I was given two donkeys November 10, 2009. They are both intact males, and are about 7 and 10 years old. They were kept by the previous owners for guarding sheep from coyotes, but apparently they were afraid of coyotes and didn't much like sheep.
We have 18 acres of tall clover about 5 miles out of town. The land is flood irrigated, and we have water but no power there. We made them a makeshift loafing shed out of a chain link dog kennel and tarps. I've had horses before, but never donkeys. They have never had halters on them, and although they have never been mistreated, they were very standoffish at first.
Their hoofs really need trimming bad, so the main goal of my training is to get them to a point where a farrier can trim them. At this point I haven't introduced the clicker yet, but that is next. I go out to the place twice a day and break ice and refresh their water. I have dishes for each of them, and put a little 'Select Horse Feed' in each dish. At this point, three weeks into it, they come up to me most of the time when I go out there. They are definitely food motivated. They let me scratch them on the neck.
This evening or tomorrow, I'm going to start associating the clicker with treats. Now I have no way of separating them for training, so I am going to have to teach them their names and use them a lot when training. I am definitely open to ANY suggestions from people who know more about clicker training than I do.
