spitting at feeding time

[Marty McGee Bennett]

Hi, Marty,
**** I have noticed my matriarch alpaca getting more arrogant as the months go along (we've owned her for a year).* She really is spitting at me, despite what people say*about alpacas only spitting at people if they get caught in the crossfire.* It happens mostly*at feeding time if I try to give food to other animals first or even when she can't get to it quick enough.* We were told that she is a really nice animal when she's not pregnant.* Well, all of the tests indicate that she is not pregnant despite having been bred about four times, so I assume that she's not pregnant but spitting big time anyway.* The bottom line is, do you have any suggestions for eliminating the spitting at grain feeding time?* Thanks.

It is really annoying to be spit at I know and you can only change what you can change and you can't change her attitude about food so it would seem to be a good idea to change the way you feed. How about herding everyone out of the barn closing the door putting out the food and letting them in... or some variation of that. That is the way I would approach it. I think minimizing food related interactions with these difficult animals is the best approach. When you must be around these kinds of animal with food around remember to breathe make only intermittent eye contact keep your head level or your chin slightly inclined down and try not to react at all if she does spit. Not reacting means NOT reacting at all not flinching not saying anything not turning your head if you can pull it off. She is "firing" for effect so if she doesn't see that it does any good she may give it up.

[LovelyBoys]

We had a spitting llama at feeding time. Marty was out to our place and this was discussed. Now, we only have four llamas, so this may not work for you. She suggested that at grain time we put Xipe in the catch pen in the barn and feed. The other three would eat their grain in their feeder over the fence. I thought this would really be tough...getting one llama in the catch pen knowing it was feeding time. It really wasn't. He knew when I said "In the barn, Xipe" that it was feeding time and went right in. Smart boy. Not reacting if he spit also was a huge help. Like Marty said, "firing for effect. We did this for almost 9 months. Then he wanted to eat with the other boys. So, now we make sure he has his grain first and the others get theirs. They wait in their "spot" and feeding time is a breeze. Problem solved. Thanks to Marty :) Good luck.

[Marty McGee Bennett]

I think the main thing is to avoid having your llamas or alpacas engage in confrontations with you over food. It is the classic come here come here come here, go away, go away, go away thing isn't it. The food beckons and then the animal gets chastised for coming to get it. Camelids are also very likely to engage in who is in charge behavior with each other when food is around and it is just a better idea to not be in the way. By keeping gates closed and giving the food out and the access to it we humans stay in charge easily and don't have to try and fend a hord of hungry animals off.
Well done. Patti!

[jo overbey]

I don't know how many animals you have, so this may not work for you. I separate my alpacas into different spaces when I feed. This way, it is a much calmer, more pleasant experience for me, and seems to be for them also. I have had several that would get excited and spit when I brought the feed tub into them. I simply say, "No," and turn on my heel and leave. I make them wait longer to get fed every time that they spit at me. It works, although it may take doing it a few times. I was feeding one of my males this morning, remembering what a spitter he used to be. He still gets excited, he simply has given up on the spitting.....So much nicer that way! ;-)

[Marty McGee Bennett]

I like the turning on your heel and leaving I would suggest substituting a positive command in place of the no... reason being that when we say no we are thinking about the behavior that we don't want it is the beginning of the rest of a sentence that would be something like NO don't spit on me! There is a lot of communication that goes on with our bodies and our thoughts in large measure govern our body language. When you think about being spit on your body prepares for it and that can actually encourage the behavior. Soooo... my suggestion is to say something like "Stay calm", "Easy does it" as you approach making sure to breathe.

[gdutcher]

We have just started with five alpaca's and one of our girls, "Snowflake," was very friendly and had no problem coming right up to you. We thought this was cute and enjoyed it. However, Snowflake is the one that gets all excited during feeding and had become our spitting problem. Marty's recommendations helped, but we saw the real difference when we started enforcing boundaries with Snowflake. We ignored her advances more, we would shoo her away with "Stay Back" when she came in our space unbidden We also did wear a "frisbee" and bopped her on the nose to get her to stay back when necessary.
Marty's boundaries are important and seem to define your relationship with your Alpacas. I think Snowflake saw us as Alpacas and treated us as such (spitting). By redefining the boundaries we were able to reestablish ourselves as the Barn God/Goddess and the spitting has been curtailed. A great side benefit is that she responds better in other ways such as haltering and leading.
I have also seen another girl becoming friendlier and showing signs of becoming a problem. Enforcing boundaries seems to have reversed that also. I would suggest that if your problem Alpacas are also your friendlier ones or ones that invade your space without an invite, that enforcing boundaries might also be a big help.

[Marty McGee Bennett]

Good for you guys! I am so glad that the boundary thing is working. It is a fine line to walk but one worth working out. Bratty alpacas or llamas are no fun to have around. It is nice to hear from someone who has done the "tough love" thing and it is also having a good effect in other ways like haltering and leading. How has her approach behavior changed... does she still come up to you but stop at a respectful distance?

[gdutcher]

She is still friendly and hasn't spit for quite a while. She will come up to me fairly closely, but stops short now. I really think we need to spend more time haltering her, walking with her, and taking her through the obstacle courses.

[Marty McGee Bennett]

looks like you are on the right track. I am glad to see that she is learning where the edge is and isn't going over but also isn't staying totally away. Good job on being clear about what it is you want.