Hypothetical question about giraffes

[Curlygirl06]

Dh and I were having a debate about giraffes (wild evening here!).
If you had a pet giraffe and you took it out for a walk, would you put a collar and lead up the top by its head, or down the bottom of its neck by its body?
One of us thinks it should go up by its head, so that you could gently pull its head down if you were going under a low bridge, for example, or pull it to the side if you were going round a corner so it could see where its going.
One of us thinks it should be by the body as otherwise you'd have a bloody long lead (duh, it's a giraffe so obvs!) and you could guide it just as well from the bottom as up the top.
YANBU of course it should be at the top by the head.
YABU of course it should be at the bottom of its neck near the body.

Neither. Roller boots on his hoofs and walkman on his ears and give him a big push.

Head between knees for going under bridges.

They need their freedom.

Just to return briefly to the side topic of zebras and body image/flattering outfits. Have you ever seen a skinny zebra? Apparently their diet and metabolism is such that they are basically permanently bloated. So a zebra that wanted pyjamas to make it look thin would be highly avant garde.

Use a halter like a horse. You can get 10m lunge lines/long reins which would be sufficient to lead your giraffe. As with horses, teach your giraffe to lower it's head when there is pressure on the lead so that it can safely go under bridges. You would need to teach it a lower cue to get the halter on - should be easy with treats.

You will also need to teach it to move away from it's handler so it doesn't trample you to death when startled. You may struggle to do a running mount, but you could teach your giraffe to bow so that you could jump on from the ground.

could you just avoid bridges?

Neither. You’d ride on its back.

Love giraffes and love this question OP!

I am a giraffe whisperer. Mine doesn’t need any sort of collar, she is well trained. She does, however; insist on having its hooves painted pink to match her handbag and lipstick. Her name is Gloria. She sometimes is partial to a wig and sunglasses, on those days she identifies as Bernard.

Those Dalton Zoo giraffes sound just like the horses in the Household Cavalry - strong willed with a mind of their own 😂

Posing for a photograph, obviously!

I know you said only leads could be considered, but a head collar is the only correct answer.

Another question is, how would you get the lead/ head collar on? Do you have to climb up the neck or could you train it to lower its head?

That is brilliant! Was it political?

But where would it wear a bowtie?

Unless of course it could see over the top...

Amazing! Thank you. Crank its neck backwards…I am trying to imagine. Like a swivelling construction crane perhaps. I guess this is why we don’t see giraffes heading towards rivers often in safari docos. Although with their height they could mostly wade across unless the current were too strong.

I think it would be incumbent on you as the walker to plot a route that does not involve low bridges.

A very pertinent question. - one that I believe hasn’t been addressed yet.

Giraffes are herd animals living in groups of about 10 or more so get a few and try out different methods.

At the bottom. Then it could drop it's head down under the bridge and check the other side for lions.

Now lions are another matter! I believe that if I had a pet lion we could be friends, like a big dog.

Very sensible ideas, I don't know why I didn't think of the harness/ reins options when we started discussing the subject. But to be fair, we needed a level playing field when we first started talking about it. My dh has had nothing to do with horses so wouldn't be able to see the advantage or disadvantage of reins/ harness/ bridle type of thing, whereas I'm defo leaning towards that idea. Hmm.

I’m imagining lying in bed and my pet giraffe looking through my bedroom window to let me know she wanted to come in for her breakfast. A bit like my cat at the patio doors, but at altitude.

I think you'd have to entice it to bend its neck to put the collar on. Not sure what the Dreamies equivalent is for giraffes, another gap in the market perhaps?

That's all very well until an unexpected bridge turns up on your walk. Around the local area, you know where bridges are and can avoid them, but if you were on holiday your bridge knowledge would be limited. Hmm again.

What kind of holidays did you have in mind OP?

Another untapped market, giraffe friendly hotels and cafes.

All votes here agreeing that you need some sort of bridle with a bit, and long lead, to lead from the top end
50:50 split on whether whether a tie or bow tie on the giraffe should be at the top or bottom of the neck
No consensus on how the giraffe should wear a skirt or trousers.

Lots of questions about the hypotheticals of giraffe centaurs

I can only think that it would do some kind of limbo!