THE METHOD I'M USING

Clearly this is part of the desensitisation exercise. Individual llamas differ, but the feet aren't usually as sensitive as, say, the ears and anus area of the llama. Having said this, the back feet can be extremely tricky not least because it puts the llama off-balance. Picking up the feet, so useful if you want to clip the toenails yourself, really comes with handling. If feet are sensitive, it really is a question of starting at the nearest point to the foot (not necessarily the leg!) that the llama is really comfortable with, handling that part..and gradually working closer and closer to the foot. Mouth-operated clickers can be useful here!

In my work I have tried to make a verbal as well as a hand-cue distinction between keeping the foot down when the lower leg is being brushed ("Standing") and lifting it off the ground ( take lower leg and "Givvus a foot"). At this time of writing I am aiming finally at having the llamas lift their feet off the ground (usually no more than one at a time!) to verbal command only.Believe me, .I have a long, long way to go! I HATE footwork!

If you can add anything to my work or have any questions or comments, please e-mail me.

HOW WE'RE DOING

The story so far: All five llama boys will readily allow all their front feet to be picked up. Thomas, David and Dillon will allow all four. David and Dillon are beginning to raise the front feet to verbal command. Oscar is fine with his front but I am having trouble with the rear. Mary-Ann is fine with her front but the rears are still tricky. Maggie is a nightmare! I dont think the girls would ever lift to verbal only....they're girls! The alpaca is beyond the pale with his rear feet, but a dream with the front ones.

August 7th 2010

RECENT NOTES ON PROGRESS

Last October I wrote:

Oh dear! What an admission! I have just had the vet in to anaesthetisise Oscar, because I simply could not get his back feet up and his toenails were curly! I have been shamed into putting in a lot of work with his back legs since then, but it is far from easy..he does not like it. And to be honest, I hate working with my head down, I get awful backache in that position and I hate the risk of being kicked. But I think I am getting there using my "Statue Game" method outlined in desensitisation. I have used a long stick to stroke the rear legs from hock to foot and this has worked pretty well. I have now bought a litter-picker and am grasping the leg with this as a halfway house to grasping by hand. Again, I reward after a few seconds of tolerating this without movement. I think it's a question of putting in a lot of TIME ! !

The alpaca's rear legs are a nightmare, but I'm working at it daily. Only got kicked once today.

I HATE footwork.. ! ! HATE IT ! !

August 7th 2010

A bit more success today with Oscar. With much praise and rewarding ( though it's difficult rewarding one end when you're down the other!) I managed to get both rear feet held off the ground (one at a time!) for several seconds each. It is really an exercise I'm not comfortable with, though. I get dizzy with my head down and HATE even the thought of clipping nails. Even hate my own! I think some of this tension is being transferred to Oscar.