to roam and be outside and dry off. I could tell that Siog wanted to run, so when my young friend came, I suggested that we might encourage the donkeys to run around in the meadow. My friend told me that her favourite thing is "running!" Perfect! Off we went, both of us galloping around to encourage the donkeys.

Siog picked up the game immediately and off she went like a crazy youngster - tearing around after us, head held high, legs just flying. The other donkeys didn't join in but no matter.

Afterward, we haltered and tied them to fence posts for a decent grooming. My friend, her name is Forrest, loves Siog and offered to groom her, but unfortunately, Siog hates to be groomed! However, Forrest proceeded to work on her and when I turned around, she was giving Siog a hug around her neck. This, I learned, was because Siog was being fidgety, so Forrest just calmed her and reassured her with a hug.
I would never have thought to do that - but Siog and Forrest figured things out together and it worked beautifully. Let them be friends, let me watch the interaction and not always have to "teach!"

The perils of over-eager clicker students

2011-03-07T19:19:00.000-08:00

Once you've begun clicker training animals, you'll find that they are very keen indeed to continue the clicker game! They become keen students and this can present a hazardous situation. In my case, I have three donkeys loose together.

Several things can happen:
1. they might rush up to you, overjoyed to see if you want to train/play with them
2. they might crowd you
3. they might mug you or your pockets for treats
4. or they might pin their ears at one another, or kick or bite and you might be in the way

This is what happened to me today. Dorica got so mad at the other two for crowding her space that she whirled and kicked and yours truly was in the line of fire. I didn't get hurt, luckily but one can never take safety for granted.

Then Deenah rushed Dorrie and kicked her in the gut full on - I heard the smack. The fault was mine, I was in a bit of a hurry, it was late in the day and I thought I could get a bit of clicker work "in" without being organized. WRONG!

Don't do this ever. Remember that you are always training, any time you are with your animals - they don't understand that "now we're having a lesson, now we're not" - they are learning all the time. Before you do any training, be organized, use halters or separate animals and work one on one.

As soon as my donkeys hear even a quiet "click" sound that I might make, even if some are a ways away, up go the ears and they appear, anxious to play. I have to be ready for that and not take safety for granted.

Fresh snow!

2011-02-27T08:18:00.000-08:00

It's cold and bright. The donkeys are basking in the sun's rays - this is probably the last gasp of winter on the coast. Click on the image for a really gorgeous shot.

Wonderful Friends

2011-02-09T20:42:00.000-08:00

I have some truly wonderful friends who also love the donkeys. One of these people is my neighbour and friend Suzanne, who is a hugely compassionate animal lover. I don't think there's any species she doesn't adore.

Lucky for me, she loves the donkeys and has been a huge help over the years ... really, I don't know what I'd do without her!

Gorgeous Clicker Training work with a mule

2011-02-03T15:24:00.000-08:00

I have to post a link to this new video by trainer Sola Wolff. Here she is working with her mule Umber,
doing in-hand dressage work. It's really, really beautiful soft, fluid work with a strong partnership between human and animal. Watch this video for a lovely treat and inspiration!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82Nz702CvUM

I aspire to creating this kind of partnership with my animals and clicker training can be a way to get there.
I think Dorica has the potential to be a real clicker star! She has the softness to her movements, the attention span and the willingness.

Took some video footage when I was working with her the other day but unfortunately we walked out of the frame too many times to make it worth posting. I'll have to ask someone to hold the camera rather than set it up on a fence post!

Galloping donkeys!

2011-02-01T19:52:00.000-08:00

Late this afternoon, all three donkeys went on a tear ... even Deenah! Wonderful to watch them dart between the trees and into the open, snorting, heads held high, hooves just flying.

This is thanks to Siog the youngster - she has really brought a spark to Dorica and Deenah. I will often run myself as an invitation to them to join me and often they do! Today was one of those days. It was amazing.

Everyone Goes for a Walk!

2011-01-24T08:41:00.000-08:00

Lovely day - 2 friends plus me and all three donkeys go for a 2 hour hike through the trails. Here we are getting ready.

Notes about de-worming

2011-01-22T20:57:00.000-08:00

When Siog arrived about 2 months ago, I was unable to find out about her de-worming history ... in other words "when was she last de-wormed?" Simple question ... no answer! So ... what to do? If you think you have a donkey (or horse) who might have a high parasite load, and you dose them with something strong, you could have trouble on your hands! Because if a lot of intestinal parasites die off at the same time, the animal could colic ... plain and simple.

I always hold my breath whenever I administer a chemical dewormer. So I gave Siog a single dose of the "safest" dewormer (the one with the highest safety margin) Panacur. A month later I took a sample of her poop to the vet for a fecal "float." This is where they put the poop under a microscope and assess the number of parasitic eggs or larva present. In Siog's case, the assessment was that she had an infestation of roundworms and strongyles.

I was alarmed ... clearly I needed to act fast - an infestation is dangerous - the "worms" can cause significant and irreparable damage to the intestinal wall and if left untreated can shorten the donkey's life! Gosh - that's scary!

So the decision I made (later confirmed by my vet) was to dose all three donkeys with a 5 day treatment of Panacur granules at 2x body weight. To order this, I needed to have an accurate assessment of each animal's body weight. I measured heart girth, then height at the withers.

To do this properly, stand the donkey on a flat surface, hold a level at the withers and a stick vertically from the ground to the withers until the bubble in the level is centered. This is a 2-person job!
Here is the nomogram from the Donkey Sanctuary in Britain. It is easy to connect the heart girth measure to the height measure to estimate your donkey's weight.

http://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/files/donkeys/Nomogram.pdf

Once you know the donkey's weight, you can order Panacur crystals at 2x body weight per animal and enough for five days. This is one of the only ways to eliminate encysted strongyles, which burrow and create sacs in the intestinal wall, waiting to hatch when the time is right. These encysted strongyles do not show up in a fecal float, so it is important to treat for this once a year.

Also, this five day protocol is a safe and effective way to treat an infestation.

I have dosed all three donkeys now for the prescribed five days - nobody coliced so we're in good shape. Now I am giving probiotics to help increase the health of intestinal flora after the chemical deworming. I'll give 1/8th teaspoon for two weeks. Then I will take a sample of poop to the vet to see how things are!

How Clicker Training Builds Confidence

2011-01-11T14:17:00.000-08:00

Deenah and I walked to the mailbox today. "So what," you might ask? Actually this IS a big deal for Deenah! For the longest time she wouldn't leave home at all unless another donkey came too.
Once she learned to follow a target this changed and she was willing to walk out ... a bit.

I have found that there is a hurdle to jump when a donkey thinks that taking a few steps forward earns them a treat. This has come up with everybody at some point. The exercise called 300 Peck Pigeon is a big help at overcoming this ... more on this later.

Anyway back to Deenah - so off we go down the road but then the other thing that can turn her straight for home is hearing the minis call. Somebody brays and she thinks she needs to go home and see what's what. So you see, it's been a challenge to get ALL the way to the mailbox (about 1 km.)

Today though, she soldiered on despite braying minis and infrequent treats. We got to the mailbox and I absentmindedly pulled my jangly set of keys with the boondoggle lizard key chain attached out of my pocket. Poor old Dee nearly left her skin! It hadn't occurred to me that this would scare her!

Quickly into my Tai Chi wall position then into my lunge/ ricochet-her-back position (more on this later too!)
as she was turned and about to head down the road - she stopped and I gently asked her to approach the keys, let her smell them, clicked and rewarded her. Good!

Just a few more steps to the bank of mailboxes and .... ooooh! the clangy bangy sound of the padlock and rusty hinges was just too much! Back into my lunge position and she stopped. I released all pressure on her lead rope immediately and asked her to approach again. After a few tries she stood next to me (although wide-eyed) - we collected the mail and walked home.

Once back within the safety of the paddock, I spent about 10 minutes with Deenah and my set of keys.
I started by letting her smell and touch the keys - good - click and treat. Building it up very slowly, I shook the keys where she could still see them ... she stood still - yeah! Click and treat. Now move the keys to different places, shake, jangle. As long as she stood still, I stopped, clicked and treated her. If she showed any sign of fear, I backed up to something she had already done and was easy, like just smell the keys. Wish I had it on film.

Clicker training works in two ways: 1. The animal learns to trust you (so she develops confidence in her handler) AND 2. the animal learns self confidence (so she develops confidence in herself.)

The process builds a bond and establishes a good relationship based on trust. You are spending time with your animal and teaching her things that will broaden her world - you're probably not going to go out walking or riding with an animal who doesn't trust you or the world around it.

By breaking a lesson into small chunks (and this is tailored to each individual) and then rewarding every "try" for the right "answer," your animal learns that she won't get punished for being scared or resistant or not understanding what you want at first.

Every bit of work that is accomplished with kindness and then rewarded, helps the animal to feel positive and secure, about herself and about her handler. This in turn builds confidence.

Feeding Donkeys

2011-01-04T13:55:00.000-08:00

I'm going to write down everything that I understand about feeding donkeys, based on quite a bit of research and my own experience. I am always second guessing what to feed and how much but here's my honest understanding of the subject.

Donkeys need:
Coarse, low protein hay with low non-structural carbohydrates. If you have your hay tested, this number is referred to as NSC. Protein should be less than 9% but way lower protein (less than 5%) is okay too.

They need barley straw (oat straw is too rich and wheat straw is too long and hard to digest.) Barley straw should make up 75% of their diet in winter, according to the UK Donkey Sanctuary. Why? Because donkeys are trickle feeders like horses, and need to eat small amounts of forage frequently. If this forage is in the form of grass or hay, you are giving them too many calories and they will get too fat, which in turn has many associated health risks. Having said this, I don't feed 75% barley straw, probably closer to 40% as it's harder to come by than hay.

Also, the stomach of an equine produces hydrochloric acid which is buffered by digesting feed. If the stomach is empty, the acid can cause ulceration to the stomach lining, hence the need to eat often. But as I mentioned in a previous post, the intestine is complex, so you don't want to overwhelm the animal with a huge amount of feed to process all at once.

They need salt, either in the form of a mineral/ salt block or loose.
They need clean water (not freezing cold.) They won't drink out of murky grungy buckets!

DO NOT feed them:
Cereal grains (that's corn, oats, barley)
Sugar (that's molasses, glucose, dextrose, etc.)
Never give them a bite of your ham sandwich (animal protein can be fatal!)
Don't feed them Oreo cookies or bread or doughnuts (people do!)

If your donkey needs supplements (for example, Deenah gets Ulcerex, ground flax, vitamins and a selenium/ Vitamin E supplement every day) you can mix the powders into a soaked mash of something.
I have been using Fiber Max from Otter Co-op which is 40% beet pulp & 60% soy bean hulls. But the next bag I buy will be 100% soy bean hulls with NO beet pulp because beet pulp has molasses added. Totally unnecessary!

They love brush and I offer huckleberry, a few maple branches, raspberry canes, even hemlock branches that have lots of twiggy ends. They sometimes have access to salal and Oregon grape which they will eat when they choose, roots and other sticks and twigs. On my land, I have to watch out for Ragwort, foxglove, poison hemlock, cherry trees and leaves, red elderberry and mushrooms but there are many other plants that are toxic to donkeys. It's important to know your flora and be able to identify what is either poisonous or toxic.

You can also offer carrots, cut into "fingers" not disks and apples cut into wedges but remember there are sugar and carbs in both of those so go easy.

I use treats when I am clicker training, but I go for Timothy hay pellets or broken hay cubes, the occasional horse peppermint or apple flavoured treat.

When I administer dewormer, I will squish it from the tube into a scooped out piece of apple or sometimes, I'll make a sandwich of a thinly sliced piece of bread (just this once!) slathered with dewormer paste and folded over. I just find it easier than haltering, tying and jamming the tube into the donkey's mouth but that's just me. I've never had a donkey spit it out and they think they're getting a treat rather than meds.

But honestly, try to abstain from giving them grain or sweet feed or alfalfa unless you have a sick or thin animal. Keep it as natural as possible!

Give them air and room to move but also provide shelter from rain and wind and snow. I have made plenty of mistakes. Ringo's pre-laminitic condition last summer was caused by diet - I let him get too heavy and boy was I sorry.

To do it right, really really right, we all should:
- measure the height and heart girth to estimate body weight (see the UK Donkey Sanctuary's nomogram)
- feel our donkeys all over to body score them (not just a visual guess)
- have hay and straw analyzed by a lab annually (I use A and L Canada Labs)
- figure out how much hay each donkey needs based on their weight - between 1.2 - 1.7% of their body weight = total amount of feed per day, including any grazing!
- feed small amounts of hay and straw frequently, not a big pile twice a day) or feed from a slow feeder
- do several fecal floats a year for each donkey rather than simply shove dewormer down them

Phew! ... seems like a lot to figure out but to me, feeding donkeys (and horses) is a balance between art and science - hence the lonnnng post!

New Year's Day

2011-01-01T09:42:00.000-08:00

A cold crisp, morning - dry and crunchy underfoot and the day promises some sunshine.
Donkeys are furry and looking for some browsing. I will gather some hemlock branches (they love the twigs) and huckleberry for them later.

It's Deenah's turn for a walk (Siog was out yesterday and Dorica the day before.) These are fine days for walking, the air clear, the ground dry and the island roads quiet.

A friend lost one of her horses yesterday. She found the horse cast against the shelter wall, and with help, got her on her feet. The vet was called and made the trip over to the island twice that day. My friend spent most of the night in the barn, administering pain killers and warm water to the horse but the next morning, her condition was worse. The vet felt the situation was dire and euthanized the horse. What went wrong?

Impossible to say but these things are both sad and frightening. Our lives are fragile and things can change just like that. The news of this tragedy had me observing all the donkeys with heightened awareness. Colic can be a problem in the winter as they are eating a lot of very dry matter.

I noticed that they are drinking less with the cold temperatures, even though I have two heated buckets, so I put out some kelp meal, offered "free choice" to add some saltiness (as well as trace minerals) to their diet.
This may encourage them to drink more. Donkeys don't dehydrate quickly - even in the hot sun. They retain water in much the same way as camels do. But I want to keep all that dry hay and straw moving through their systems.

Have you ever seem a diagram of a donkey's intestines? It's absolutely amazing that even a kernel can make it through! Same with a horse - miles of complicated, curving gut. No wonder colic is such an issue!

Salt is very important and donkeys don't tend to use a mineral block with any great enthusiasm, although it is important to have one available. I also offer free choice coarse Himalayan salt but they don't care for it as much as the kelp meal and it "attracts" moisture, so is often sitting in a puddle in the feeder.

Soaking hay can add water to their diet but I find it quite a pain to do and anyway my water pipes to the barn are frozen! Another option is to feed either beet pulp and soy bean hulls or hay cubes that have been soaked in water. Deenah gets a dish of this every morning with her ulcer meds and supplements - the minis don't need the extra calories. But it's an option that I will consider as I observe the level in the water buckets.

Christmas Day Clicker training

2010-12-25T21:02:00.000-08:00

The torrential rain tapered to a drizzle today and everyone came out of the barn for the first time in a couple of days. Phew - that was some storm! Needless to say, all the donkeys were soaked by the end of the day.

Although it's certainly not cold at 8 degrees, donkeys can get drenched and they don't shed water like horses do. So I felt the need to towel dry them as best I could. Deenah is prone to rain rot (ears especially) and with the long dark night ahead, I felt it best to rub and fluff. You want to make sure you don't rub water deeper into their coats, but rather wick it up and fluff their hair coat.

Deenah is easy - she loves to be toweled off but the minis hate it! So clicker training can be a big help.
Dorica is pretty clicker savvy by now - she well understands the concept. I asked her to touch the towel, then clicked, removed the towel from sight and treated. After doing this a few times, I laid the towel on her back - at this she immediatetly starts walking around the stall, so I asked her to "ho" when she did, I removed the towel, clicked and treated. Pretty soon she understood that she was to stand still when the towel was placed on her. She still is apt to walk a bit, but will soon stop and let me rub her with the towel.

Siog is brand new to clicker training so I started by using the towel as a target for her to touch with her nose. She really doesn't understand yet, although she touched the towel a few times by accident more than curiosity. When the towel is placed on her back, she tries to shrink from it. I am able to leave it draped over her while she eats some hay and that way, at least it absorbes some rain water. But I can't towel her off without scaring her so I don't try to do that yet.

Baby steps in training lead to confident, safe animals.

Understanding donkey discomfort

2010-12-18T09:53:00.000-08:00

Whenever a donkey is off her feed, it's cause for alarm ... something is wrong! Nothing gives me a chill, makes my stomach churn or my heart flutter more than seeing a donkey standing in front of a pile of hay or out on pasture and not eating. I've seen numerous variations of this by now - one had fatal consequences, like when I lost my mini Annie 5 years ago. But sometimes a "wait and see" approach is better than jumping in with a vial full of Banamine.

It's really really important to know your animals and what's"normal" for each one. For example, Deenah is prone to getting food caught in her throat or esophagus. As an older donkey, she is the one most likely to be off her feed. This has happened twice in the last two weeks. Both times I noticed that she was just standing there, kind of hanging her head and when offered hay, she wouldn't eat.

I needed to figure out if it was her throat or her belly giving her trouble - an owner could make serious mistakes by jumping to conclusions. As donkeys are very stoic by nature, it can be hard to understand what they are feeling. So I watch.

In the past, I have phoned the vet in alarm right away and the answer has always been "give her Banamine." Banamine is an anti-inflammatory analgesic drug most often used to reduce the pain associated with colic.

In Deenah's case though, because she has suspected gastric ulcers, I would only use it in an emergency and never just as a routine response.

Equine are not able to regurgitate (or throw up) so something unpleasant in the gut has to pass the other way but by the time a full episode of colic is underway, that might not be possible. A vet will often pass a nasal-gastric tube through the nostril and into the stomach and pour water and mineral oil through the tube to flush out any impaction. It's not pleasant but sometimes necessary.

Well anyway, as I carefully observed Deenah yesterday it seemed to me that the problem was not her gut (thank goodness!) but something stuck in her throat, or she had eaten something bitter. Her response to this after initially standing and looking absolutely glum, is to develop lots of saliva to lubricate her throat and get rid of the problem. So she starts to drool and great bubbles of spit appear. Coughing usually follows. When I see this, I am actually relieved! I gently massage her throat on either side in case there's a wad of something that I can help loosen - she will tell me if I am helping or not and I never force her.

More than you wanted to know? Sorry but it's so important to understand this!

Drooling and salivating is the response to having eaten something toxic and it's an equine's way of "ejecting" the problem or at least minimizing its effect. I've never seen it as a response to colic although a poisonous plant could cause a donkey to colic.

Dorica sampled a few plants when she first arrived that were not typical donkey fare. Once she ate some daffodil leaves and basically shut down! No drooling but a belly ache for a few hours. Another time, she ate red elderberry and I found her standing in a pool of drool.

In any case, it's important to know your animals and also to know the plants that might be toxic or poisonous to them. Be observant!

Beginning packing

2010-12-10T21:54:00.000-08:00

Out with Dorica to pick up some groceries from a neighbour today. I put on her new pack saddle pad
and then a set of saddle bags on top. Held this together with a girth attached to the top of the saddle bags with a couple of pieces of leather belts. It was pretty makeshift and I had to keep watching that the whole thing didn't slip or shift.

Dorica was a trooper and seemed really proud of herself! Once at the neighbour's, I loaded exactly 5 lbs in each saddle bag and off we went home. She stepped out so nicely and didn't seem to mind the load.

Close to home, three dogs rushed down their driveway towards us. It was a bit scary but Dorica turned to face them and gave a loud bray right in their faces. That did it and they all turned tail and rushed back home!

You might notice in this picture that the girth has worked it's way to just behind Dorrie's back legs and the saddle bags and pad are too far back. As we walked through the narrow gate when we arrived home, Dorrie forgot that she was now a "wide load" and her saddle bag knocked against the side of the fence and the whole thing slid back! I unloaded her and grabbed my camera for a shot, but I'll have to work on a better system for her as this seems too precarious ... but it sure was fun!

Hittin' the road!

2010-12-09T13:11:00.000-08:00

Siog and I went out for a 2 hour walk today - our longest to date. Finally a wee break in the rain.
We encountered everything from people to cyclists to some loose black labs who, thankfully didn't see us as they were almost as big as Siog and I didn't want to have to deal with two of them!

Visited some neighbours where Siog got to graze for a bit while we chatted. She is an absolute delight to be out with! And very good on a lead although she is now developing a bit of a tendency to pull her head away.
She is very responsive to pressure and release though and easy to control. Still haven't started any "formal" clicker training lessons with her. She has been here for almost five weeks now.

Today!

2010-12-07T15:36:00.000-08:00

It is pouring and windy - ALL day ( and night!) Donkeys haven't set foot outside the barn and are feeling pent up.

I have divided their flakes into smaller portions and feed them frequently - trying to satisfy that grazing urge.
At least it's not cold but this frontal system isn't supposed to move on for a few days ... wind warning in effect!

Mutual grooming

2010-12-06T09:18:00.000-08:00

These Minis are a good size match for mutual grooming!

Weather

2010-12-03T08:28:00.000-08:00

As a gardener and donkey owner, the "weather" is always a topic of concern (more than it should be, probably!) and while winter weather can mean a much needed rest from the vegetable garden, it can also mean that donkeys might be confined to the barn, having hoof or skin problems (Deenah) or at the very least,
standing for long hours in darkness.

I don't know how donkey and horse owners get through winter in cold climates! I would go nuts with months of snow, ice and freezing temperatures. Here on the coast, at least we can expect winter to be short.

Summer can be as challenging as winter can be, in my opinion. Hot, dry days, parched ground, water shortages, biting flies, the threat of West Nile Virus ... ugh! Add to that lots of traffic on the roads, loud
motorcycles and silent bicycles suddenly wooshing by to scare a donkey out on a walk!

This year, winter has been easy so far. We had a week or so of very cold temps, then snow but now it's a balmy 6 degrees with some dry days in between rain. Who knows hos long that will last! So with gardening projects on the top shelf for a few months, these are perfect days to hit the trails with the donkeys.

With Siog being new to the herd, she's the one I've been taking out most often. Remember what I said about Deenah being fine left with Siog if Dorica leaves ... not so! That one time seemed an exception for poor Dee - the next time Dorica went for a stroll, Dee was her same old upset self.

Today I'll take Deenah out for a bit and see how the minis do without her.

Who gets left at home?

2010-11-27T11:34:00.000-08:00

Initially I got three donkeys so I would be able to take one out walking, while leaving two at home, thinking that as long as the ones at home had company, they wouldn't care if somebody went out for a walk. Walking with donkeys is my passion - I love nothing better than roaming the island in the company of a donkey and my main goal has been to get to do some hiking, camping and trekking with them.

This didn't work at all when Ringo was here! If I took Ringo, the jennys were fine together, but Ringo was so hard for me to manage on the road that I only took him out if I had a friend to come along. If I took Deenah out, Ringo would get so frustrated that he would take it out on poor Dorica who had to run for cover and all along our walk, I could hear Dorica back at home, squealing and grunting as she ran from Ringo or tried to kick him in self-defence.

Deenah just didn't care that she had Ringo for company, she was hysterical when Dorica left. I worked at this problem carefully through clicker training ... working with Dorica where Deenah could see us, moving her farther away bit by bit and returning to Deenah if she stayed calm. But it never worked. Deenah could remain calm for a few minutes, then explode and try to run through a fence. She injured herself in places I thought were safe. Also, she has an ulcer problem and I hate to add stress to this condition. I left her with hay to eat but although she has a great appetite, she didn't care a wit about food if Dorica was gone.

Dorica became reluctant to come with me - now I think she was picking up Deenah's panic and felt anxious.

I felt trapped and discouraged ... who could I take out without worrying either about my own safety or the donkeys back at home? This was no fun.

When Ringo left, Deenah and Dorica showed no signs of caring ... no calling, no running, no looking for him (poor Ringo!) So when I brought Siog home, I was curious and interested to see if I would have the same problem with a new herd of three.

I have taken Siog out three times now and she is brilliant on the road. Deenah and Dorica: fine at home together, Siog: fine to come out with me.

Today I took Dorica out. Interestingly, it was Siog who seemed upset but not Deenah! Could it be? Dorrie was a tad reluctant to walk uphill and I used my outstretched hand as a target for her to follow from time to time and Clicked/ treated for her for walking farther. Coming home, she decided to break into a nice trot and we jogged a ways together. Deenah only brayed once but we were nearly home and she could see us. Seemed fine being left with Siog. Tomorrow will be Deenah's turn and we'll see what happens!

At last - some pictures of Siog!

2010-11-23T11:27:00.000-08:00

We had a blizzard here yesterday that plunged us into frigid temperatures. So I'm in winter mode in the barn, which means, deep bedding, lots of small feedings, toting water from the house (barn pipes are frozen) lots of cleaning too!

But today is clear and I did manage to coax the donkeys out and into the snow which isn't too deep.

Deenah

2010-11-18T18:20:00.000-08:00

Here is an unusual picture of Deenah, just taken. She is representing the quintessential idea of quantum physics here ... matter and energy at play!

Welcome Siog (She-OH-g) !

2010-11-11T08:32:00.000-08:00

Phew - I'm back to blogging after a couple of hectic weeks. Funny - writing has often come easily during times of angst in the past - but not blogging. Blogging for me needs a happy frame of mind! So with Ringo's move behind me and the safe transport of our new little donkey from a southern gulf island nearly a week ago, I can rejoin the mysterious world of blogging with focus and a positive attitude!

First about Ringo: we trailered him across on the ferry to where he was picked up by the person who owned him before I did. She is terrific with him and it was good to deliver him to her. He'll stay at her farm until his new owner is able to make the journey with her trailer to take him home.

All will be well for him once he settles. He's got a lot of living to do and will no doubt enjoy his new companions.

A few days later, a friend and I headed out on a little road trip to pick up Siog. What a sweet young fairy she is!

But leaving home for a young donkey is a big deal (in my opinion) - she doesn't "ask" to move but we humans make so many decisions on behalf of our animals. She traveled well but it was a huge relief to park the trailer at our farm again and let her out!

We had about an hour and a half of daylight left, so she was introduced to Deenah and Dorica through the fence and spent her first night in a small paddock that opened into a new stall we created in the barn. The next morning, I brought her into the barn paddock and parked Deenah beside her slow feeder while Dorica and Siog got acquainted.

It was so interesting! Siog immediately started making mouthing gestures as though she was in heat and backing up to Dorica, inviting her to mount. But when Dorica approached, Siog let her hooves fly! Eventually, Dorica did mount Siog and after some neck biting and squealing, they broke apart and chased each other around the paddock at breakneck speed.

I wish I'd had my video camera, but couldn't tear myself away from the spectacle to go and get it. Dorica and Siog will be good friends, I think. Deenah has been slower to welcome Siog. She has been making grumpy faces and was chasing her away for the first couple of days. I had hoped she would play "auntie" to Siog, especially since she's only 3 years old, but I think she was annoyed. Perhaps she felt jealous by Dorica's interest in her new buddy.

Nearly a week has passed now and everyone is getting used to each other. I observe small layers of "settling" day by day but I know it takes a long time.

Things I'll miss ...

2010-10-29T21:44:00.000-07:00

Ringo will be moving in a few days. It's so difficult emotionally even though I know it's best. He'll have a whole new chance and hopefully get to learn new things and do some fun stuff like packing and playing with grandchildren!

But how I will miss his deep "basso profundo" braying - the whole neighbourhood will notice the silence!
Maybe the jennys will fill in, but his deep loud voice is truly unique.

I will miss seeing him pick up his favorite toy- a hose from a shop vac - and twirl it around. I will miss seeing him gallop up to me to get his hay when I feed out in the field.

I'll miss his soft muzzle placed gently under the palm of my hand. Oh dear ... I guess I could easily make a list of things I WON'T miss too!

Next week, I will pick up a new jennet named Siog (She-Oh-g) which means young fairy in Gaelic!

Here's a sneak preview:

2010-10-09T08:05:00.000-07:00

New "forever" home for Ringo!

2010-10-04T09:46:00.000-07:00

Ringo will be welcomed into a new family and herd in the Central Caribou next month!
He will live with experienced equine people, plus a large Standard jenny, two minis and a couple of horses.
All of my criteria have been met plus his new owner comes with fantastic recommendations from a mutual friend (and Ringo's former owner!)

So ... with gratitude to so many friends for their support through this hard decision, I will move on in my adventure and life with donkeys. My plan is to look for 2 large miniature jennets. That way, I will have a little herd of four donkeys, Dorica will have someone else her size and Deenah can play "auntie" to everybody.

I will be able to take one or two donkeys out for an adventure and with smaller donkeys, I'll be able to manage two at a time out in the world. I'll use the experience I have and my knowledge of clicker training to begin again.

Decision ...

2010-09-30T20:58:00.000-07:00

It's been so long since I have posted anything ... the reason is that I have sadly and with great trepidation, decided to look for a new home for Ringo. It's hard for me to post when I feel such sadness. However my reasons have been confirmed by many friends and supporters. Ringo and I are not a good match.

Now this is tough because I am a "forever" kind of person - I don't give up on animals and take my responsibility very seriously. My zero tolerance for getting shoved around has resulted in Ringo looking at me quizzically ... I can't and don't wish to dredge up a mean, horrible scary self in order to get him to back off.

He's a fine, beautiful donkey who needs an experienced handler - someone who can give him the very best and at the same time, set boundaries that he will respect.

So .... the search for a perfect home for Ringo. He needs:

-other donkeys, some bigger or the same size
-a loving home with people whom he will trust
-owners with experience with large equine
-space to romp
-shelter from rain and snow
-regular health care: hooves, teeth, deworming, vaccines, etc.
-commitment to keeping him forever or making provisions for him during his life

Tonight and Ears Forward

2010-09-04T21:34:00.000-07:00

Had a rather ramshackle session this afternoon with Ringo. I got out my old target stick to try to work just on Ears Forward but the big donkey insisted on biting it whenever it appeared. I'd make it vanish when he craned his neck and his big teeth towards it, but he was in a fractious mood. This time I was in the paddock with him (no fence between us) and when he pawed, I asked him to back up.

We did some targeting - me placing the target stick on either side of his flank, between his legs, under his chin in an attempt to get him to arch his neck. This stuff is elementary for him and I wanted to do it to help him feel secure.

We did some mat work and going between the mat and the cone - a loop that we've worked on before and finally ended with picking his hooves while he stood on the mat. Not a great session though as I felt his mood was unpleasant.

Tonight I went in the barn and stood on the other side of his stall. When he put his ears forward (and finally he did!) I threw him some hay. It worked (thank you Alexandra!) and we did it a few times.

As I was cleaning and filling water buckets, I remembered something! It was last Fall that I was also having problems with Ringo and felt discouraged ... aha! I even asked a friend if she might consider taking him in the Spring if I felt I still couldn't manage him. A few months later, I felt SO glad that I had stuck by him.

So ... seasonal disorder? Why is Ringo grumpy and pushy in the Fall? Changing light, longer nights?
Parasites on the move? Hmmm... I will definitely have to give this some thought!

Saturday morning - ears forward + soft muzzle

2010-09-04T08:08:00.000-07:00

So now it's morning and I have worked with the same lesson as last night (see previous post.)

Situation: other donkeys were not in sight (situation improved from last night)
Ringo had just had his hay for breakfast but still seemed hungry.

Time: 7:30 - 7:40 AM

Goal: Trying to combine "Ringo resting his muzzle under my open hand" (I will call this soft muzzle) which he knows well with "ears forward" which is new.

Results: Same behaviour as last night - much agitated pawing, I disappear, pawing stops. Many good combos of the two behaviours I want but it seemed random.

Observations: Ears are always back when pawing, always forward just after he stops pawing. I have been capturing this (click & treat) but cannot capture the two behaviours together UNLESS I leave and return!
Ringo is showing me that he is frustrated and doesn't understand what I want him to do, so ....

Plan: Break this down smaller! Good clicker trainers work in baby steps - they "split" behaviours into teeny tiny chunks instead of "lumping" them into large chunks. I need to work backwards to keep Ringo feeling successful - he can't learn if he is agitated.

I will back up and try to teach "ears forward" on it's own using targeting. One behaviour at a time, put it on cue, then try to combine.

Reference: The Click That Teaches - A Step By Step Guide In Pictures by Alexandra Kurland
Happy Faces (Ears Forward) page 36

Tonight's Training Session

2010-09-03T21:13:00.000-07:00

Goal: to get Ringo to put his ears forward while gently touching my open hand with his muzzle. Looking for softening and relaxing of his face muscles and posture.

Positioning: I stood on one side of the barn paddock fence, he was in the barn paddock

Other donkeys: Deenah was eating hay nearby and Dorica was standing next to her.

Time: evening, 8:40 to 8:50 approx PM dusk

Situation: all 3 donkeys had just eaten hay (i.e. not too hungry)

The session: Ringo was initially agitated by the presence of the other donkeys, once they moved away he was calmer but I inadvertently created an aversive situation. He understood the game, used his muzzle gently and I was able to combine having him rest his muzzle under my hand with one or both ears forward.
Since he was readily doing this, he was getting rewarded frequently.

However he started pawing as soon as he finished chewing - this happened numerous times. As soon as he began to paw, I disappeared behind the open barn door, out of sight but I could see him through the crack.
As soon as I was gone, he stopped pawing and was attentive (ears forward). I re-appeared, praised him, clicked and treated.

Considerations: I set out to train one thing: ears forward while muzzle in hand. But ... AH! this is really TWO things! Two behaviours combined and Ringo threw in a behaviour I didn't want - pawing. I could have stood there and quietly waited for him to stop, but he was getting very worked up (he can throw his heart and soul into pawing!) so instead I chose to quietly leave. No words spoken - when he began to paw the ground, I disappeared.

Now I have added something ... I'm gone - and this gets a reaction from Ringo. He is curious and that brings his ears forward (which is what I want!) So I come back and reward ears forward AND the fact that he is not pawing!

But I have lost the thing I was after initially - ears forward WITH his muzzle resting under my hand. And maybe, just maybe I have created a loop or superstitious behaviour - he paws, I leave, he stops, I come back.

Plan: Try this again tomorrow. Move the other donkeys away first. Evaluate!

Mood Changes & How to deal with them

2010-09-02T16:29:00.000-07:00

I have had quite a busy week and just returned from four days away. Got home during a noisy, gusty wind
storm with a bit of rain - quite a shift in the weather from the long stretches of sunny summer days.

Ringo was in a wild mood! He galloped straight to me, ears pinned and teeth showing. Not the most comforting welcome! I stood my ground, then quickly put the electric fence between us and talked quietly, my open hand on his muzzle. He settled a bit but was clearly agitated. Later that evening, I found myself getting impatient with him. I absolutely HATE being threatened and my default reaction is to scold him. This is NOT the clicker trainer's way!

A good clicker trainer would do the following:
1. Stay safe and use protective contact if necessary - this means working with a gate or fence between you and the animal.

2. Go back to basics and work in baby steps - this might mean offering something really familiar, easy and comforting for the animal to do - something he knows well and can be successful at, like touching a target.

3. Keep the donkey feeling positive by working in baby steps and using a high rate of reinforcement.

4. Observe closely to make sure there isn't something else going on, i.e. rule out that the animal might be in pain and is acting out because of it.

5. Teach an opposite behaviour to the one you don't want him to do - for example, if he is coming into your space, teach him to back. The thing I have been working on when Ringo uses his nose or head to bop me, I ask him to gently place his muzzle in my soft open hand. He can't be bopping me and doing that at the same time. So concentrate on the behaviour you want, NOT the stuff you don't want.

6. Ignore the bad stuff, don't get riled and ASK for SOMETHING! This can help the animal refocus.

7. LEAVE and make a cup of tea rather than stay and punish the donkey!

Well ... good advice, eh? I have made a lion's share of mistakes and one of them is not following this sage counsel! Ringo and I have been working through this "mood" of his for the past three days and he is gradually settling again and I am gradually heeding the advice above. That's not to say that I beat him or anything ... but I do scold, sometimes yell (if I think I might get hurt) I say "NO!" sharply and yes, oh yes I have been known to bop him when the going gets rough. Bad stuff, this discipline and my reaction is surely fear based on my part.

So ... living closely with animals does indeed teach one a lot about one's own self and it ain't always pretty. But through the thoughtful and gentle approach of clicker training, I can learn patience and tools for dealing with uncomfortable situations. I'm certain that every harsh word spoken is a harsh word remembered and trust needs to be earned again.

Ringo's session, August 17, 2010

2010-08-17T12:54:00.000-07:00

Hoof Problems for Ringo again!

2010-08-06T08:20:00.000-07:00

When a donkey shows signs of acting differently than their "normal" behaviour, I want to keep a close eye on him or her. There could be any number of things going on, but I never attribute it to just "a bad day."
Ringo seemed both quiet and a bit out of sorts. Thank goodness his appetite was normal but I have been noticing that he is a bit overweight and his neck is getting firm and somewhat cresty ... not good!

A few days ago, he began to limp and I found a stone in one front hoof, which I removed. That should have resolved the problem but it didn't - he continued to limp the next day and I wasn't even sure which front hoof was bothering him.

Worried about possible laminitis, I called the vet out and she came promptly. She found a pressure crack in one hoof and an abscess in the other. She pared away down to strong hoof wall (luckily Ringo's feet are healthy) and I was relieved. But the next day, Ringo was still hobbling a bit and this time it was clearly isolated to his right front hoof.

Lucky for us, the vet just happened to be back on the island yesterday to see a few horses and she came to check Ringo again. This time, she found evidence of white line separation in two spots and that led to another abscessed area of trapped dirt/ bacteria that new sole had grown over top of.

This is so distressing, as the farrier is here every 6 weeks and I provide all the donkeys with regular hoof care. Clearly, both the farrier and I missed these issues which turned into big problems. I'm so glad I didn't hesitate to call the vet as things would certainly have gotten worse. Lameness in both front feet plus a cresty neck is a recipe for laminitis.

All the donkeys are off of any grass for now (they are very miffed!) I will try to mow and rake up what remains of the meadow grass just to be safe!

My Big Buddy

2010-07-22T21:10:00.000-07:00

Animals can be great "teachers" if you are willing to open yourself to communication between species. That means that we may not always understand what the animal is trying to tell us and they might not have a clue as to what we are saying, such as "Ringo, blah, blah, blah ...!" We need to have heaps of patience, compassion and humility and lots of time for them.

So often, we think we need to "get them to do" something ... "teach them a lesson" ... "show them who's boss" ... it's all about our agenda, but do we ever stop to consider that maybe it is the animal who has something to teach us, something to show us? Maybe we're all bluster and bravado and in a hurry.

Ringo has been my teacher. He has shown me that I can be impatient, easily frustrated and scared. These were things I actually didn't know about myself and would have disputed. But you can't really argue with a donkey. They have a deep wisdom, I think, inherited from generations of survival and from stoic service to humans, a deep threshold to pain yet still, a compassionate nature. That's not to say they are necessarily easy or compliant ... Ringo continues to display outbursts of frustration and annoyance. This can be demonstrated by furious pawing in front of me with a mean hard look in his eye, by shoving me around with his nose or crowding or following me about with his ears pinned back.

But to truly "know" him, as I think I am getting to, is to know a sensitive, intelligent creature ... one who is smart, wily, playful and thoughtful. And also very sensitive. I am grateful to Ringo - he has been my biggest challenge of all the animals I have known and cared for. I even considered looking for another home for him, felt I couldn't handle him. I'm SO glad he is still here, that I didn't cave to my timidity!

Ringo and I will do great things together - he is my mirror. I hope I can reflect back to him the love and gratitude that I feel.

Blog Blues

2010-07-13T13:32:00.000-07:00

Ah! The weather is too hot (environment) the arts centre workshops are in full swing (work) the garden needs weeding and watering (survival) the studio tour is less than three weeks away (pressure) and the poor donkeys are last on the list (guilt)!

Although they get fed and watered, hooves picked, fly spray and masks, groomed and scritched, barn swept and pasture cleaned every day, no one has been clicker trained or walked in about two weeks ... bad, bad, bad.

Chickens and Donkeys help the birds ...

2010-07-09T16:04:00.000-07:00

Two nests found, one lined with donkey hair, the other with chicken feathers. Click on photo for a beautiful detailed image.

Separation Anxiety

2010-07-06T10:17:00.000-07:00

Donkeys can form strong bonds with one another and the importance of these bonds should not be underestimated. I've seen different examples of these relationships and also donkeys who don't seem to enjoy eachother's company that much.

When I brought Deenah home four years ago, she had been living with an assortment of other critters ... a mini jack donkey, two alpacas, a couple of miniature goats and a goose. On the other side of the fence was a mini jennet with a young foal at her side. I was told that Dee had been living there for about two years and I couldn't find out anything about her life before that, although I tried.

Anyway, Deenah was just about the best thing that could have happened to Dorica. She had only been with us for nine months and during that time, her stall mate, Annie had become ill and died after two weeks of intense nursing. It was an awful experience for all of us and very hard on Dorica. While I searched for another donkey companion for her, we borrowed Syd the goat to keep her company.

Deenah and Dorica became fast friends. Now it is hard to separate them. Little Dorrie is fine to come for walks with me, but Deenah gets so anxious that she has actually hurt herself on several occasions - a very "undonkey-like" thing to do!

The other day, I slowly and carefully worked with Dorica just on the other side of the fence from Deenah.
She was still eating hay with Ringo next to her. I gradually moved Dorica away and towards the gate to take her for a walk. Deenah became more and more agitated. This is not a new experience for Deenah - I try to work with Dorica frequently and for small amounts of time. Deenah should know (this is my thinking) that Dorica will be right back!

But no, poor Dee gets herself all upset, almost hyperventilating, galloping and sometimes tries to jump a fence. This time she managed to hoist herself up into a corner, get her head over top of the stock fencing and snag her nose on a strand of barbed wire.

I am embarrassed to admit that there is any barbed wire here - it is left from a previous owner. We managed to removed all of it except for this strand which I thought was well out of reach from the donkeys. And donkeys don't freak out like horses, right?

Well I spent the next few hours doctoring Deenah. Thank goodness she recently had a tetanus shot. I disinfected the wound but couldn't get it to clot for ages. Finally it did and I applied a layer of Swat so the flies wouldn't bother it. By evening, it looked better so I put my magical Golden Seal salve on it and by the next morning you could barely see the puncture.

NOW what, though ...? Do I ever take Dorica for a walk again? What a conundrum!

Tellington Touch

2010-07-01T09:12:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, I went to my first Tellington Touch clinic - this is a form of therapuetic massage for animals developed by Linda Tellington-Jones. But it's so much more! If you click on the title of this post, it should link you directly to Linda-Tellington Jone's own website. There you can read about how it works in more precise detail.

The massage technique is light and gentle and slow, connecting to meridians and accu-pressure points all along the body. So it can be effective in relieving both physical and emotional tension. It's subtle and you have to work with calm, collected energy
which is a huge lesson for any type of training. Non-reactive, reassuring guidance for your animal.

We are very lucky to have an experienced TTouch practitioner here and this was her first island clinic. It had been on my "list" of things I want to learn and what a great fit with CT! We spent the morning learning about the various ways to hold and move our hands, how much pressure to use and which approaches might help with a variety of issues that the horse might be experiencing.

I noticed both people and horses drifting into meditative zen-like states!

There were about 8 horses. In the afternoon, Kathleen (our teacher) set up some ground work exercises, called TTeam. There was a maze on the ground made from poles and a kind of "wagon wheel" - poles radiating out in a circle with the ends meeting in the middle and resting on top of a large feed tub. She also had some foam noodles and a long pole.

Riders had to take the horse through these courses, stopping at various intersections. It was to both teach the horses emotional control and body awareness through some physio type exercises.

I really loved it and have practised a bit on all 3 donkeys. The responses have been very interesting ... from releases to kicking and all from very gentle pressure and slow moves. And actually it was Dorica, my sweet mini doing the kicking ... not what you'd expect! I'm not sure how to interpret the reactions yet but know I want to learn a lot more about TTouch!

Donkey vertigo

2010-06-24T21:06:00.000-07:00

Today I took Dorica along a trail on our land. It bordered a steep drop-off into deep forest and at that point, she reused to walk! I have seen this in her before - it seems she is afraid of heights! No amount of coaxing could make her advance - typical donkey thing! And unfortunately, a trait they become known for.

After asking her to target my hand, clicking and treating her several times for any tiny step forward, I decided to let her go back the way we had come and walk around so that we approached the trail from the opposite direction. Short trail.

Same thing happened but eventually (it took awhile and patience!) I was able to lead her through.
Tomorrow I will take the same route and see if she is more confident.

frustrations & rewards!

2010-06-21T22:03:00.000-07:00

Argh ... nothing in life is a straight line ... it's a zig zag! And working with animals, one has to remember that they are not machines - they have good days and bad days and who knows why ... just like us!

So Ringo has again been frustrating me - mat work - he sees the mat and instantly responds by standing on it - fabulous! But then the pawing starts! I must have reinforced that somehow and unknowingly. So now I must figure out a way to undo what I must have taught!

But I have also been working with Deenah and Ringo simultaneously and that had been grand! Tonight I led both of them back to the barn at liberty from the meadow, Ringo on my right, Deenah on my left. I asked them to match my pace - they did! I asked them to "whoa" - they DID! both together - click treat!
Walk on - they did - together, matching my pace again. "Whoa" - they did - together - it was beautiful!

Training notes, June 9

2010-06-09T16:21:00.000-07:00

I have been working every day for the past week or so with at least two donkeys. Got myself a binder with an index too and have started to write down my notes about each facet of the work with entries for each donkey.
The benefits of having a plan and keeping notes was really emphasized at Clicker Expo ... good trainers develop goals and work backwards, breaking training down into small steps and building towards the goal - which by the way, could take a long time!

With Ringo, I feel I have created some tension and insecurity between us - I have lacked confidence around him and so have been jumpy and reactive. My mistrust in him creates his mistrust in me - I hope to undo this pattern and the only way, I feel is with dedicated, consistent work. Every day! At least a few minutes spend on mat work or something!

If I can spend this summer working every day and making notes, I KNOW we will both benefit hugely. I can already feel the difference!

Slow feeder - further thoughts ...

2010-06-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

The donkeys have had the slow feeder for a couple of weeks now. They have learned to pick up the lid and reposition it! Ringo can get his teeth around the metal grid, pick up the lid and put it down again on an angle so that it no longer completely covers the hay ... amazing! He can't remove it, but repositioning it defeats the purpose of the slow feeder.

They have also figured out a way to coax rather large bites out at one time.

The next model will have a smaller grid ... 2 " x 2" instead of 2" x 4" and the lid needs to fit inside more tightly. This would work better on a container that is the same width top and bottom. That seems hard to find, so a custom built box may be the answer.

It also needs to be bolted in two places to the fence or stall or it needs to be so heavy that the donkeys can't budge it.

Working with Sola

2010-06-03T09:09:00.000-07:00

Sola Wolff from Seattle was here this past weekend. She is a gifted young trainer who impressed me the first time I saw her working with her mules last October.

At breakfast the first morning she was here, I confessed that I have been thinking about finding another home for Ringo! He has been intimidating me lately and I haven't been able to work through it very successfully, rather, I felt we were getting stuck. I felt sorry that I don't take him out for the walks that he loves and am reactive to him pushing me around.

Sola listened carefully and encouraged me to do what I feel is best. Then we went out for our first lesson with the donkeys. Well, what was so incredible about this weekend was that Sola showed me an entirely different picture of Ringo and taught me some new skills for working with him. She was so impressed by him and it was amazing to watch him respond to her clear direction and light touch with willingness and intelligence!

What I learned:
1. Shoulder yielding is THE big news! I had been working on getting Ringo to move his hips back but he was still too much "in my face." But getting him step over with his shoulder is the key and he does it easily.

2. Alex says that to "change" a behaviour, you can teach a different behaviour that is incompatible to the one you don't want. Ringo has been tossing his head and bopping me with his nose. That has been making me nervous as he can snap at me too. Sola showed me how to gently lay my hand on the bridge of his nose and ask him to let me hold it there for just a second. Yes? Click and treat! Then "can I put both hands around your nose?" ... yes?, click and treat .... and variations of this. Now he comes up to me and instead of throwing his nose around, he holds it quietly for me to touch ... brilliant!

3. Mat work - much more focus needed here for both of us - build duration by layering criteria.

4. Grass eating on a walk - well eating grass is an equine's dream, so rather than prohibit that, we decided to teach him when he can and can't eat. Ask him to stand on grass, shorten the lead rope so that if he drops his head he can't reach the ground, hold the lead softly with both hands at my stomach ... easy boy. If he stands quietly for a moment, say "Good Boy!" and that's the signal that he can drop his head and eat a few mouthfuls. Allow him to do that for 2 or 3 bites, then raise his haed, shorten the lead again and stand or walk on. Repeat. It was amazing to see how fast he caught on the "the grass game!"

5. Pacing - vary the pace of my walk, slow motion to fast and ask him to match my pace. Teaches awareness and helps if he wants to run downhill. He learns to walk at the speed that I dictate.

6. Bracing - this is my body posture needed to help me hold my ground in case Ringo tries to leave!
I need to extend my leg nearest to him but centre my weight back and over my bent outside leg, knee aligned over hip so that I am leaning away but standing perpendicular to his shoulder. This involves some dancing around on my part! Meanwhile I have slid my left hand down the lead rope and rotated my shoulder and elbow, bringing my elbow towards my core. Sound complicated? It IS! And not at all graceful yet but it does work!

First Slow Feeder prototype

2010-05-28T10:35:00.000-07:00

Donkeys and horses are grazing animals - they should be eating on and off during the daytime. There is increasing evidence that intermittent feedings can cause all sorts of stomach upset - from colic to ulcers. Knowing this, I have been feeding my donkeys four times a day and hanging hay bags filled with barley straw overnight.

Although great for the donkeys, it's quite a commitment of time for us! While we work at home and can feed regularly most of the time, going away for the day or overnight means finding someone to come quite often.

I became aware of something called a slow feeder - this is some sort of container with a mesh grid across the top that the animal has to pull strands of hay through. The idea is to slow down eating, stop gorging and allow the donkey to pick away at small bits of hay whenever they feel like it.

Donkeys need lots of fiber. Supplying that fiber through hay, gives them too many calories so barley or oat straw is also fed. Some people suggest unlimited access to hay and/ or straw but I haven't been able to bring myself to do that! Dorica needs less food than Ringo and competition for food means that they scarf everything down in a big hurry.

Slow feeders, I think, are the answer! Here is the first prototype. It's a big round tub of heavy plastic with a rolled lip at the top. A plywood rim was screwed into the lip with notches cut out to allow a heavy lid to be angled in and placed on top of a pile of straw and hay. The lid is made from a grid of 1/8th steel rod, sandwiched between another circle of plywood and a round of thicker, heavier wood. The openings between the grid are 2" x 4".It slides down inside the tub as the donkey eats.

This is the lid:

Pros and cons to this model:

Pros: Tub is a good height - donkeys can't step in it. Without the lid on, tub is portable and easy to move.
Lid is heavy and can't be tossed out. Tub holds a lot. I don't think the donkeys can hurt their teeth on the metal grid since the top circle of wood is thick, they can't grab onto the metal.

Cons: Tub needs to to anchored against a fence, as they can knock it over. As they eat between the grid, divots or holes get made in the hay, possibly making the strands harder to pull out. I have fluffed up the hay several times but can't see any way to avoid this. The steel grid makes the hay rusty if it rains.
I will look for something in stainless steel for the next models.

You can see the notches cut into the top rim- the lid lifts up through the notches - humans can do it - donkeys can't!

I have used it for several days now and I like it. Each donkey needs its own though as they tend to fight over it (Deenah wins!)

For the next models, I'd like to find rectangular containers that will fit in each stall.

Training Notes, May 25th

2010-05-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

A break in the rain! Time to do some work - started with Dorica and we had a long and wonderful session. I am focusing a lot on mat work these days - it's a surprisingly challenging thing to get right. But in order to keep things interesting and avoid frustrating the donkeys, I mix it up and throw in other things (maybe too many ...!)

So we started with trotting. Need to work on keeping Dorica in a straight line. She's good for awhile, but then veers closer to me until she's steering me off to the left (funny she never veers the other way!)
Very good at voice cue "whoa."

Back to the mat (a truck floor mat) and trying to square up her front feet. I just watched Alex's Shaping On A Point of Contact DVD for the first time and will watch it again - excellent lesson about how to do this - I should practice my rope handling skills with a lead attached to a door knob instead of a donkey so I get it more fluid before working with an animal.

Dorica will paw at the mat just like Ringo - pawing is forward motion - back her up and reposition. Higher rate of reinforcement for standing quietly.

Set up the cones in a circle and attached Dorica's new rope reins. I am asking for lateral flexion as she circles the cones, then click and back her into hip-shoulder-shoulder. This is sloppy though and could use some coaching. I am finding it hard to ask softly for her neck and then drop the lead completely.

Took Dorrie into her stall and worked on backing around the corners for the first time. Not bad - she was getting it!

Chasing the big ball - this is so much fun! I turned Dorica loose and let her gallop after the ball. She isn't the least bit afraid of it even though it's nearly as big a she is! But I want her to follow the ball, not follow me and we have to work on that - she stays glued to my side. Want her to take off after the ball then come to me (wherever I am, for her treat.)

Ringo's turn. Worked a bit on self-haltering at his stall door. The out to the cone circle for some WWYLM game and mat work. He was a bit head-tossy and pawing the mat so we circled out and around 2 cones and then back to the mat. Did this a few times.

Then into the breezeway for some simple forwards and back against the wall. The beginnings of 300 Peck Pigeon. This is such good work - teaches control. Short lesson for Ringo today!

Making rope reins

2010-05-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

Today I made two sets of rope reins to use with ground work. The advantage of this is that because each side can be clipped to the cheek rings on either side of the halter, the weight of the rope is evenly distributed across the donkey's withers. You can also easily lead from the left or the right without having to unclip/ reclip the snaps on the lead.The rope reins can be customized to fit the animal and that way you don't have a handful of extra rope to deal with.

But most importantly, these reins allow the handler to use the lightest possible touch when asking for a walk off or lateral flexion. You can slide your hand down the lead to the snap, gently and then at the slightest positive inclination from the donkey you can DROP the rein entirely - giving such an effective release to your request. This is brilliant!

I started with a length of soft marine rope, two short snaps, electrical ties, hockey tape and scissors.

Then I haltered up a donkey and measured from the cheek ring on one side of the halter around the withers and over to the opposite cheek ring. I let the rope lie gently on the donkey's back just behind the withers and added some length to allow me to thread on the snap, fold the rope back and attach an electrical tie. I taped the whole folded back section with hockey tape. Did the same on the other side.

I used chrome snaps on this one and brass on the other. I was looking for short snaps so that my hand can slide as close as possible without banging into a big snap.

Deenah's mishap

2010-05-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

The donkeys eagerly wait for their "grass time" which is usually after their lunchtime hay. I open the gates toward the pond and they get to chow down for about an hour now.

My habit is to go and get Dorica first (she the smallest and is getting a bit role poly.) She comes out very nicely because she knows it's her lesson time and she would rather be clicker trained than eat grass (amazing!) So we do a little lesson - Deenah is content without her for a while but eventually comes trotting off the grass herself to see where Dorrie has gone.

My habit is to then halter and tie both jennys and go and get Ringo. Then with all three hitched to the fence, I set about grooming, picking hooves, etc. Well, this time, I must have tied Deenah too long. It was just a short pony lead but enough to cause a mishap.

I heard two bangs as though a hoof was hitting a fence - Ringo and I hurried back and saw that Deenah was down. Poor girl must have stepped over the lead and tripped herself. It looked awful! She had her body crammed against the fence rail with her head twisted and one front hoof over the lead. She was still tied of course so her head was held up - I immediately unhooked the lead rope and freed her foot but she couldn't get up. She was breathing hard and in a sweat and I was panicky. No one was home and I wondered if I would have to call a neighbour to help get her on her feet but I didn't want to leave her side.

Soon though, she had caught her breath and with me heave-hoeing from behind her, she scrambled to her feet and just stood as though stunned. I asked her to walk to make sure her legs were okay - other than a scrape over her eye and another scrape below her nose, she was okay.

The whole incident lasted for maybe ten minutes tops, but it could have ended in disaster. How easy it is to become a bit lax in how we do things. Donkeys are generally so calm that I never expected something like this to happen. Who knows how she tripped herself - but the awful truth is that it was my negligence that caused it. Talk about learning the hard way!

Annual Vaccinations

2010-05-11T08:44:00.000-07:00

I considered skipping vaccinations this year ... after all, tetanus lasts fro 10 years in people so why the need to do it annually for the donkeys? But three vets that I spoke with were adamant about both tetanus and West Nile every year so I decided to go ahead.

Since I needed the vet out for Ringo's hoof, she did the tetanus shot for everybody then and returned 1 week later to do West Nile. Usually we don't have the luxury of spacing the shots out like that although I'd really prefer to do that - it's so much better for the donkeys.

Tetanus shots went fine - Ringo was concentrating on his sore foot and didn't try to bolt. But a week later, his foot was better and we had a hard time getting him to stand for the next shot, even with G blocking his view of the needle. Dorrie was also scared and jumped around a bit.

Unfortunately Ringo had, what I would call a bad reaction to West Nile - a very large, hot welt on his neck for about 4 days and he looked miserable and couldn't turn his neck in 1 direction. Donkeys tend to get very quiet when they aren't feeling well and when I didn't hear him bray first thing in the mornings, I was worried. They were given the Fort Dodge vaccine and luckily not the Prevenile, which has been recalled!

Put him on Apis 200 twice a day until I could see the welt recede - about 3 days. Dorica had a small bump so she got a dose of Apis also, Deenah was fine. She stands so quietly for shots.

Next year I will reconsider giving West Nile.

Hoof Abscess

2010-05-03T09:38:00.000-07:00

How to convince a rather nervous donkey with a sore foot to stand in a tub of warm water! I made plenty of mistakes but thank goodness for clicker training! After trying to work with him in his stall, I felt a bit confined and the possibility of getting hurt has he would try to squish me against the wall - I re-assessed my options and chose a spot in the breezeway where Ringo could stand against a rail and facing a wall.

The soaking part was hard, so I created stacks of maxi pads, the plastic backing removed and attached a strip of duct tape to the outside of the bottom layer with tabs for attaching. As soon as he lifted his hoof, I wrapped the pads, which had been soaking in the solution, around his foot and clicked and treated him on a high rate of reinforcement, for standing still.

He was so good and trying hard, and by the last day, he could lower his hoof into a large feed tub and I slowly added warm water. not sure we managed 20 minutes though, But eventually he was weight bearing on both front feet and seemd okay again. Gave him Hepar Sulphur too - 3 times a day for a few days
to deal with any residual infection.

Next time anybody is lame, I'll go straight to foot soaking, since abscess is much more likely in donkeys than any kind of joint injury. Donkeys don't tend to do goofy things to hurt themselves like horses do!

vet visit & diagnosis for Ringo

2010-04-26T08:47:00.000-07:00

Well, after several horse friends looking at Ringo and a number of different opinions, I decided to call the vet out yesterday.
Poor Ringo could barely walk and I felt very anxious. Crazy how I can barely function when faced with a health issue! I'm very good at fretting and I try to slow down my quivery energy, breathe deeply and ask myself "why?" Anyway, not the time to psycho- analyze myself ... it's the donkey who needs care!

The vet is wonderful and she checked all his joints (we had been thinking it was a tendon or ligament injury) and determined that he indeed has a hoof abscess. She popped it at the coronary band and now I have to soak all the pus out twice a day. Ringo is terrified of standing in water and so far I have tried a pail, a feed tub and a Ziploc bag reinforced with duct tape. no go ... I am trying to work in baby steps, asking him to target each new thing, the having him stand in "it" without water, adding water, etc. As soon as he feels the water, though, he heads for the hills. That means, if I am in his stall with him, I get squished against the wall (dangerous!) and run over (dangerous!)

So all I have managed to do is wrap a warm compress around his hoof. 1/2 cup Epsom salts to 1 cup warm water. He will stand with his knee bent and rest on mine as I squat beside him but this is supposed to be for 20 minutes at a time and I'm ... um, er ... not that young anymore!

The ferrier should be in here in about half and hour ...

behind in my reporting ...

2010-04-24T19:28:00.000-07:00

It's been too long since I logged in with some notes. Monty has been here last weekend for a clicker training clinic with the donkeys and I have yet to process my notes from that great session.
I always learn so much!
But in the meantime, here is a picture of Dorica who has learned to stand with her front feet on a stump:

I'll get to the clinic notes soon. In the meantime, I am very preoccupied as Ringo went lame last Tuesday (it is now Saturday) and it's so difficult to figure out what is wrong. It's his left front foot and he's obviously really hurting as he'll go back to the barn and lay down in the breezeway during the day and when he does walks it's with great difficulty, limping heavily. Today though I did see some improvement - more weight bearing on that hoof. I have been checking and rechecking for heat and/ or swelling - I don't feel much of either but can easily convince myself that I do!

Expecting the ferrier on Monday morning - he'll be able to tell if it's either an abscess or founder - I doubt either - I think it's a knee or fetlock joint injury. He had been galloping the day before and we have so many stones ...

I have been applying an ice pack to his knee, followed by Traumeel creme and today gave him 4 x 30cc of Arnica. The girls decided to have a little romp at about 5 PM and silly Ringo tried to join them. Now he's REALLY sore! Boys!

Hard for me not to get extremely stressed when something like this happens. Especially since I don't know what's wrong. Last night I decided to try soaking his foot in a pail of Epsom Salts + warm water but it upset him and he wouldn't stand and became suspicous. Good lesson that we need to teach them these things BEFORE we need to actually do the procedure. Always so much to work on!

One more day before a professional (ferrier) looks at him, so hopefully I'll get a better idea. Poor Ringo!

visitors

2010-04-06T15:13:00.000-07:00

Wonderful visit today from Wendy and her 2 little girls, Madigan and Ivy. Little Ivy didn't make a peep the whole time but just watched the fun from her vantage point in a cozy front-pack.

But Madigan had a great time. We started in the hen house and said hello to L.C. our 5-year-old Rhode Island Red and observed another two birds hunkered down in nesting boxes.

Then, stepping carefully over the electric fence, we went to meet the donkeys. I had secured Ringo in the barn paddock as I thought it would be safer without such a big donkey towering over such a wee girl.
Dorica, who loves kids, ambled over and immediately presented her butt for a scratch. Deenah joined and gave Madigan a good sniff. We all visited for awhile and Dorica proudly showed how she can trot on command.

Ringo was a little miffed at being on the other side of the fence, but was awfully good about it. And Madigan, who is only two years old, really seemed to enjoy herself! I even plunked her on Deenah's back and then briefly, on Dorica (who has never held a child.)

Dorica is listening to us behind her.

So what is it ...?

2010-03-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

What is it about living with donkeys that keeps me so engaged? I often wonder. Even though my goals sometimes seem too big for my britches (like hiking for days in the wilderness with donkeys!) I continue to feel so grounded and alive with my animals.

Even though they keep me close to home, where would I rather be? Luckily holidays in Mexico just aren't my style - in fact I make a lousy tourist!

Since our acreage is small, the donkeys need to be fed hay and straw throughout the day - that can be a planning challenge for sure but it's also a routine. That late night trip to the barn on cold, dark, rainy nights is tough too but once there, I breathe in the sweet smell of the animals and the hay and sounds of steady munching soothe the soul.

These critters are part of me now, part of my family, integral to my life. They are my teachers and I kid myself that I am theirs. I continue to learn, not just about donkey personalities and husbandry but about myself, my resourcefulness, my levels of patience, of courage, of dedication.

I live outdoors way more than I otherwise would! They enable me to breathe in the starry skies, to hear the early morning chirrups of critters waking up, to be tense with listening and watchful with observing. They connect me to an old self and have helped me find a new one.

A sunny day, lessons with Dorica & Ringo

2010-03-22T09:32:00.000-07:00

Little Dorica just makes me laugh! She is such an enthusiastic clicker donkey now but very serious when she's working. I am training her trot on cue and now she's doing it about 75% of the time. It's challenging as you'd never use a crop on her, even gently - she'd be crushed! So I quicken my pace, say the word " trrrrrot!" and break into a jog. Now that she gets it, she'll usually join me but she looks so funny with her serious expression and her ears back as though she's concentrating with all her might!

Also worked Ringo a bit. He's really doing well with the self-haltering lesson but then has been really resistant for the first part of our session. Eventually he settles. Cutting me off is still a problem.

We worked at standing with his 2 front feet on a sawn off alder stump. He did really well but it's a bit slippery and not the best surface to make him stand on ... will have to find a substitute. Can't seem to cross that invisible line though with my own courage to take him on the road as he can really push me around still.

difficult session yesterday

2010-03-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

Day two of letting the donkeys onto green grass. This time when I went to halter Ringo to lead him off the grass, he was really resistant, pulling his head hard away from me, his feet following! I tried hard to stand my ground, rotate elbow and shoulder bone and ricochet him back to me, but it was really, really hard!

I think Ringo didn't like the fact that the girls were still grazing and I was asking him to leave. I understand his problem with that but somebody had to be first. As I couldn't get too far beyond the gate with him, I had to resort to tying him to that stout tree again while I got the jennys out.

I had set up an obstacle course, so that when we left the grass we would go right into a training session with the cavaletti jump, cones, ball etc. I tied everyone to a fence post near the barn paddock and began with Dorica, then Deenah and finally Ringo. He stood quietly until it was his turn but then I had trouble controlling
him as he kept wanting to change directions on me.

It was discouraging as his strength vs my "strategy" meant somewhat of a struggle and I felt he was winning. A step back in terms of me taking him out for walks alone!

A controlled experiment!

2010-03-17T17:34:00.000-07:00

Ah! At last a break from the rain - everything is so muddy. We are supposed to be in for a good stretch of weather for the next few days.
Have closed off one of the paddocks to the donkeys and plan to reseed with pasture mix and let things regenerate until next Fall.

So, the donkeys have a bit less space to roam. I decided to open up an area of short grass near the pond. Set up a phony "electric" fence and will only allow brief periods of munching until they get used to it. But rather than just open up the gate and let them in, I decided to use the opportunity to walk Ringo in, with halter and lead to see if he would pull towards the grass or listen to cues.

I halted him along the way to the grassy area every ten paces or so. At first he was stopping and pawing and pulling away before he even realized where we were headed. But I calmly persisted, diverted his head away from me and swung his hips around whenever he ended up facing the wrong way.

After some monkey business on his part though he just suddenly relaxed and was great. He halted at the gate to the new area and we walked in, still stopping every few paces. I didn't push it and let him graze
after he had "obeyed" me for a few steps on the grass. I didn't want to frustrate him.

Went to get the jennys and let them onto the grass too. After a half hour or so, I snapped the lead rope back onto Ringo's halter and he was an absolute angel about leaving the area with me. Tied him to a tree while I convinced the jennys to depart also (which took awhile in Deenah's case.)

I will work in this area every day if possible as it is enclosed and the perfect place to work with Ringo on grass. Should make the transition to the road easier if I feel I can control him here.

Thoughts on dealing with dominance ...

2010-03-15T10:41:00.000-07:00

I've been reading Kicked Bitten & Scratched by Amy Sutherland. It's a look at the program for students at a teaching zoo in California - Exotic Animal Training & Management, two very intense years where the students learn to work with exotic animals and go from there to working at zoos, marine parks, or the movie industry. It's a tough program, long hours, very competitive and the students can be kicked out or demoted for being late or talking to the animals during the first year!

The students work with the principles of operant conditioning, although the author doesn't specifically refer to "clicker training." Anyway, what's interesting to consider it this:

say you are training a baboon, or a hyena or a lion and say that animal is aggressive towards you for some reason - perhaps fear or confusion or the animal is startled or not feeling well. You wouldn't strike any of these animals, would you? You wouldn't whack an orca whale or a parrot - it just doesn't make sense!

I'm not talking about responding to an "attack" such as a grizzly bear has you in his mouth and you need to fight or die. I'm talking about training.

In training, you want the animal to "like you" not be afraid of you. You want them to be motivated and willing, not submissively obedient and bummed out. That's the goal in clicker training. Keep the animal feeling successful and "right" by reinforcing, in tiny increments, the behaviour you want .

So punishment is out. While I have understood that, it's so hard not to be reactive to an animal that is bullying you! That's a BIG challenge for me and Ringo. Many people feel it's okay to whack a donkey or a dog or horse and that somehow it's going to change their behaviour. Or yank hard on the lead rope or leash, show them who's boss, etc. We humans are primates - we're a grabby, touchy feeling bunch who use hands a lot.

I don't know - a light bulb came on for me when I made the connection that I absolutely would not whack a gorilla so therefore I can't/ shouldn't/ won't whack a donkey!

Bullying, dominance & clicker training

2010-03-12T14:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday Jenny came by for a visit and we went out to talk with the donkeys. Ringo has been cooped up as I closed off several paddocks until his hoof heals. So maybe he was bored and feeling restless ... who knows.

In any case he was all over me, crowding and really in my space. Clothing grabbing is next up. This is his typical dominance behaviour and one that I have been unable to change. To be honest, I really don't understand how to work with this behaviour. When we are clicker training, I can reward him for backing up, standing and staying out of my space or for standing quietly beside me without crowding ... and I know that one is "always training" whenever you are with your animals. I hear Alex's voice saying "the donkey doesn't know when it doesn't count, so it always has to count."

Fair enough. But last Fall, with three donkeys at large, my simple appearance caused pandemonium for awhile as each donkey became clicker savvy. They'd see me and think "the lady with the treats!" and then jostle each other to get to me. I didn't like it and couldn't walk from the house to the studio without a stampede. I needed a visual cue other than myself to let that donkeys know that "now we are training."

So I went back to using my treat pouch as a visual cue for the donkeys and they understood immediately ... no pouch, I guess we aren't going to be asked to "do" something, therefore we aren't getting treats. Calm returned. They'd see me, look up and continue whatever they were doing.

Ringo though, gets into these pushy moods and the only thing I can think of is either "leave" or stand my ground. The latter is hard though, as he can intimidate me and get me to move or back up, when it should be me who gets him to move first. He will back up and drop his head if I ask him, but if I don't click and therefore don't reward him, in he comes again and each time, more boldly.

Thinking of making him a sandwich board that says" will work for food!"

Winter is Back & Ringo is Lame

2010-03-12T13:56:00.000-08:00

Well, rain turned into big fat drops and then into big fat white drops and pretty soon it was snowing hard this morning! Ringo limped back to the barn on Tuesday evening and was very sweet about letting me look at his right front hoof. I noticed that his frog, which had been flappy when I cleaned it out earlier that day, was now gone and the heel as well. So there was nothing to cushion his weight on that foot.

Seeing nothing else obvious, I have kept him confined to soft ground and put lots of extra shavings in the barn. That was 3 days ago and he's still not sound although putting weight on all fours.

Clicker training is such a great tool to use when an animal needs care. When I noticed that Ringo was limping, I quickly grabbed my treat pouch along with my hoof pick and bottle of disinfectant. As soon as Ringo sees the treat pouch, he understands that we will be "doing" something together and that he will be getting rewarded for his part. Wonderful!

So he is willing to let me investigate, poke and prod because we have built up this relationship together.
Now it doesn't necessarily translate to an unfamiliar person - he can be wary of a stranger poking and prodding as every experience with vets have taught me. And it may not work if he were unwell enough to refuse food. But as long as he's keen to eat, clicker training will help me work with him.

Spring already!

2010-03-04T10:59:00.000-08:00

The birds are waking me up even before Ringo sounds the bellows at around 6:45 am. Sadly, no longer a rooster to join in the welcoming of Spring. It's gorgeous here and I have finally got control of my JVS Everio video camera so should be able to document some training sessions.

Maureen was here last week - she is clicker training her donkey Fitz and we hope to work together once or twice a month. I attached the camera to the little "Lego-like" tripod that you can warp around a fence post and set up the orange plastic cones for a review session of Why Would You Leave Me (see Alexandra Kurland's web site and DVDs)

Ringo did excellent work while Deenah & Dorica stood patiently tied to fence posts. I should be able to upload some footage to YouTube, although I am still getting accustomed to the camera's range and so am deleting many clips that are empty of donkeys or people!

Rooster

2010-03-01T08:55:00.000-08:00

Our beautiful silver gray Dorking rooster, Gregory Peck, died a few days ago. He succumbed to a mysterious illness that I tried hard to remedy to no avail. I fed him fruit and olive oil, massaged his crop, dug worms for
him and finally offered the warmth of a heat lamp.

I shall miss his chattering and crowing that sounded just like " Barack Obama!" when he got him in the Fall of 2008.

Vet visit

2010-02-27T08:24:00.000-08:00

A wonderful new equine vet has moved to the area and came to see the donkeys a few days ago.

Deenah needed her teeth floated which means that the sharp points that develop along the sides get rasped off. She was sedated for this procedure. The vet felt Deenah is underweight so I have begun to increase her rations and will now add 1/4 cup ground flax and a tablespoon of rice bran oil to the mix. I'll also give gher a bowl of soaked hay cubes every morning with her hay.

And thank goodness for hay cubes! The dental procedure makes it difficult for the donkeys to chew for a few days - hay cubes to the rescue! They can be softened and are full of good quality hay with added vitamins and some beet pulp.

Ringo has some sort of skin infection along his mane. Cortisone cream has been recommended and I'll start that today.

Dorica is her sweet perfect self! Everyone will need tetanus and West Nile virus vaccinations in a month or two.