Let's face it, llamas don't like to be touched. They don't sleep in a pile like dogs. They don't pet themselves on people like cats. They don't groom each other like horses. Their personal space is important to them and they're not going to enjoy you touching them just because you enjoy touching them. They can learn to enjoy it, but you'll have to teach them first to allow, then to accept it, then to not mind it, and on through to looking forward to it.

COMEBEFORES - You can teach the llama to be touched all over once he understands Go, Stop, and Stay Stopped, and once he'll let you approach and touch him, but it's usually easier to work with him tied up, so you might as well teach him that as well.

START HERE - In the round pen, or tied at nose height to something safe. You'll need the whip. If you're starting with him tied, for these behaviours, let the lead help you. Tie up him with a foot of lead between him and the wall, thus preventing a lot of fussing before you even get started.

AIM FOR THIS - You approach the llama, brush him out, check his ears, lift his tail, and pick up his feet. He cooperates.

HOW TO TEACH IT - The easiest way to start is in your round pen with your whip. Ask the llama to walk forward and stop a few times to warm up. Then reach toward his balance point with the whip. Don't touch him yet, just reach toward him, then reward him by moving it away. When he's comfortable with this, reach out and touch him on the withers (on his back just behind his neck). This is his least touchy spot, and it's very close to his balance point, so he's got a good chance of remaining still. If he does, take the whip off him immediately, and keep it off for maybe 20 seconds before trying again. If he moves, let him go, but keep the whip on his withers until he stops. This is why I like to start with the whip - if he decides to go running around the pen, I can stand in the middle and keep the whip on him without effort and without racing madly around the pen trying to keep my hand on his withers, convincing him that I'm a tiger trying to bring him down and eat him! As soon as he stops, take it off. This is the explanation you're working on: you're going to touch him, and if he stands still, you'll stop touching him. When he understands this, he'll understand that HE is in control of how much touching happens, and that knowledge will really help him relax and stay calm when you're doing all kinds of scary things later on. Gradually increase the amount of time he needs to stay standing before the whip is removed. When you're sure he understands your explanation, start touching him in other places. Don't just jump to his feet, though. Set him up to succeed by moving the whip down his back a bit, up his neck a bit, onto his shoulder. The further you get from his withers, the tougher his job will be. Llamas really don't want you to handle their ears, their feet, or their tails. When he can stand for 20 seconds with the whip on his withers, you'll just be starting to brush his hocks. Keep your explanation clear - he must be standing STILL to get rid of the whip. If his head is tossing or he's tap-dancing, it stays where it is until he stops. Work until you can put the whip, and then your hands pretty much anywhere on him. Particularly useful things to work on are a) being able to handle his ears and mouth. Treating an ear infection or getting a stuck twig out of a mouth is lot more pleasant when the llama is used to being handled. b) lifting his tail. Good for checking a pregnancy, and judges have to be able to see a male's testicles in the ring. c) feeling the udder and penis. Right after birth, I like to wash the udder with a warm, wet cloth, remove the wax plugs, and check on the milk flow. I also spread a little fresh milk on the cria's nose, and wipe it around the udder to help the cria find it. Later you'll want to check to make sure she's not developing mastitis. This is not the time to be trying to convince a female to let you handle her udder! With the males and geldings, you'll occasionally need to check the penis and sheath.

LIFTING FRONT FEET

Legs and feet are very sensitive. Come at the front legs slowly. Touch the withers, reward. Touch the withers and slide down to the shoulder, reward. Touch the withers, the shoulder, and slide down to the elbow, reward. Stop and work at whatever level you need to until he's comfortable. Touch the withers, the shoulder, the elbow, and slide down just onto his leg, reward. Then to his knee, then to the leg below the knee. You can't lift his feet, but that's OK because he's going to do it for you. When he's comfortable with you touching below his knee, hold the bone. If he lifts it or shifts his weight, great! Reward him either with a treat or by letting go of his leg - preferably both. Slide down and hold the bone again. If he didn't lift it but just shifted his weight, wait again and reward him shifting off that leg. Here's the Big Secret to lifting a front leg. Notice how it bends. The front paw goes back and up to the elbow. It doesn't go out to the side. If you help him lift his foot back and to the elbow, he'll cooperate. If you try to pull it out to the side, or in any other unnatural direction, he'll feel like you're trying to unbalance him, and he'll fight you. He's never thought about being able to stand on three legs. He probably isn't aware that he can do it without falling down. He'll have to realize that he can do it before he'll be able to let you have his foot. Work gradually up to being able to walk up to him, say "Gimme your foot", and just bend down and pick it up. Work on this tied and untied. Besides the words, my cue for letting me lift his left foot is that I stand at his left shoulder facing his tail. I put my left hand on his withers. With my right hand, I touch his elbow briefly (this lets him know I'm heading for his foot, and his brief flinch will take the weight off the foot. If he doesn't flinch, it gives him a chance to consciously take the weight off the foot and get ready to lift it). Then I bend over, grasp the bone in my right hand, and lift it. Reverse directions for the right front foot.

CUTTING FRONT TOENAILS

Just add "playing with the foot" to Lifting The Front Foot, and you're ready to cut toenails. I prefer to sit on a low stool facing the back of the llama so I can rest the folded foot on my knee. Be extra careful the first few times that you don't cut into the quick. Training the llama to have his nails cut is a lot more important than doing a good job of cutting his nails TODAY. If you're using a chute, you can use a soft rope to hold the front foot up. This seems to make the llama feel a little more secure and means that you don't have to have the muscle to hold the foot up yourself. Before we started using the rope, my husband did all the nail cutting. Now he hardly ever gets to do it! The loop of the rope goes around the llama's front pastern. Lift the foot with the rope gently, then reward him by letting it down again. Lift, reward. Lift, hold it up for a few seconds, reward. Finally, lift it up, tie the rope off, and start cutting nails. Be sure to use a knot you can untie in a hurry in case he gets in trouble.

LIFTING BACK FEET

Whoa, that sounds a little more scary than lifting the front feet! That's what the whip is for, though, so you can get the llama completely comfortable about you touching his back legs without any danger of you getting kicked. If he kicks the whip, no big deal. It bends, and it stays on his tickle spot until you reward him for standing quietly by removing it. When he's relaxed about the whip, you can start using your hands. Stand as close to his hip as you can. Yes, I know, you want to stay as far away from that potential kick as you can, but he'd need some distance to really hurt you. The closer you are, the safer you are. Besides, you're working slowly enough that he's not going to kick you, right? To lift his left hind leg, I'm most comfortable standing right up against his left hip, facing the rear, and lifting with my right hand. He'd probably prefer it if you didn't put your left hand on his back. Again, note how the back leg bends. Keep the leg in line at all times, not out to the side. You'll be lifting the leg just above the hock. When you've worked your way down to it, hold it and lift straight up and back a bit. Quick now, reward him by putting it back down! Lift, hold for a second, reward. Lift, hold for a longer time, reward. Lift, hold, reward. I use the same voice cue for the back feet as I do for the front: "Gimme Your Foot!" His back feet are touchier than his front, so I want to be sure he knows I'm coming. With my left hand on or just behind his withers, I run my right hand down his back and over his hip, then give the voice cue. THEN I grasp his leg just above the hock.

CUTTING BACK TOENAILS

Your best position to cut the left back toenails is probably the lift position. Stand facing backwards at his left hip, and lift with your right hand. Once his foot is up, shift your grip to hold it with your left hand and cut with your right. Note that the easiest way to keep his back leg up is to fold the foot backwards. I'll probably never cut back toenails again without using a rope. The rope makes the whole event so much easier! Work up to it just as you would if you were going to do it by hand. The rope shouldn't be a surprise, but a normal part of training. Put the rope around the bone just above the hock and lift up and back. Lift, reward. Lift, hold, reward. Lift, hold longer, reward. Left, hold, tie off, cut toenails. To cut his left back toenails, stand facing backwards at his left hip, fold his paw up and cut the nails. WARNING: If the rope pulls his back leg out to the side, he could dislocate his kneecap. NOT a good thing. If you're using the rope to lift his left back leg, tie the rope off above him on his RIGHT side, so it's pulling the leg more toward the midline rather than off to the outside.

LIFTING TAIL

Why don't they like their tails lifted? I think it's a trust issue. The only time a female wants her tail lifted is when she's lying down being bred - a volunteer position. Otherwise she wants that area private, thank you very much, and will spit off anybody who fusses with it. For a male, it's even more important. Those nasty fighting teeth are supplied to hamstring and castrate opponents, so you KNOW he wants to keep what's under HIS tail safe! Nevertheless, teaching him to have his tail lifted is no more difficult than teaching him to be touched in any other place. Touch his withers, reward. Touch his withers, slide down his back, reward. Touch his withers, touch his back, slide down to his tail, reward. Touch his withers, touch his back, touch his tail, slide down the side of his tail, reward. Keep working. Don't think about actually lifting his tail at first, just get him comfortable with you touching the bottom of it. Work up gradually to being able to lift it. I start this behaviour with the llama tied up. When he's very good at letting me lift his tail, I start again from scratch with him untied, but I'm holding the lead, as I would be in the show ring when the judge asked to see his testicles. If you haven't done a lot of work yet on touching him in hand (with you just holding the lead), you might want to go back to using the whip for a while. When you get near his rear end, he's going to start moving it away from you. Without the longer reach of the whip, you could easily wind up spinning in circles with him rewarding his spinning by being able to keep his rear away from your touch. With the whip, it will be much easier to keep touching him until he stops. As soon as he stops, reward him by taking it off him. When he's figured out once again that the only way to get you to stop touching him is to stand still, you can switch back to using your hand. My hand cue for this behaviour is simply to run my hand down his back, under his tail, and lift (pushing the bone up, NOT pulling the hair). My voice cue is "Gimme Your Tail!"