Green Care Lab UC Davis

New visitors.
The roof of the GCL goat shelter is now occupied by a nesting pair of visiting Canada geese. Dad has assumed perimeter security in the nearby horse pasture. Mom is overseeing operations from the roof.
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The Green Care Lab is studying how human behavior, neurobiology, and physiology change in response to human-animal interactions. Thus, it’s important for us to control for any confounding issues scared, surprised, or seemingly naughtily-behaving critters might create during our scientific investigations.

That’s why our training with them is so important—not only for their comfort and well-being but also for cleaner, robust data collection!

With our goats, Cal and Lily, we are currently working on harness and leash training.

Yes! Goats can be leash-trained, just like dogs!

Disclaimer: THIS IS NOT A TRAINING VIDEO

Cal and Lily have been practicing their walks with us in halter training sessions, a great opportunity for our students and the goats to enjoy the weather and time with each other!

In these first few sessions, we are letting them get used to the feel of the harness on their bodies and how it will move as they walk and trot.

They then get rewarded with both verbal praise and goat-friendly treats!

This method is used to get Cal and Lily more comfortable with routine care and observe how they spend time outside their pen! 🐐