Ah, the elusive llama retrieve! Don't be ridiculous, you can't get a LLAMA to RETRIEVE! Actually, you can. The good news is that it really isn't that difficult. The better news is that you're well on your way already if you've done your ComeBefores! What can a llama...
"Kush" is a word used with camels to tell them to lie down. I'm sure it comes from the French "couche", but it rhymes with "push". Llamas kush when they're travelling in trailers. They frequently kush when going up or down in elevators. They kush when they're...
In the beginning, a housetrained llama is a convenient "byproduct" of llama culture, which is wonderful, until you start taking your llama into nursing homes, parades, shows, or your car. At that point, if you've lived with a well-trained dog, you start wishing you...
GOING IN HOUSES Once your llama understands haltering, giving to the lead, going on a scale and going in and out of the trailer, going in a house will be a small affair (for the llama, at least). Set yourself up for success - turn off the radio, TV, dishwasher and...
Yes, shearing only happens once a year. Yes, if you're good at it, you can probably shear a llama in 30 minutes. So really, how much effort do you want to put into something that happens once a year for 30 minutes? Well, first, if your llama isn't very well trained,...
When we had five llamas, they were all brilliantly trained to stand quietly for grooming, shearing, toenail cutting, etc. For scarier medical procedures, we'd use a gate to hold them against a wall. When we got up between 40 and 50 llamas, however, it became a bit...
Even the wildest, least tame llama sooner or later is going to have to go in somewhere – into a trailer to get to the vet or be sold, or into a chute to have his toenails cut. A llama that WILLINGLY goes in things is a whole different ball game. Imagine taking a llama...
Targeting may seem like a pretty silly little trick, but it's enormously useful, and leads to lots of other great tricks and behaviours, like retrieving. Besides that, it's very easy to teach and lots of fun to watch his lips stretch out to touch your hand when he...
Visiting schools and nursing homes, going in trailers and cars and kitchens, getting sheared... there are hundreds of things you can teach a llama - even housetraining (that's not tough - they're BORN housebroken)! Neat things start here: 25 Giving Kisses Silk giving...
Why don't they like their tails lifted? It's a trust issue. The only time a female wants her tail lifted is when she's lying down being bred - a volunteer position. Otherwise she wants that area private, thank you very much, and will spit off anybody who fusses with...
Just add "playing with the foot" to Lifting The Front Foot, and you're ready to cut toenails. I prefer to sit on a low stool facing the back of the llama so I can rest the folded foot on my knee. Be extra careful the first few times that you don't cut into the quick....
Whoa, that sounds a little more scary than lifting the front feet! That's what the whip is for, though, so you can get the llama completely comfortable about you touching his back legs without any danger of you getting kicked. If he kicks the whip, no big deal. It...
Legs and feet are very sensitive. Come at the front legs slowly. Touch the withers, reward. Touch the withers and slide down to the shoulder, reward. Touch the withers, the shoulder, and slide down to the elbow, reward. Stop and work at whatever level you need to...
Let's face it, llamas don't like to be touched. They don't sleep in a pile like dogs. They don't pet themselves on people like cats. They don't groom each other like horses. Their personal space is important to them and they're not going to enjoy you touching them...
An animal that can't be touched is a wild animal. Llamas have been domesticated for 6 or 7,000 years - but it's the trainer of THIS llama that teaches it to be tame. The handling lessons start here: 20 I Wanna Touch You All Over... Maybelline and Zane in the park on...