ah the first post.

Ok, lets see, I'm making this to track the progress with my Donkey, Daisy. She is a 5 year old Jennet, from the BLM. I dont know much about her from her previous owner, other than she lived in a 12' x 12' pen for the last two years.

I'm not sure why I bought a donkey. I love all equines, I've met very lovely donkeys. She seemed like such a sweet girl when I went & looked at her & I was sure I could provide her with a happier home. And quench my need of having an equine companion - something I've wanted ever since I could remember.

Today Daisy's pen is 4x larger than her previous one, complete with lots of fresh water, hay, a jolly ball & even some home made toys hanging for her to play with ( i.e. washed out laundry detergent bottles with some rocks for shaking, hanging by some twine). I catch her almost on a daily basis playing with both of her toys. She also has access to a salt/mineral block.

She redesigned her pen a week after she got her, by chewing two very large holes in the side of the shed. She said she needed a better view & a vent for the breezes. I actually believe her. Since then she's stopped her renovation on her shelter & seems content. ( the shed is very old by the way).

So far we've went on a couple walks, the last one was better than the first. She didn't quite drag me down the road as much as the first time. She leads well & I call her a very 'forward' donkey, she doesn't mind going for a stroll. Contrary to the old image people think of where the donkey is planted & the human is at the other end of the lead rope pulling with all of their strength.

She is 100% ok with her front feet being handled, we're working towards the backs through grooming. When I went & picked her up, she would NOT let me get near her back end to pick up her feet. I was pretty insistant on seeing that it could be done. When the previous owner wouldn't not do it either I asked her to get one of her friends to do it. Which she did. A lady came over & managed to get one of her back feet up.

I can touch her pretty much all over with a carrot stick. Ive used a rope once or twice to rub her midsection. But so far she still objects to me brushing her midsection. We'll see if she's just not used to it, or just being a donkey & saying 'I dont wanna'

So far I've had a lot of support from a Yahoo group called EARS4fun2. They're a great group of people over there that truely love their donkeys. A awesome source for information.

My short term goal at the moment is to get her ok with having her back feet handled so we can get her trimmed.

Long term goal: riding & driving ( as per her previous owner she supposidly knows this, but I could not get her to demonstrate it, then later on she said that she had never tried either with her, so we'll just assume that she's never had any training).

And so far despite when she's being a butt head - those moments where she just lets me hug her head & love on her, makes it all worth it.

I'll be adding more background info as I go. and as I remember!! haha!

I also wanted to add that I am not a trainer, of anything. i just love equines & like to work with them. I'd rather work with my animal myself & really bond with her, rather than send her out to a trainer. :) thats just me.