this young baby or chase him away, so if you interact with him, you will be the most interesting item around.
Personal space is important to maintain; however, it is not necessary to push inquisitive crias away. A foot and a half of distance is a good rule of thumb. A human need only stop an animal from entering this space. And it is okay for you to reach out to pet and touch the animal if it is okay with him. Reach out away from your body and you can make contact without wrapping yourself around the animal. It is fine for us to touch our animals, but it is NOT fine for them to touch us.
Your interactions with animals must be respectful and should not be physical. It is not okay to wrestle and physically control the animals and not expect that they might do the same with you. Screaming and chest butting are natural behaviors that camelids engage in with each other – when humans yell and push it is remarkably similar. By becoming physical with your animals, these behaviors are encouraged. It is much better to put your hand up and show the young camelid what you want him to do which is to stop and notice your personal space. Use your hand to indicate the edges of your personal space. Do not rely on verbal cues, use your hands to show young animals to stay a polite distance from you, you will probably never have to do anything more (Figures 2.55 and 2.56).
Animals that have already been taught to rub and/or push will have to be re‐educated. One should figure out what this animal is gaining by following a person too closely or jumping on him or her. In most cases he is alleviating boredom. Most of the time, these young animals only choose to express these behaviors when they are deprived of age‐appropriate playmates (more important for males to have male playmates). If simply putting your hand out does not work, you may have to alter the environment so that the animal cannot engage in the behavior and then work on replacing it with something that works even better for the animal to get what he wants. Training a new behavior is a bigger subject than can be addressed here. My preference for training behaviors is to use food and a clicker. I begin by teaching the animal to target on my hand (that is to put his nose on my palm) or a plastic training aid and then I can put my hand/training aid out to the side away from my body. The animal targets on my hand or the training aid and is reinforced. It is not possible for him to be targeting on my outstretched hand and be too close to me at the same time (Figures 2.57 and 2.58).
Figure 2.55 This photo demonstrates a respectful and safe interaction between a cria and people.
Figure 2.56 This photo demonstrates an appropriate interaction in the field.
Figure 2.57 This camel was previously aggressive when fed. The author taught the animal to target and then nailed the target on the back wall of the stall. At feeding time, the camel was cued to touch the target and was safely away from the feed bowl allowing caretakers to feed safely.
Another suggestion for preventing the development of unwanted behavior in young camelids is to keep children away until the cria understands how to behave appropriately. Children are small and less intimidating to approach. Children are not disciplined enough to interact with impressionable young animals appropriately. When children are around, animals that do not understand how to behave should be haltered (Figure 2.59). Gelding an animal will help, however, it will not solve the problem – it simply uncomplicates it. The pros and cons of early age gelding are discussed in Chapter 16.
It is recommended to treat females no differently; treat them respectfully and insist on respectful behavior in return. Crias do best if they have other peers to play with. With other babies around, in many cases, the whole problem becomes a non‐issue. If you are new to camelids, it would be preferable to arrange for single babies to board at another breeder's farm during the first few months of a youngster's life. This may represent a bit of inconvenience but will save potential problems from developing later.
Camelids that become dangerously aggressive and will not respond to retraining are especially problematic. Once an animal learns that aggression works to make him/her feel more secure, it is exceedingly difficult to convince him to NEVER use these behaviors again. Training techniques that rely on force or reciprocal aggression usually escalate the behavior. When treated this way, most aggressive camelids will become selectively obedient to those humans that have “dominated” them and of whom they are afraid. It is also likely that these camelids will eventually turn on the owners and so they cannot be trusted. Often euthanasia is the only safe and most humane option for these animals.
Figure 2.58 By using a pouch to secure the food, a clicker and food reinforcement can be used even when working with camelids in groups.
Figure 2.59 Children frequently interact inappropriately with young crias. While this may be cute, it is teaching this animal that it is acceptable to engage in physical contact with humans.
Further Readings
1 Bennett, M.M. (2008). The Camelid Companion: Handling and Training Your Alpacas and Llamas. Bend, OR: Raccoon Press.
References
1 1 Bennett, M.M. (2006). The Positively Perfect Panel! Alpacas Magazine (Spring), pp. 68–73.
2 2 Clemente CJ, Dick TJ, Glen CL, et al: Biomechanical insights into the role of foot pads during locomotion in camelid species. Sci. Rep. 10:1–12, 2020.
3 3 Bennett, M.M. (2003). Let your Facilities Do Your Training and Handling for You. Alpacas Magazine (Spring), pp. 2–5.
4 4 Bennett, M.M. (2015). Catch 22, How You Catch your Alpaca Just May Be the Most Important Thing you Do! Alpacas Magazine (Summer).
5 5 Bennett, M.M. (2014). The Unbelievably Important Issue of Halter Fit and How it Affects You and Your Camelid. Alpacas Magazine (Spring).
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