Starting Alpaca and Llama Crias

Page 5

We don't necessarily touch the same baby every day or even any of them every day. As the "lessons" progress, we move on to rub the neck initially using the back of our hand as we pass. The result may be an initial startle but rarely enough to get up. The touch has happened, we are gone and the only remaining challenge is in trying to figure out what just happened! This touch can soon progress to the head and ears. No grabbing or holding, just a stroke or two. The results have been wonderful. These babies are relaxed and approachable, but not at all "in your face". The moms express very little concern over our interaction with their baby. We have kept babies whom we have raised in this way and they are now grown having their own babies. These moms are as easy to handle as when they were babies. Using little effort and only a few extra moments while out there doing the chores, we are experiencing yet another generation of relaxed and approachable lamas.

In most cases, this groundwork has made haltering just as matter of fact as the touching. We rarely get around to haltering until about 6 or 8 months unless there is a specific need. That is not to say it cannot be done earlier or later. Privately, I have been known to let haltering slip until well over a year. By the time we introduce the halter, we have already had a number of interactions. We've gone by and scratched a neck, brushed over the ears and often worked a mouth. We've touched the back, the legs and have lifted the feet. They have become comfortable in close quarters with a human and overall touching is no cause for panic.

It truly came as a great - and pleasant - surprise to find haltering had become often simply a matter of placing the halter on their face. The more "formal lessons" for us now begin with the attachment of a lead - with the experience in feeling pressure/movement that the halter would perhaps mean something more than another touch. Though leading is another subject altogether, it has been our experience that those lamas who are comfortable both in close proximity of two-leggeds and with human touch, are usually far more confident in learning new skills than those who are not.

Choosing Your Path

Much has been discussed and written around the subject of the initial handling and training of alpaca and llama babies. There are numerous approaches all with the sincere intent of providing the best care, handling and training possibilities for our animals and us. In choosing the approach, which might work best for you, it is important to first revisit your goals. What sort of relationship do you, personally, desire with your lamas? How might a particular approach fit into your personal life philosophy? If you are breeding lamas, you are likely creating a "product". Consider the end use or uses for which you are breeding and how the success of suitability for that end use can be directly related to their training and handling. It would seem we are all "cursed" to live in a world of little time for anything. We readily embrace a number of things from drive-through banking and food service to drive-through liquor stores and weddings. Unfortunately, whether it be with our children, our friends or our lamas, there are no true short cuts to building a relationship or a solid training base. It takes time and consistency.

Whichever path you choose, be sure it is one in which you can be comfortable, firmly support and remain consistent. When discovering a new idea or method, measure it against your chosen way of doing things. If it seems to fit, if you can get behind it and can continue to remain consistent in your behavior, try it. An approachable and easy to handle lama is one which is desired and valued. And, one thing is for sure, it most certainly enhances our "work" and life with lamas.

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Try not to have a good time...
this is supposed to be educational.

Charles Schulz

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