So much to do!

I have been busily crafting away on my soaps and knitted/crocheted products to get ready for the holiday season!! There never seems to be enough time between online updates, listing products at my store and etsy and eBay, not to mention Twitter, and Facebook and not to mention taking care of the animals (feed, poop clean up, herd health) training with Camelidynamics. Whew - I am tired just typing it all!!!

On top of all this - I am now helping even more people train their animals, helping Marty with basic clinics, and showing !

I recently returned from another advanced clinic in Oregon with Marty and have just a few items to go in order to be a full fledged Practitioner. This should be all done by mid-September. I will now be able to host small groups to help them train llamas/alpacas with respect and kindness! I am very excited!

I will be planning a group session at my farm after Open Farm days - so if you are interested - please let me know!!

Thats all for now - I have much crafting to do !

Camelidynamics Advanced Clinic June 2009

I got back from Bend, Oregon about 6 weeks ago after attending another exciting, fun filled learning experience at Marty McGee-Bennett's Ranch. I am going back to Bend on Saturday Aug 8th for another clinic so that I can become a Certified Practitioner of Camelidynamics. Currently I am a Certified Handler/Apprentice Practitioner.

The clinic in June helped me to learn a few key things . . .

1. if you don't practice you don't get better
   
2. each animal needs to be approached anew with no preconceived notions of how he/she will act or react
   

Point number 1 stresses the fact that you have to be working with your animals everyday and with different techniques, not necessarily for them, but for you. I often avoid the rope and wand technique because I like to use the mid-line catch. Typically 95% of my animals allow this, are comfortable with it and it is easy for both the humans and the alpacas/llamas. However, there are a few animals that would really benefit from the rope and wand, so after I left the June advanced clinic, I made it a mission to practice this technique on my farm, more for me to hone my skills as I advance in the practitioners program rather than for the alpacas, although they have also greatly benefited.

Point number 2 stresses that just like humans, camelids are all different, with different experiences and different personalities. While at the June advanced clinic, there was a llama that was labeled as difficult by her owner, and one of the practitioners in the clinic approached the llama with this in mind. She made some errors in judgment and was unable to effectively work with this llama. What that taught me was to approach each animal with a blank slate and bring with you all your "tools" to handle whatever situation arises. Sometimes animals take to a halter immediately and walk like they have been in the show ring a hundred years. Some animals take much more practice before you can even approach them with the halter. This is where you need to be experienced in ALL the Camelidynamics techniques so that you can switch approaches quickly.

Take each lesson as an experience and remember that even though you may have haltered, led and shown hundreds of animals, this may be their first time and they can be reacting out of a place of fear. If they are young, go slow as this is new to them and they may be fearful. If they are older and were not raised on your farm, they could have had bad prior experiences which makes them fearful.

Some tips to remember:

• Remain calm
  
• Do things safely (for both you and the animal)
• If something isn't working, change techniques
• Take a "blank slate" in the pen with you when you are working with a new animal, making no assumptions about how this animal is going to react. Make no assumptions about the animal even if the owner thinks he/she is difficult
  
• Don't make initial sessions long, especially with young animals 5 - 15 minutes is sufficient, if a first lesson with a weanling - keep it short
• Don't start training on animals younger than 5 months of age - they mentally aren't ready, it is a world of difference training a 5 month old versus a 7 month old
  
• End on a positive note - have the animal do something that will allow them to feel like they succeeded. For example - if they have been doing well standing still and allow you to approach them but don't quite have down walking . . . then end with standing still. This will allow your energy of "good boy" to radiate to them and they will know that training isn't so scary!
• Get help - if you are having trouble - get help. Feel free to look on my website about Camelidynamics and reach out to me if you need help, either myself or one of the other practitioners will be more than happy to work with you and your camelid !!

To read more about Camelidynamics and how a handler/practitioner may help you - click here.

To get Marty's book which I highly recommend - look to the top right of my blog and purchase it.

A Camelidynamics Success Story - Jimmy Mac

To the left - Jimmy at the show 11/23/08
To the right - Jimmy as a cria Jan 2007

Alma Park Jimmy Mac was one of the cutest crias we ever had with his heart shaped nose and big personality, but he was a naughty boy. He did not like to get shots or touched or much of anything. I thought for sure he was not a show prospect in attitude alone. He did have all the other hallmarks of doing well at a show (confirmation, head, fiber etc). He is late to mature (small for his age)- but I thought, lets get him out there and see how he does.

We halter trained him as a cria - but he liked to jump around and do this funny thing with his neck that made him look like a camel. So about 4 weeks before the show - Laura and I decided to start sessions with him once a week and this would include taking him and a friend out of the barn for a walkabout on the farm. He looked around alot, stopped at the fence to check out the girls and thought the ducks were going to kill him, but all in all, he was slowly getting better.

I did nothing with him a week prior to the show and did not mess with him at all before his class. I see some folks endlessly walking around their animals before the show and I think it can make them tired and cranky. The morning that we had to load up, I put his halter on and walked him to the trailer. Of course he did not want to jump up, so my husband picked him up and loaded him into the trailer. He and his buddy and several other hummed, but eventually settled down and we were off to the show.

We arrived at the show and walked the boys in, of course Sebastian is easy to handle and stood there regal and distinguished. Jimmy Mac as soon as we stepped foot into the show arena, stood proud, posing with an attitude of "yeah, that's right, look at me !" This was quite a transformation. He was like a little man. He behaved very well in the show ring for both me and Laura and took a fifth place in his class, mostly due to his smaller stature. He made me proud of him and the way he behave the whole weekend. He had his father's attitude of calm confidence and never did the neck thing.

He is now settled in back at the farm and acting like a goofy teenager - but I know he will be a well behaved little gentleman at the spring shows.

So I tell you all - if you have a juvenile or yearling that behaves naughty at home, that is not necessrily the way they will act off the farm. Take a shot - they may just surprise you.

Giving Shots using Camelidynamics

Today while my husband was out picking up hay and I was alone at the barn, I decided to try my new technique that I learned from Marty for giving shots. (By the way, I use Ivermectin for Meningial worm prevention at the dose of 1 cc per 50 pounds).

First a little history. When we started 6 years ago, we would chase the animal, my husband would grab and hold and I would give them the shot, albeit clumsily. After reading Marty's book, about 3-4 years ago, I developed a new technique in which I would try to give the shot be myself standing in front of the animal, putting my left arm around their neck and giving the shot with my right hand. That worked on most of the animals, and was clearly better than the chase, but still did not make the animals happy. I blocked their escape route and some of the larger alpacas had a definate advantage over me. My llamas had no issue with shots and I did not need to employ any technique except to ask them to stand and perhaps bribe them with grain.

After my advanced clinic with Marty, she showed us her technique for giving shots. . . far superior than what I had been trying on my own. In a pen (10x10 at the largest, smaller is better), bring in animals enough that there is not a great amount of room for them to run and they feel more comfortable with many friends. For my big boys (200 lbs), this amounts to about 6 animals. I get all my needles drawn up for an individual pen, pick an animal (in my head) and then lean over the animal from the side and give the shot in the opposite side then the one I am standing on. I allow them to walk if they want, never block their escape route and do not hold onto them. I don't need to chase or grab at all. I approach from the side behind their eye.

I was able to give all my boys shots this way today, except for one. They seemed much happier for several reasons. The first I think is because I walked into the pens properly with my shoulders opened in a non-agressive posture, I never blocked their escape route and I thnk the fact that I went into the pens alone without my husband made them feel more confident and trusting that no one was going to grab and hold.

Overall it was a tremendously successful day. So what about the one boy that did not want to work with me and my new technique? Sunny is his name and is one of my top studs (a Bueno son) and wellover 200 pounds. He is usually VERY cooperative and easy to catch. I usually only need to use the midline catch and halter him for breeding and he never once struggled. I thought about what made today different? I know he doesn't like my husband and I usually can give him shots without issue. I stopped for a second and thought . . . ahhhh - I put a new boy in the field last week . . . Sunny is the king of that field and perhaps he did not want to "give in" to the 2 legger with the new younger male watching? I used the wand and the catch rope, put it high on his neck and waiting until he felt balanced. Once he relaxed, I kept contact on the rope and administered the shot. When it was over, I removed the rope and he just stood there as if to say "Oh, that is all you wanted to do?". He did not run or move away from me.

All in all a wonderful day. No muss, no fuss! I think the animals enjoyed the experience and are happy I made the trip to Oregon!

Herding

I was never a person who "herded" my alpacas and llamas. I simply put food in the troughs (in the barn) and they learned to come in once the barn door opened. Well at Marty's clinic in Oregon, I learned how easy it is to herd a group of animals.

We needed to move a group of male yearlings from the weanling area to the pen where there are other young boys and of course a guard llama. Using a wand and a dressage whip as the other wand (I just placed a wand order from Marty), I decided to give it a try. The trick is to guide them with the whips and use them as a deterrent. We never hit them with them, but may touch them to guide them to where we want them to go. I went into the pen that is in the barn where the boys were and closed the barn door. I "cut" them from the rest of the group and guided them into the aisle way of the barn. Once all 5 of them were in the aisle of the barn, I simply guided them into the new pen (hubby was the gate keeper). All but one of the boys went in like it was no big deal. One boy "Montana" wanted to run around the barn and visit the other animals, but with a little guidance, he too went into the new pen. It was all very easy for us and seemingly stress free for the boys.

Always looking to improve on techniques - the only thing I will do different next time, is to make sure there are no other animals in the barn sticking their noses over the gates, this distracts the animals I am working with, and makes our job a bit harder.

The boys are enjoying their new pen with the other boys and I did not have to grab or wrestle anyone to do it.

Respect and safety for the animals is what you need to keep in mind, as well as "feeling" what they may be thinking such as fear, stress etc.

Prince - 1st Lesson

Prince is a male in-tact alpaca and is almost 4 years old. I have had him since he was about 16 months and I have never tried to halter him. My first lesson with Prince was 7/31/08 and is described in this post. Since I catch all my animals with the mid-line catch, I went into the pen with my handler helper and a halter. I caught him as I normally do with no issue, balanced him and put the handler helper on. He was calm and in balance and allowed me to put the halter on with no issue. I used my newly acquired skill of ratcheting, but he was not getting my signals, so I stepped back, removed the halter and decided to do some more balancing work with him and the catch rope. After he accepting that, I did some TTouch and called it a day. I worked with him for about 10 minutes and he seemed calm and unafraid during the entire lesson. He seemed to enjoy the TTouch. I think I need to practice the ratcheting technique a bit more on other animals who already lead before I can go back and work with Prince on this. I will continue the other techniques on him, but will not work with him on leading until I get better at this technique myself.

My Work With Camelidyamics

I just returned from Oregon on Thursday 7/31/08 after attending an advanced seminar with Marty. It was amazing! I have been using her methods for years to work with my alpacas and llamas. I have learned from her books and videos, but it was nothing like being there in person and learning one on one. We learned balance and respect for the animals and I am using this blog to discuss my case studies and handling techniques. Chronicling this information is important for me to see my progress as a handler and I hope that it can help others to gain a mutually beneficial relationship with their animals.