How to Train a Pet Llama

Considering the llama's history as a useful pack animal, it shouldn't be surprising that they are easy to train. As long as you remain realistic about what a llama can and cannot do, you should be able to get effective results in terms of utility, which will add to your enjoyment of these friendly and intelligent animals. Read on to learn more.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Llama halter or pack
• Toilet brush
• Grooming brush

Train Your Pet Llama

1. Concentrate on the tasks you wish to teach your llama. The most common of these are "kushing," which is having the animal lie down on command, wearing a halter or pack, pulling a cart, getting in and out of vehicles and even guarding sheep. Llamas are easily trained to do tasks that make sense to them, so remain realistic about your training program.
2. Train your pet llama by simply leading him through the command several times. Llamas are surprisingly quick learners, and seem to respond well to commands in a relatively short amount of time. Using a gentle and calm manner goes a long way when it comes to training llamas, so never raise your voice or become angry.
3. Teach your llama to urinate and defecate in specific area by moving existing piles to the desired locations. Llamas are very clean animals. They are more than happy to respond to this type of training.
4. Prevent your llama from resisting human touch, especially around the legs and feet, by using a toilet brush with a long handle to groom them, eventually switching to a shorter brush. Soon you will be able to touch the legs with your bare hands and lift them up, one at a time. This will help you to clip their toenails, which is necessary at least three times a year unless you put gravel and rocks in their corral.
5. Consult various sources, such as videos, books and websites, that offer instruction on how to train your pet llama. Websites such as Llamapacking.com and LlamaWeb can provide you with links to these products (see Resources below).

Tips & Warnings

• It is easier to train male llamas than female llamas, due to the fact that female llamas were seldom used as pack animals, and often left in the fields to care for their young.