Week 2 - Really, Only Week TWO!

I am in pen - trying not scare them as I leave!

Week two began with some serious changes!  We let them back out into the pasture and left the big gate to the stall open.  We opened it - they wandered out and right back in and then out for grazing.  It was good to see that they didn't rush out like they were getting out of jail.

Later that afternoon I went out shook their food can and they came right to me.  I let them eat out of my hand a few bites and stopped.  They wandered back out to the pasture.  In my last post I shared that I had made up my mind there had to be a better way and waited for my two books on handling to arrive from Camelidynamics, well I actually ordered them from Amazon, but they were written by Marty Bennett who founded Camelidynamics.

While I waited I continued to visit them during the day and evening and give them a little food each time they came into the stall/pen.  They came in readily, sometimes running!  The first couple of nights I felt better to close them in for the night, but by Tuesday I just let them stay out all night and that's what they continued doing for the rest of the week.  There's a motion light and a couple of nights they have triggered it as they did some running around in the pen, but other than that it stays dark and they seem to be happy and safe.  And I continue to try and breathe!  Letting them be alpacas and not trying to treat them like a household pet!

The books arrived on Thursday and I began to read!  By Thursday night I was almost blind and very confused.  I saw that Camelidynamics had a Guild and so I joined on Friday and was able to express my concerns about learning how to handle them on the forum.  Marty Bennett responded not only on the forum but sent me a wonderful, encouraging email and suggested I might want to attend one of the training clinics.  And so, I leave Texas for Oregon on June 14 and spend five glorious days there, four of which will be hands on training for me!  You see their theory is you don't train the alpaca, you train the handler!  And in the meantime I ordered some tools that I think will help me learn from the books how to be a loving, trustworthy handler and the clinic will be the refinement.

So, now there's hope!  With Donna and Laurence and now Marty and the Guild members, I will have the help and encouragement I need to learn how to handle them in a way that will allow them to be alpacas, but, alpacas that can be used in social situations.

Those of you who know me well, know that God is present in every thing in my life and this is no exception.  In my concern and frustration, I prayed so hard over these three guys. I prayed for wisdom to learn how to handle them and for them to find peace and trust in their new home and God has answered with new skills to learn and old and new friends to help me and them along the way.

 My friend Lawsona with a big horse!

Praising God my alpacas are small!

Wednesday I stopped by a friends house that has draft horses.  This is my friend with the zebras and longhorns that I post pictures of so often on Facebook, but I had never been to her house.  I drive by, I take tons of pictures of her animals, we see each other at events and she always tells me to stop in, but I don't. But Wednesday I knew the Lord said turn in to her driveway, she will give you wisdom and she did!  These horses make my alpacas look like puppies, but I knew Lawsona would have encouraging words and her advice was to just relax and spend time with them.  Grab a book and a small chair and sit in the pasture with them.  Study them and stay relaxed.  Just be!

That's how she trained an "untrainable" horse!  She got to know him  and he got to know her and trust was the result.  And so I went home and began to just hang with them and I know they appreciate that I just want to be with them, to get to know them and as my new friend Marty says to let them know that I just may speak alpaca!  Not with words, but with the understanding of what they need, the fears that they have and the desire to not force myself into their space.

Already not grabbing at them this week has paid off.  They come right up to me, sniff me and when I move they don't run.  They may back a step away, but not running away.  They follow me all over the pasture as I do work, staying close enough to watch my every action and seem to be interested in every duty I have.  In the barn with much less room, I try to move away and not at them and they no longer seem to mind my being so close.  I'm trying to stay out of their personal space and I'm surprised to see how often they move up close to me, even if for just a moment. The hardest part is not reaching out to touch them, but I'm learning and they seem to notice the change!

So week two ended on a high note!  One filled with encouragement, peace and hope!  What more can we ask for that!  God is good, ALL the time!