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You hit the nail on the head...boundaries. He
doesn't understand them because you are not setting
them obviously enough. Most alpacas are so shy that
we usually never have to set a boundary; so we
aren't very good at it.
You must insist that he not touch you in any way. No
nibbling, no leaning, no sniffing...unless it is a
mutual nose greeting in which you lean forward to
participate. When he invades your space (usually
about a foot to a foot and a half from your
body-including your feet) you must correct him and
do it consistently. I prefer a Frisbee; it is easy
to connect with the nose, it will be obvious, and it
will startle him and it won't hurt. As he comes up
to engage in any of the aforementioned behaviors
give him a short bip on the nose that does not
involve any follow through. A short abrupt connect
with enough
force to startle him.
A human need only stop an animal from entering this
space; we do not need to chase him away. You would
be making a big mistake to push this young guy
away when he approaches, this only invites him to
push back; just exactly what you don't want him to
do.
Don't yell. Yelling gets everybody's blood going,
escalates the situation, and indicates that you are
afraid. Speak like you mean it firmly and powerfully
and tell the alpaca what you want him to do STAY
BACK; ideally at the same moment you make contact
with the Frisbee. You are creating a force field
around you.
It is important that every human in your young
alpacas life behave consistently. If you have
children keep them away from this young alpaca until
he is understands how to behave. If you have farm
visitors put this guy on a halter, if he is halter
trained, or if he is not put him away. I suggest
that you punch a hole in a Frisbee, tie a string to
it, and hang the Frisbee around your neck at alpaca
eye level to remind him of your personal space. If
he is sneaking up from behind, hang another on your
back.
This can become very serious and it is worth
spending some time to prevent the situation from
becoming a real problem. If you are interested in
more information on this topic I have written an
article on the subject "The Novice Handler Syndrome"
This article can be downloaded at no charge from my
website. I also have a more detailed audio tape
available for $18. in the store. Good luck.
Marty
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