I have been using the small catch rope and wand ever since I owned my 3 young gelded alpacas (almost 2 years now). I just got off of a zoom call and forgot to bring up this. It almost seems like my boys see the rope/wand and immediately seem to become very accepting. Things go EXTREMELY WELL!! So my question is, why would I want to “fix” something that seems to be working perfectly!! At one point in the not distant past, I discovered that two of my three could be “lured” to the treat feeder and that I could fairly easily halter them as soon as their head would come up. But, somehow the third one did not seem to go for this way of haltering!!! Also, one of the two treat feeder halterers was not really that accepting of the halter. So at that point, I had 3 animals that each seemed to have their preferences for being haltered. I then began teaching my helpers to halter the boys and really did not want to continue this individual haltering routine. So, I went back to the rope/wand and all three now seem to be VERY good (one is still not 100% accepting, but so much better than at the treat feeder). I also think that teaching ONE technique to my helpers will reinforce everything. I am totally happy with using the rope/wand forever!!! Maybe in a perfect world, I would be able to walk over to them while they are in the pasture and just halter them!!! So, my question is: Is there any reason to wean the alpacas off of this haltering approach? I do almost always halter them after they have come into my 10foot square training pen, either individually or while more than one are in the pen. The boys just seem to see the rope/wand and things are so very nice. Also the teaching of my helpers will be very routine and consistent. So, I am happy with present approach and just want feedback if there is any reason to try to get them to stand still and just let me halter them without the rope/wand.
The answer is late... the idea is to use the tools when and how you need to so that the animal feels safe. Often animals can be different when it windy, if there are strangers around... the tools are always available and there is never a problem with using them no matter how long you have been using them.
Thanks for your response. That is exactly what I am doing. Now that I have begun to teach haltering to my Alpaca Helpers, it is a tool that I have gotten back to using on all three. My helpers seem to be doing well with the anticipated challenges at times. I have begun to place one alpaca in the training pen with the one helper who is doing the haltering. My other two boys seem to enjoy watching it as they wait their turn to be haltered. I am also putting a quick haltering/ShortWalk into a more frequent routine during these winter months so that they will be more in tune with the whole process when the warmer weather returns along with more alpaca “venues.” I have also enjoyed using a 12” “Mini-lead” along with a 4 foot walking lead. I keep the mini-lead on them at all times which allows them to ride in the van with it or just wander in my paddock until we are ready to start the walk and attach the 4 foot lead. I still have the very long training leads and 6 foot leads, but these 4 foot ones have become my favorite for the very simple neighborhood walks that we take (.8 mile total walk).
