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Alpacas
Magazine
eaching an alpaca to step out proudly on his own
in the show ring is a little bit like teaching a
Great Dane to retrieve ducks. It can be done, but
the animal is not exactly suited to it. Alpacas are
herd animals. Safety is all about sticking with the
group and in having the freedom to run. Leaving
the rest of the herd, while tied to a human, is a
huge leap of faith. Trusting in the leadership of
the handler has a lot to do with the kind of leader
the handler is! Lead with precision and the alpaca
is more likely to understand what is being asked.
The more the alpaca understands, the more likely
he is to cooperate.
Most people teach an alpaca to lead by pulling
on the head. Using the head to pull the rest of the
body where you want it to go seems logical. This
“technique” works with a dog… often the only
other animal with which many alpaca owners have
experience. Dog owners will pull a puppy around
using a collar around the neck. After a few sessions
of dragging, the pup figures out he is supposed to
go with the human. Ironically, the problem then
becomes how to stop the dog from dragging the
owner around. This problem is, unfortunately, often
addressed with prong and choke collars. When it
comes to alpacas, pulling an animal to teach him
to lead comes with a price. The law of unintended
consequences often produces an alpaca that cushes
as soon as he feels any pressure on the head. There
are better ways to teach both dogs and alpacas how
to walk on a lead/leash (for example, see the
AUT08 issue of
Alpacas Magazine:
“Thumbelina
Learns to Dance, But I Get to Lead”).
Pulling on the head to direct the movement of
the body might work for getting from point A to
point B, but that “technique” breaks down rapidly
when you begin to ask for more specific behaviors.
The problem with using the alpaca’s head to boss
the body around is that darn three-foot neck. With
the exception of the llama, there are few, if any,
animals that are routinely led and shown that have
such a long neck. You can lead the head quite
nicely and the body can be doing something
entirely different! If you are in the habit of using
the head to make your animal go where you go
and do what you do, your technique may leave
you stranded when you arrive in the show ring.
In the show ring, our goal is to exhibit an
animal’s balance, carriage, and grace. This requires
that the animal carry himself in balance and listen
and respond to signals from handler. To show well,
an alpaca’s head must be lined up and balanced
over the neck, the neck must be in line with the
body, and the body must be over his feet
(see the
photo of the brown alpaca on the facing page).
Using gross motor movement and big forceful
signals will topple this house of cards in a New
York minute! Judges must judge what they see and
if your alpaca is all over the place in the show ring
like he is just coming out of anesthesia… well that
is what you are showing the judge. If you missed
the part about teaching your alpaca to lead without
pulling on his head so that you don’t create leading
problems and are now having some trouble with
style, gait, balance, poise, and grace on the lead,
this article will help bridge the gap.
I can’t say another thing without a few reminders:
The way you do anything with your alpaca –
from oral worming to toenail trimming – affects
the way he will behave in the show ring. I could
write a book about this, but suffice it to say USE
a catch pen! Specifically, move your animal in line
with a panel to catch him, instead of grabbing
and holding him around the neck. Holding on to
the neck as the body flails around creates the
habitual response to throw the weight around to
escape. This behavior WILL come back to haunt
you as you prepare for the show ring.
T
CAMELIDynamics
by Mar ty McGee Bennet t
Make the Decision
to Lead with Precision
From haltering and leading, to toenail trimming and shearing, CAMELIDynamics guides alpaca owners to more
efficient ways of handling their livestock, resulting in a minimum amount of stress for human and animal alike.