I have an issue that I don’t quite understand. I have a lovely 2 year old female huacaya, Scarlett O’Hair, who seems to be competing with me for position within the herd. At least, that’s my interpretation of her behavior. Here’s how it goes: I go into the barn to clean. If she is also in the area she comes over and stands near me. Really near. When I use to look at her (hint) she would take a step closer. Her ears would be laid back and her chin would be up a little, as in a challenge. Twice she chest butted me in the back and side while I was bent over while busy working. My reaction was to face her straight on, stand tall, place my hands on my hips (trying to look large) and scold her by firmly saying “No!” while giving her my mean look, and then go back to work. This usually kept her at bay but she did continue to do it for several weeks, even during feeding time. One thing I do now is to keep my back to her and do not give her eye contact. She continues to ALWAYS be near me whenever I am in her vicinity but she’s better about challenging me. To help you to know her, she is the only one of my alpacas that is actually approachable. She completely surprised me one day when she decided that she wanted attention from my adult daughter who was standing at the fence admiring all of the girls. Scarlett came over, nuzzled Melissa’s hand which turned into nuzzling her shoulder and actually begging to be scratched and petted. If Melissa stopped, Scarlett would nuzzle more intently until she got what she wanted. She eventually cushed next to the fence where Melissa stood and stayed there as long as Melissa did, with Melissa reaching through the fence to scratch her. What the…??? Usually, if I reach toward her she will lay her ears back and tilt her head back as though to spit at me, and has done so on a couple occasions. I, therefore, will not give her that type of contact unless she requests it. What’s odd is that if we have a guest, Scarlett will practically dance around vying for their attention until they scratch her and she sniffs their face. She even tucks her nose under their arm and stands there for minutes at a time while the guest is scratching her neck and petting her. People think she is just the most wonderful thing since ice cream! She is a complete attention seeking brat! I actually know some humans like that and they are considered to have personality disorders! I guess I want to know if anyone else has experienced this type of behavior and how do I get her to understand that I am not competing with her, she does not need to challenge me, and that I want a little of that love from her, too? (I believe that last part should be read imagining a whine in my voice) I actually considered selling her for a while but decided that my hurt feelings is not a good reason to move her along. She actually is an asset to the business by being so friendly and approachable, even if it is only to visitors and not to me. *sniff* Thanks for any advice, comments, other ideas. Debbie Gage Trailside Alpacas
