Gosling "Teenager" stage questions

[EvenLater]

Ok, where to start! Goodness Cas is bigger every day! Now he's got a couple little ..."habits"... I'm trying to correct, or hoping he'll just outgrow? I do full well understand that he's not a dog and can't really be trained like one of course, but my goal here is to raise a well behaved good mannered goose. So...Let me start at the beginning...

I've redone his house now, no more shavings. He likes the comfy mat much better. He has LOTS of toys, of all different kinds. Stuffed ones to snuggle and toss, his hard rubber "Kong" type ball, rope toys, his toy I made him with straws and wood balls and rope, a tennis ball he stole from my dog (Lol), etc. He's on a 50/50 diet now (if not more) of greens to feed. Still gets Niacin in his water too. And he's really starting to feather. At my best guess, he is nearing 3 weeks old.

Ok, now for these "habits". Now he stands a bit over a foot tall and when I crouch down he's about eye level with me. Occasionally, he will jump and grab my hair. I don't want this behavior encouraged of course, so I have been redirecting him when he does it. I am always sure to praise him and give treats (meal worms are his all time fave) when he stops and does something more appropriate. He's not a real "biter" with his humans, but some times he seems to become almost obsessed with something? Like the carpet. He will just start pulling and pulling and pulling. I will redirect him and it'll work for a short time, but then he's right back to his fixation with the carpet. Occasionally, he'll then get almost mad when I redirect him and will nip at me as well. Of course at this age, his nips don't hurt at all, but again, it's definitely something I want to correct now.

Other than these things, Cas is really wonderful. He knows his name and will come running when he's called. He also knows the word "bedtime" and will go into his house on his own when I tell him. He loves to play with his toys with us, and will even go after his ball when rolled across the floor. He's also learned that being on a lap means it's calm time and he will calm right down and sit nicely. He also seems to recognize faces? Not only like he knows who we are, but that they ARE faces, and he's never tried to nip at a face. (Hair, hoods, ties, etc AROUND a face are all fair game tho of course lol) He knows me above everyone in the house and given something really scares him (yesterday it was a light up ball toy that scared the bejesus out of him lol), it's me he runs to with the scared baby "Qweeeeeeeeeee!" so I understand that I'm the one that needs to teach him.

I want him to grow into a well mannered goose that is a joy to all who meet him. I have begun socializing him already with humans not of his "flock" and he's doing quite well. I'd love for him to come camping with us, and on trips to the pet store and feed store, to fairs and farmers markets, etc. I know it can be done. I've personally met a house goose raised from a day old and he's just a doll. Any suggestions? Or is this (like I'm hoping) just a teenage phase that he will gradually outgrow?

 

[Carrosaur]

Ok, where to start! Goodness Cas is bigger every day! Now he's got a couple little ..."habits"... I'm trying to correct, or hoping he'll just outgrow? I do full well understand that he's not a dog and can't really be trained like one of course, but my goal here is to raise a well behaved good mannered goose. So...Let me start at the beginning...

I've redone his house now, no more shavings. He likes the comfy mat much better. He has LOTS of toys, of all different kinds. Stuffed ones to snuggle and toss, his hard rubber "Kong" type ball, rope toys, his toy I made him with straws and wood balls and rope, a tennis ball he stole from my dog (Lol), etc. He's on a 50/50 diet now (if not more) of greens to feed. Still gets Niacin in his water too. And he's really starting to feather. At my best guess, he is nearing 3 weeks old.

Ok, now for these "habits". Now he stands a bit over a foot tall and when I crouch down he's about eye level with me. Occasionally, he will jump and grab my hair. I don't want this behavior encouraged of course, so I have been redirecting him when he does it. I am always sure to praise him and give treats (meal worms are his all time fave) when he stops and does something more appropriate. He's not a real "biter" with his humans, but some times he seems to become almost obsessed with something? Like the carpet. He will just start pulling and pulling and pulling. I will redirect him and it'll work for a short time, but then he's right back to his fixation with the carpet. Occasionally, he'll then get almost mad when I redirect him and will nip at me as well. Of course at this age, his nips don't hurt at all, but again, it's definitely something I want to correct now. 

Other than these things, Cas is really wonderful. He knows his name and will come running when he's called. He also knows the word "bedtime" and will go into his house on his own when I tell him. He loves to play with his toys with us, and will even go after his ball when rolled across the floor. He's also learned that being on a lap means it's calm time and he will calm right down and sit nicely. He also seems to recognize faces? Not only like he knows who we are, but that they ARE faces, and he's never tried to nip at a face. (Hair, hoods, ties, etc AROUND a face are all fair game tho of course lol) He knows me above everyone in the house and given something really scares him (yesterday it was a light up ball toy that scared the bejesus out of him lol), it's me he runs to with the scared baby "Qweeeeeeeeeee!" so I understand that I'm the one that needs to teach him.

I want him to grow into a well mannered goose that is a joy to all who meet him. I have begun socializing him already with humans not of his "flock" and he's doing quite well. I'd love for him to come camping with us, and on trips to the pet store and feed store, to fairs and farmers markets, etc. I know it can be done. I've personally met a house goose raised from a day old and he's just a doll. Any suggestions? Or is this (like I'm hoping) just a teenage phase that he will gradually outgrow?

He should outgrow it. Pear outgrew the biting hair thing but she would still destroy any soft thing in the house, she started to live outside at four months old.

 

[Skyfire]

Have you tried pulling the WWF No Skin Beak Grab on her? It's my favorite move, hehehehe

I learned how from this board. It works well with Jupiter. She has been cross with me too. I don't mind if she wants to loudly complain. That's fine, she can complain all she wants. Once she goes from complaining to nipping, I immediately grab her beak (gently but firmly and without covering her nares) and tell her NO SKIN in a commanding tone. She screams like a little girl till I let go (which is usually no more than 1 to 2 seconds). She really detests that and doesn't try to nip me again in the same day. Her behaviors improves too. She lets go of whatever made her upset and moves on.

Some personalities take more work to train. If the beak grab doesn't work the first time, don't be discouraged. Keep at it. He will come around.

She was after my hair constantly too. I keep it tied back, but she still gets it. Just telling her NO, My Hair, wasn't very effective. Distracting with toys works ok, but not every time. I finally would stop interacting with her. That seems to be most effective. When she goes for my hair, I pull it out of her mouth and say, "That hurts Momma" I get off the floor and ignore her for a few minutes. She only goes for my hair on occasion instead of all the time. When she does, she tries to slowly sneak it in her mouth without me noticing (lol) whereas before she was yanking the heck out of it like a pyschopath in a cage match.

Jupiter is almost 6 weeks old. She just started lightening up on my hair a few days ago. So it took a lot of consistent training & trying a combination of techniques before it finally sunk in. Don't give up; they are like teens!

I laughed when I read the bit about Cas being scared of the light up ball. Jupiter ran away screaming from the garden hose when she first saw it. She did this everytime until hubby held it. I played in the mist saying, "MMMmmmm, look at all this water. All for me." Jupiter MUST investigate ANYTHING I'm touching or focusing on. She cautiously approached the garden hose. Once she realized fun stuff is coming out of it, she opened her mouth and lapped the water like a dog, lol. Maybe this can work for you too. Play with the ball, pretend to not notice Cas is nearby. Act like it's so much fun playing with the ball all by yourself. See how that goes!

 

[EvenLater]

Oh that's great! I have been holding his bill when he grabs skin, just the same as I had done with Biscuit. I think my issue is (and I stress MINE lol) that after having a parrot nearly completely sever a finger with a "playful nip" his "bites" barely phase me. However, I ACT like they do because I wouldn't want him nipping a child and frightening them of geese. I would love for Cas to be a true Ambassador for his species.

The light up ball is made up of several 'pieces' of twisty type things, and now that you mentioned the hose fear...it makes more sense to me. Both (to them anyway) look somewhat "snake-like" and my bet is that's the fear? Cas loves and investigates anything else I play with, even if he's cautious at first. But this ball looks like a ball of baby snakes and lights up, so now that I think about it, his fear makes a bit more sense to me. It's the first thing I've seen him REALLY panic about, not just the cautious approach, or even the "oh no Mama it's gonna get me!" approach. This was straight out panic, flee, fear. So, at least for now, he wins this one because I just can't "torture" him with it again, Lol.

I am going to try your suggestion of somewhat ignoring him when he does something inappropriate. It's worked with other birds and pets I've worked with, so why not him too? Can't believe I hadn't thought to try it though! He just has me so wrapped!

 

[Skyfire]

I hear you. If the poor little guy is just too stressed by it, definitely not worth the drama. I know what you mean about letting them "win" from time to time. I will post a story about Jupiter claiming my IPhone sometime. She tries to hide it from me by sitting on it, lol.

 

[EvenLater]

I hear you. If the poor little guy is just too stressed by it, definitely not worth the drama. I know what you mean about letting them "win" from time to time. I will post a story about Jupiter claiming my IPhone sometime. She tries to hide it from me by sitting on it, lol.

Ok whew! I'm glad that's "normal"! Cas has recently taken to hiding and/or running off with my car keys! He seems to understand that I need them to leave so he will sit all lovey dovey and as soon as I'm not looking, he'll grab them and run off! Once he laid on them. Another time he put them in his food bowl! His favorite though is hiding them under his ducky toy. As if I wouldn't think to look there! Silly goose!

 

[Skyfire]

Oh goodness that is too funny! She started this thing with the IPhone last week, but has become obsessed with it the past two days. At first I was giving it to her every time she hollered for it. Then I noticed she was copping a bit of a 'tude, so now I give it to her when I feel like it and refuse other times. She asks more nicely since I let her know this is MY phone and it is on loan for her. Two nights ago she was playing with it (attacking the heck out of the protective case), then she partially sat on it. When she fell asleep, I got my phone back by gently pulling the part that was still exposed. Jupiter woke up immediately and complained about the whole ordeal. Last night when I let her play with my phone, she used her feet to push her lazy body on top of my phone so that none of it was exposed, lol. I watched her from the corner of my eye, watching me from the corner of her eye. I was laying alongside the space I made for her in the family room. She pushed up the layer of towels in the middle of her space (where the two edges meet) and shoved my IPhone underneath them. She neatly pulled the edges of the towels back in place before leaving to graze on her indoor sod. She did a really good job putting the towels back exactly as I had them. If I hadn't watched her do this, I might still be looking for my phone, hahahaha

I have an old IPhone that I accidentally dropped in the ocean during a vacation to Waikiki. It turns on, but that's it. I'm going to put the case on that phone and give it to her to keep.

Geese are such comical characters

 

[EvenLater]

That's hilarious! Cas has a favorite toy. A stuffed frog that we gave him upon his day 1 arrival as something soft to snuggle with. He's fiesty when we try to take it away for cleaning! He'll grab and pull and scream when we finally get it. Reminds me of a toddler yelling "NOOOO! MINE!!" I too have tried waiting for him to be asleep and sneak it away for a quick wash n dry, but he always catches me. So, now I've taken to giving frog a "bath" while he watches, and then putting in the dryer to tumble dry. He will sit by the door of the dryer and watch until his friend is done! LOL

 

[Miss Lydia]

That's hilarious! Cas has a favorite toy. A stuffed frog that we gave him upon his day 1 arrival as something soft to snuggle with. He's fiesty when we try to take it away for cleaning! He'll grab and pull and scream when we finally get it. Reminds me of a toddler yelling "NOOOO! MINE!!" I too have tried waiting for him to be asleep and sneak it away for a quick wash n dry, but he always catches me. So, now I've taken to giving frog a "bath" while he watches, and then putting in the dryer to tumble dry. He will sit by the door of the dryer and watch until his friend is done! LOL

You both crack me up, if I didn't know ya'll were talking about goslings I'd swear it was a human child of about 2 yrs old you are talking about. lol

 

[Skyfire]

You both crack me up, if I didn't know ya'll were talking about goslings I'd swear it was a human child of about 2 yrs old you are talking about. lol

Yes indeed I feel like I have a little toddler waddling about, hahaha! Unlike the human variety I had many moons ago, I have taken a hundred more photos of my feathered baby. Shhhh....nobody tell my son!