[Mad Dawg]

I had a ram named Darius. He was a big, BIG boy, and beautiful. He was some ram.

But he was violent. More than once I would be in his paddock and hear ba da BUMP ba da Bump as he galloped up to clobber me.

Now, rams aren't really hostile. They just like to fight. Even my best ram, Genghis, would clobber me once in a while, out of affection. And when they fight, of course they expect to get hit on the head.

So I did not follow the advice of many, which was to have a length of 2x4 with me and just hit him a lick on the head when he charged. Instead, I would step aside and kick him in the butt as he went by.

It was clear from his reaction that this was not at ALL what he expected. He backed up and charged again. Again I dodged, and kicked him in the butt. I figured that was enough for one day. At feeding time, I got him in a place where I could scratch him on the brisket, which is the magic place for sheep. They just get ecstatic.

So in one day, he had learned that hitting me was an unrewarding experience, AND that I could make him feel good.

He was tame in less than a week. He never tried to hit me again, but he did come up to be petted and scratched.

When somebody comes on looking to get clobbered, the most loving thing to do may be NOT to clobber him.

Verb. sap.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Ummmm, are you suggesting we should try to tame Jedediah? And then pet him and scratch him on his brisket? (I’m assumming Jedediah has a brisket, since apparently goats do.)

[Quix]

Love your frequently anointed wisdom.

LUB, TOO.

[Alex Murphy]

I did not follow the advice of many, which was to have a length of 2x4 with me and just hit him a lick on the head when he charged.

My name's Alex Murphy. And this is how I prepare for a typical day in the Religion Forum.