Poor Zep refused to come up to the round pen this morning when we fed. I can't really blame him. I'm sure he thinks we're going to try to catch him again. It makes me sad though. I really thought he trusted us more than that. It's so frustrating dealing with an animal that has no trust at all in humans. Faran isn't happy with us either, I guess because he thinks we're going to deworm him again lol, but he gave in fairly quickly.
If you're the anthropomorphizing type (I do it sometimes lol),
their stares are almost accusing lol.
their stares are almost accusing lol.
Zep did finally eat, although I had to put it quite a ways from the round pen. He even came up to me for a treat, but when I readjusted his halter on his nose so it would be more comfortable he spooked again. Sigh. It's going to take a while to rebuild the trust. :(
Chrome was the only happy one. He's always happy.
Here he is wearing my toboggan. He looks like he's greeting his own shadow lol.
Here he is wearing my toboggan. He looks like he's greeting his own shadow lol.
And here he is wearing their feed bucket. What an adorable dork!
At least grubby Faran still trusts us, although he's still skeptical of our motives at times. You would think these guys would know we aren't here to hurt them! If the most unpleasant thing we've ever done is put a halter on them and stick nasty dewormer in their mouths you'd think they would feel lucky lol. Too bad they can't understand English!!
I understand your pain with Zep. While it sounds mean, a method I use is setting the grain next to me in a chair for 30 mins. He(/She) had 30 mins to come near me to eat dinner or breakfast. If they didn't, they would have an opportunity at the next feeding. Eventually "hunger" won out and now my donkey will not only come up to you for dinner, but is also required to pet me by rubbing her head on my outstretched hand. No rub? No dinner, to this day. Lots of baby steps, have to be near me, have to let me touch you, have to let me pet you then was you have to pet me, but it worked. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteAnimals with trust issues are so heart breaking.
ReplyDeleteWell, donkeys seem pretty darn smart, so I'm sure Zep will figure it all out fairly quickly (especially since you do clicker training and will have him associate haltering with something positive!).
ReplyDeleteJust a side note--I would be very wary about leaving a nylon halter on him all the time. If it doesn't have a breakaway leather portion, he could get himself snagged on something and hurt himself. OK, I will step off my safety soapbox now, lol. :-)
Darn it! Baby steps I guess. I like what appydoesdressage said though. Food can be a pretty powerful tool.
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