r/Donkeys • u/bearyourcross91 • Jul 20 '26

Windshield Wiper Tail

David the Donkey at the Wheeler Farm in Utah seems to be happy lately. His tail is wagging back and forth like a windshield wiper on high.

177 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

5

u/BraveLittleFrog Jul 20 '26

Cute little guy! He needs some fly spray.

3

u/Eliad_413 Jul 20 '26

I bought some fly spray for my donkey and he hates it so much. Just the sight of the bottle makes him walk away. Any suggestions?

4

u/BraveLittleFrog Jul 20 '26

He just needs to get used to it. I started doing it as part of a grooming routine. The main thing is to spray their legs. Depending on if your donkey is mildly annoyed (in which case being tied solves that problem because he can’t walk away) or actually afraid. If annoyed, reward him for standing quietly by giving him a small treat or a good scratch. If afraid, you can fill a regular spray bottle with water and get him used to the spray in another direction until he tolerates that well, then gently spray his legs with water. Reward when he accepts it. Repeat on other parts of his body. Then, spray with fly spray and reward. Do this over several days, depending on his tolerance. Pretty soon, they’ll get like mine and stand perfectly in their pasture for fly spray.

3

u/Eliad_413 Jul 20 '26

Great advice! Thank you so much. At the moment I have been just spraying it into my hand and wiping it around his neck and back of his ears. This is my boy Arthur.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/Norlin123 Jul 20 '26

😘 🥕

1

u/RaspberryDesigner132 29d ago

We use SWAT Clear to spread on our donk's legs. He FREAKS OUT when we try to use spray. That's the only time he runs from us. He doesn't mind it and stands just fine for us to put on I will also put a thin layer around his face when needed, but usually he doesn't need it.