Donkeys

Donkeys.

wild donkeys can be trained very easily.

step one: isolate them.

if they're lonely, they will seek company. the donkey is a social animal. don't ALWAYS isolate them. only at the beginning, or when it's necessary.

approaching them. if you can approach them, don't touch their face first. touch a less offensive place, like the shoulder. scratch. never pat.

it's not a good idea to get them to come to you based on food or treats. instead.

step 2. walk up to the donkey slowly. do not let it run. before it runs, walk away from it. do this as many times as it takes. you walk closer to it every time. walking away from the donkey rewards him for his courage. do this the first and/or second time you approach him.

step 3. after that, walk up to him, if he runs, walk up to him until he stops running. it is in his nature to stop at some time to look at you. when he stops you stop for about fifteen seconds, then continue. note: you are NOT chasing him. walk calmly up to him.
usually you will only have to do this once. after this, it will be easy to approach even a donkey that was a few days ago from the blm. if it does take a few times, it's ok. sometimes walk around the whole field for hours just to scratch him on the withers.

this throws him off... he thought you were a threat, he'd avoided you as a threat for a long time... now you just scratch him?

spend time with him, talk to him. everyday go out and at least scratch his withers.

donkey do not need shoes. however, his hoofs do need trimmed, every 9 months.

donkeys can sense intentions to a degree, so do not get angry. have perfect patience.

when you trim his hooves: first, make him comfortable with you grabbing and lifting his leg. do this while on your daily visits. it's simple. while you're scratching or brushing him, brush down his leg a little. just as much as he's comfortable with. eventually, get all the way down. when he's comfortable with you grabbing his leg, squeeze gently on his calf, and lift. brush his hooves, and clean it out a little, and drop it. reward him with love and praise. if it comes time to trim his hooves, and you have not got him used to it yet. make sure the man you hire to trim them does NOT just throw a rope around him, tie him down, and trim the hooves. it's important they just use drugs. the reason is this: then they remember the last time they were trimmed, they just stood there, they do not remember they were drugged. though, this usually costs more.

donkey's love praise. conversely if you punish him, he will remember it. so punishments must not be harsh. example, if he bites you, leave for the day. that's it. do not hit unless he does something dangerous. if he kicks or shoves, i hit. it has to be immediately, never too hard, and leave him before he runs from you.

this is important: always leave him. NEVER let him leave you. even after a walk, when you release him, before he realizes he's loose, walk away.

a donkey is often thought to be stubborn. this is always the case when there is some degree of mistrust. a donkey will NEVER do ANYTHING that he thinks will hurt him.
i shouldn't say never. or anything i guess, because if he trusts you. and you always protect him, never hurt him, and lead him around enough, he will trust you to the degree that he will walk right up to anything.