Worried about my male Bactrian's increasing aggression...

[LisaAnn]

I am a relatively new animal trainer. I've worked with dolphins in the past, and I am familiar with all the basics of positive reinforcement training, operant conditioning, and whistle/clicker training.

At the facility where I work now, I am in charge of training our fifteen month-old male Bactrian camel--whom we have had since he was eight months old.

He came from a facility where he lived in a herd setting and received no one-on-one training, so I have done all his training from Day One. (He lived by himself for the first six months, and he has been in a pen with our fifteen year-old female for the last few weeks.)

I have done the vast majority of his training from outside his fence, because he has always been pushy when you are inside with him. He is whistle-trained, and he knows target and stationing. He is also halter-trained, and we often go for walks inside his pen--although I always keep a stick with me to keep him from getting too close, and he will only behave if I am actively engaging him with whistles and treat rewards. I also can command him to walk away from gates and doorways when I am entering and exiting his exhibit.

The problem is that I've never felt safe with him when I am in with him and he is unhaltered. He hasn't grasped "Back off" yet, and when I try to hold a stick out to push him away when he's getting too close, he just continues pushing back at me and whipping his head around like he's going to bite me.

Since we introduced him to our female, he has--unsurprisingly--gotten much worse. And we have no plans to castrate him because we might want him to breed with her.

It's gotten to the point where I just don't know what to do about him. I don't want to go into a "protected contact only" mode, but I don't want to undo all the good we've done by reverting back to the old, intimidation ways of training.

How can I get him to respect my space if he won't even back away from me??

Thanks in advance for any help you might have. I'm just at a loss right now.

[camel4ever]

I believe your camel is beginning to be influenced by male hormones. The pushing is a typical breeding behaviour: the male push a female to couch to mate with her. Juvenile camels have a lot of energy and this is just part of growing up! In 2-3 years he will cool down. If things get out of control try to put a hobble connecting the front to the rear leg of the same side. This will allow him to walk but not to run or do fast movements. Try to develop a working routing of daily activity with him haltered, you will guide him to couch, carry symbolic weights etc. Give him space and time to understand how the world is working! You may see more behavioural aspects and restraint techniques at http://www.lulu.com/content/759963

[LisaAnn]

Thank you for your response. I haven't tried teaching him to couch yet; maybe that will help control him because he definitely can't be sitting and pushing me at the same time.

Any tips on couching an exuberant youngster?

[camels]

Your camel sounds a lot like mine, and from what I can tell after seeking out mine own information -- this is perfectly normal behaviour for a young camel.

Mine will be 2 in January, and I would say he started playing at being aggressive around 15 months. He has never hurt me, but I always keep my guard up around him. He likes to throw his head around and stomp and generally try and push me around. He gets very upset at cars, and likes to dominate plastic bins (but thankfully not so much me). I carry a stick sometimes and push him back with it. He's also pretty good with "get back" or "back up", but sometimes he's so upset I can tell his brain is fried and he's not listening. :rolleyes:

A couple people on this forum suggested that he needed a companion animal to dominate him and create a hierarchy. Maybe a male llama or a male donkey. I'm considering getting either, I think it would help.

[LisaAnn]

I wish I could get him a male companion, but unfortunately, he's stuck with just the fifteen year-old female Bactrian camel... And although she occasionally stands up to him, he certainly seems to enjoy pushing her around, too.

Has anyone been successful decreasing aggression through the clicker/whistle method? I would LOVE some tips!

[camels]

Honestly, after last night I believe that they really need to be bullied around a bit. I don't mean hit or hurt in any way, but they need to be shown who's boss. This is natural for them in herds, the lead camel will display dominance through wrestling and strength.

Late last night I needed to get my camel back in his corral panel, because my friend needed to use her car in the morning to get to work. He's aggressive towards cars, and I didn't want him following the car to the gate and bothering her. He doesn't like to go in the corral, so he's very stubborn. He refuses to move and stays exactly where he is. Or even worse he twists his neck down and throws it back up in the air to break my strength and get free. I don't get the impression that he's trying to hurt me, but he knows if he continues like this then he will get his own way and not have to be put away in the corral.

I was using a rope halter and nothing else, trying to pull this giant animal across a field. I was very persistent, and stayed with his head. Every time he tried to throw it under I held him down as hard as he could and kept tugging and shaking on his halter to make it uncomfortable to him. I spoke in a firm voice, whereas I am usually even-toned with him. I was never actually angry, but he knew I meant business very quickly and followed me willingly into the corral. I thought I would take a chance and try to ask him for a cush as well, hoping I wouldn't end on a bad note with him not listening to me.

He very much did NOT want to cush, but I held his head down by the rope halter and would not let him get back up, all the while telling him to cush, cush, cush! He gave in, and I released all pressure on him.

His behaviour with me last night, entirely changed in a matter of minutes the second I assumed a more aggressive attitude. I expect if I needed to put him in the corral panel today, it would be a notch easier, and then the next day hopefully easier still. He is so big, and I'm so small, there is no way on earth I could have ever gotten him in there unless he decided he actually wanted to listen to me. So it felt great to know he wanted to do it, and that I was in charge.

I think my boys behaviour "problems", and your boys "problems" are really just the result of being teenage camels with a sudden onset of hormones.

I've never used clicker training, but I am interested in trying that at some point.

[camelsinfrance]

Hi
I have clicker trained my 4 Bactrians from wild to completely non aggressive and been a clicker purist.
Please feel free to call me on Skype, phone or speak via facebook / msn - I will forward you my details now by pm.
Kind regards

[doublehump]

For your information on camels in heat,
please see PBS California Gold episode, by Huel Howser.

http://www.calgold.com/visiting/Default.asp?Series=1100&Show=620

It's a fun intro for beginners.

Ricky Signing Out :)

[bactrian]

Hi LisaAnn, how interesting. I work with dolphins since 12 years. Now I'm so crazy about camels and I work with them since 3 years.
At the moment I'm at a place with 4 bactrian camels, one is a 6 year old male. This specific behavior is clearly enhanced when in mating season. He comes often annoying me, tries to grab my legs with his mouth (smothly) and sometimes start to push me around. When he does that I clearly show him with clear loud voice to stop. Sometimes one can use the ignoring technique, but mostly it's no use to ignore a 800 Kg male who annoys you. Sometimes you have to get clearly harder (for example give a slap on the mouth when he tries to bite your leg) The best is to use the positive reinforcement method as often you can, but when needed be very hard, show who's the boss. Camels need a very clear line.