Why is this llama training video on a dog training website? Read on.

My husband and I used to raise llamas in the mountains outside Ashland, Oregon. We bred them, took people on day hikes with them,  and created books and videos about them. We always had dogs too but there was about a decade when I lived and breathed llamas.

Back then, in the 80s, dog training was a sterner matter than it is now. The theory was that you had to be boss. I took our puppies to classes and dutifully jerked their choke chains, but once they had learned a few basics, I happily went back to llama training.

We were lucky to have a mentor, Bobra Goldsmith, whose llama training methods were based on close observations of what worked with the many llamas she trained. We made a two-hour video with her, Llama Training with Bobra Goldsmith: What Every Llama Should Know, and the video editing process in that pre-digital era meant that we both virtually memorized the whole program as Kelly edited it! Very good for our llama training, as it turned out.

When I did a complete makeover of our llamas website, www.llamas-information.com, I made a YouTube video from a couple of minutes of Bobra training a young llama. It’s at the top of this page. Even if you don’t ever plan to train a llama, I think you will find it interesting.

Steadiness, patience, gentleness — all the things I wasn’t yet learning in puppy training classes I was learning as I trained my llamas. All that stood me in good stead later when we eventually sold the ranch and I had more time for  my dogs.

(By the way, I wrote a book about our experiences with llamas, and it’s now available as a free ebook from that link above. I don’t even ask for an email address. It’s the story of our experiences with the llamas, including some telepathic experiences with them.)