If Only I Were a Poet: The Animal Communication Experience

When I try and describe my intuitive experiences and communications with animals to others, I often see them smile and nod and I can tell that they are thinking that is nice and maybe even pretty cool, but I so miss the boat in being able to full describe how incredibly amazing that connection feels.  Our English language is so lacking.  And, perhaps my own verbal prowess is limited as well.  I wish I were a poet who is much better at capturing the perfect words to bring about the emotion and feelings of an experience. 

There is another reason why we often have a challenge describing intuitive experiences.  I believe that these intuitive hits we receive occur in a part of our brain where it isn't connected or fully connected to our verbal center of our brain.  When a new intuitive skill is opening up to me, I often can "feel" the experience but putting it into words is impossible.  I just know it is there and happened.  It can take multiple times of having similar intuitive hits before that pathway is created, or perhaps I will read or listen to someone else describe their own intuitive occurrence and it will resonate with my experience and I'll have an "Aha!" moment.  Thanks to these individuals that have shared their own observations and intuitive episodes, I have been provided verbal insights to describe my experiences. 

Because we often don't have the words for an experience, we humans tend to discount the event as something not real or think of it as less important and valuable if we can't describe it readily.  Think about how limiting and lacking our language is.  Take the word "Love" for example.  How many definitions of love is there?  I did a Google search of chocolate chip cookie recipes and it came up with 7,290,000 hits!  We could probably come up with at least that and more for the the various meanings of love.

Just because we may not have the language to fully describe connecting intuitively with animals doesn't mean that the experience isn't incredibly valuable and even life altering.  It teaches us so many skills that go beyond being able to connect and bond more deeply with our animals.  It teaches us to listen and trust an inner voice that we have learned to discount and ignore because we haven't had the language to explain it.

While my language continues to be lacking in describing my intuitive adventures, I keep trying to encourage people to experience it for themselves.  Reading about it is great but nothing is better than experiencing it for yourself.  To learn how and to give it a try for yourself, I'm offering my book for FREE for a limited time.  In the book, I not only provide techniques that are easy to learn but I also provide you exercises to practice and methods of helping you create that pathway between your intuition and verbal centers.  5 Steps to Animal Communication is available by filling out the from at this link.  Click Here

Peace and Calm To Stop Alpaca Fighting Males

My alpaca males are my sweetie boys until they aren't.  I love my boys but they can be pains in the derriere at times too.  They can get into some knock down, drag-out fights.  I hate when they do that.  It causes such a ruckus and you never know if someone is going to come up with a bloodied ear or worse.  If I am outside with them, I try and stop it before it gets started.  Often if I can catch it before the fight gets going, I can stop it, but once the males really get mad, they are so focused, it isn't even safe to be in the pasture with them.  They aren't aware or see anyone else other than that other male they are mad at.

One day I was outside with them when a big fight started and I thought, I'm going to try putting out an energy and frequency of the emotions 'peace and calm'.  I kept picturing those words in my head and with every exhale, I'd say to myself those words, "Peace and calm."  I stood outside the boys' pasture and just kept picturing that energy floating through their pasture.  It took just a few moments and they stopped and looked around as if awakening from a daze.  Their mouths were open with the spitty mouth look.  The boys stood next to each other panting but the fighting stopped.  I repeated my Peace and Calm mantra a few more times and things remained quiet so I walked away keeping an eye on the boys to see if they'd start up their fight again.  They did not and they each went their own way to remedy their spitty mouth situations.

I wondered if this was a fluke or if my peace and calm mantra really worked.  I've since had many times to practice it and I have to say, 90% of the time, the boys have stopped fighting.  I'd be interested if others tried the same thing to see if they have similar results.  Just click here contact and let me know what you observe. 

If you'd like to learn some other helpful intuitive communication techniques, check out my book, 5 Steps to Animal Communication, it's free just click on the website and fill out the form and you'll get the link to download it. 

Alpacas as Animal Communicator Teachers

I didn't start off as an intuitive or animal communicator in life.  I think I may have been always an exceptional listener from a very young age, but I didn't realize I had a gift for energy work and intuitive animal communication until well into my adulthood.  It was during the time I was earning my Master's Degree at Pacifica Graduate Institute that my interest and abilities to communicate with animals appeared.  I think many people have the belief that we are born with this intuitive gift.  Perhaps we are but many of us don't become aware of it until our adulthood.  I'm one of those that didn't become aware of my intuitive abilities until my late thirties.  

Once I became aware that I had this intuitive ability, I wanted to learn more and always would think to myself, I wish I could become better at this.  It is so amazing to connect to someone intuitively especially an animal.  My heart always wants to burst because it becomes so full of amazing energy after connecting with an animal at this level.  It is my "high."  I've learned several intuitive healing modalities such as Reiki, Healing Touch for Animals,  and Emotion Code to name a few.  I use some of the techniques I've learned from these modalities but mostly what they have done for me is help me define my own language and way of working with animals.  Energy is energy, however, the language we find that fits us individually is always the challenge in interpreting the intuitive information being downloaded to us. 

I love being able to connect to animals and help their owners understand them better, and help the animals themselves with physical and emotional issues they may have. But I also love the ability to teach others to have these same experiences for themselves.  I believe others can listen to their animals as well. The techniques I use can be easily taught to others.  It is another way for me to share my love of alpacas and my mission in life to encourage people to listen to their animals in a such a respectful, heartfelt and lovely way. 

My next class is coming up May 21, 2016 in beautiful Grass Valley, CA.  We will be using alpacas at the Heart and Soul Alpaca Ranch.  It is such a fun day and I am so looking forward to it.  Plus, I just saw a video of a baby mini-donkey just born on their farm and it has to be one of the cutest animals I have ever seen!  That is a reason to come by itself to see that cuteness in the flesh!  No alpaca experience is required.  These techniques work for all species of animals.  More information can be found about my classes on my website http://www.beananimallistener.com/may-workshop/

If you can't make it to one of my classes, I have written a book, 5 Steps To Animal Communication that describes how to do some of these techniques and exercises to practice on your own.  The e-version is FREE for a limited time. 

Learn to Intuitively Connect with Animals

I Don't Know Why She Snorted Up a Fly

As I began my raking chores this morning, one of my alpacas, Jamilah,  started to sneeze.  She sneezed repeatedly so many times that I went back into her pasture to see if she was okay.  I didn't see anything like a bee sting which would cause her nose to swell and close off her airway.  Her nose looked fine except she kept sneezing as soon as I walked away.  I kept an eye on her and began raking up the alpaca beans, and she kept sneezing.

I stopped raking to check on Jamilah a second time.  She and I have always had a special connection and I started to get a little concerned that something was really stuck up in her nose that she kept sneezing like she was.  I looked at her again but couldn't find any swelling or sign of something to indicate something really serious was going on.  Fortunately, I can do energy work and communicate with animals, so I asked Jamilah if I could help her with the sneezing.  I released several energy blocks and her sneezing stopped.  I kept receiving information from Jamilah that a bug flew up her nose and she inhaled it. As I tapped into her, my nose started to itch terribly and tickle.  I thought how miserable that is for an animal who would have a hard time scratching their nose.  I was able to rub mine to make it feel better.  But for poor Jamilah, the only thing she could do was try and sneeze.

I can honestly say I've had a bug fly up my hose before and it is a terrible feeling!  I sent her more calming energy and she laid down for a bit as the sneezing eased off.  She had a few more snorts as I raked but they got better.  I had the children's song running through my head for the rest of my chores, "I know an old lady who swallowed a fly.  I don't know why she swallowed a fly. Perhaps she'll die."  The song isn't a perfect fit since it went up her nose instead of swallowing it but that is what came to mind and got stuck.  And now I bet it is stuck in yours!

Farm life! However, seriously speaking, I am sure grateful for the gift of being able to do some energy work on my animals.  I am glad I know these techniques that can ease some of their discomforts. What is also nice, is that my animals now know to come to me when they need a little help.  Jamilah is one of the first ones that if she needs a little energy, she walks over to me and stands waiting for me to do my thing for her. Jamilah usually stands in front of me blocking my way and then turns her body to the place she wants the energy.  She is quite clear about where she wants her energy directed.  What is also nice is that it doesn't usually take long at all to stop and give them a few moments of time and energy and they are happy.  And I am rewarded with a closer connection to my animals and I too benefit from the energy.  It is all a win/win. 

If you'd like to learn more how to communicate and work with your animals in an intuitive fashion, after all one of your animals may sniff up a bug, check out my new book, 5 Steps To Animal Communication.  I'm offering it for free for a limited time still! 

5 Steps to Animal Communication e-Book is now available!

After many people have requested I write a book on how to communicate with animals, I listened!  My new e-book is now available for download.  5 Steps to Animal Communication: Listening to Your Animals Made Easy provides easy to learn techniques and exercises to practice and guide you to opening up to your own intuitive abilities.  The book is free for download from my website www.BeAnAnimalListener.com.  Just fill out the form and an email will be sent with a link to download the book.  It will be available for a limited time for free and then it will be available on Amazon.  I hope folks enjoy it and get much use out of it.  I know these techniques have allowed me to have such a deep and intimate connection with animals and it has been wonderful guiding clients and workshop attendees to having the same experience.  I can't wait to hear stories from people and their experiences using these techniques! 

5 Steps to Animal Communication

Stress vs Animal Intuitive Energy Work

Tomorrow Tesla goes to our veterinarian to get spayed. She is 14 months old and after going through one heat cycle and doing a lot of research, I've made the decision to proceed with the procedure. I am not a dog breeder so I know it is the responsible dog owner thing to do. Yet, I feel terrible about removing important parts that aren't broken. As we get closer to her surgery time, I feel my stress increasing and that dog owner mom in me worries when she is out of my sight and I must entrust her care in someone else's hands even though I have total trust and respect for our vet.

When my animals are sick or needing care, it becomes harder to do my intuitive energy work on them. Stress and intuitive work are counter to each other. Despite years of working intuitively with animals, helping many, many animals with various issues, I find helping my own is so much harder than helping other people's animals. I have that close heart connection to them since they are my kids. My worry and other life issues interfere with me being able to focus and do energy work on them. My animals pick up my worry and often try helping ME instead of ME helping THEM! That makes me feel worse of course! Having someone else that has intuitive abilities or asking for others to help send energy to my animals is important because there are times when even the expert needs help. However, I work hard to park my issues aside during the critical periods when my animals need my skills as an intuitive energy worker. It means me having to do a lot of deep breaths to clear my own stress and issues aside so I can focus sending energy to them. Forcing myself to stay focused is the hardest thing I do at these times because a big part of me just wants to freak. Yet if this gift that has been given to me and that I have spent years honing can't be used when my animals need it, then I'd feel pretty cruddy about that too. So I remind myself to breath, picture that white light going to my animal in need and stay focused. There is time after the energy is no longer needed that I can have a good cry and meltdown.

As I coach people learning to communicate and do energy work with their animals, there are times when it is quite ok and terrific to have an expert you can call upon and have them help you during those moments when it is just too hard to separate yourself from your emotions and the needs of your animals. Our love for them is so deep and so connected that it is really hard to do. You would think connecting to our own animals is easier, yet I tell people all the time, go practice with other animals because it is truly easier to learn on other animals besides our own. I often offer my alpacas to new learners because they are easy to tap into and work with intuitively. Our animals listen to our subconscious chatter all the time so they tune us out for their own sanity. So finding other animals and supporting other people's animals is a really great way to learn and build your confidence.

So tomorrow morning, if you feel like sending Tesla a little healing energy to aid her in breezing through her spay procedure, she and I would appreciate the extra light and energy given her.

Tesla now 14 months old going into be spayed

Say What You Mean and Mean What You Say: Animal Training Thoughts

Thirteen Month Old Tesla

I have a 13-month old Golden Retriever, Tesla. I am having a blast training her. One method I use to help me get her solid in a new behavior is to reinforce that behavior right before she gets her meal. That is the biggest reward and for her to associate these new or old behaviors with her meal, gets her to do them more successful at other times.  That Pavlovian response works well!  If I ask her to sit, down, or spin left or right, she associates it with her tasty breakfast or dinner. 

This morning, I was working with Tesla to do her "backup" and "sit/stay" behavior.  She did those very quickly and as I entered her pen that I feed her in, I placed the bowl down. I was going to have her wait outside the pen as I stepped out of the pen leaving her bowl all by itself until I gave her the release command and then she could go get her meal. But before I did that, I asked her to do her best trick which is to "show me your best side." She swings her head to the right when I ask her that. It is so cute! She does that trick without me asking inside the pen when she is waiting for me to give her permission to eat.  She goes through her entire repertoire hoping one of them will be the magic word to tell her it is ok to dine! Today, I was adding more complexity and changing the location of where I was asking her to do this trick. She looked at me confused because she doesn't do that trick outside the pen! I waited a moment to see if Tesla would do the trick but she still sat there confused. I asked again with the same result and I said, "Come on, you know how to show me your best side."  When I said that, she popped up and came towards the pen.  I stopped her because I hadn't released her and made her go back. I asked again and she did her head swing to the side and I then released her quickly and rewarded her with her meal.

As I walked away from the pen, I recalled the words I had said when Tesla popped up out of her sit/stay and realized, I DID release her.  I said "Come!" She didn't understand the entire sentence but she did hear and respond correctly to the word "Come." That was such a great lesson for me. Choosing our words carefully when we train is so important. It is also important when we do intuitive energy work as well as all aspects of our lives. Learning to listen to our own words and how we use them is as important as listening to others. If our animals are not behaving or learning the appropriate behavior we are trying to teach them, are we looking at our own words, our body language, our emotions? Our animals are listening to us. They listen to us way better than we do to them. Today was a great reminder to do the check-in on myself and realized, I was the one responsible for Tesla not doing what I meant her to do. She did exactly what I said. What a good girl and thanks for teaching me something I already knew but needed the reminder!!!

The Long Cria Watch

Waiting for crias (baby alpacas) to be born is quite the process.  The normal gestation is about Eleven and a half months so it is a long time to wait.  I had three pregnant animals and the first ten and a half months whizzed by like a blink of an eye.  Then the last couple weeks before the first due date and time went into slow motion.  In the beginning, I was pretty relaxed and it took a little to get used to being on cria watch. 

My days are spent close to the farm during cria birthing season.  I do my best not to schedule too much that I would have a hard time committing to.  But I do figure after a couple weeks after their due dates, I can start booking a few appointments.  Well, my girls this year did not read the manual because two decided to cook their babies a very long time.  One went about 365 days before finally birthing a cute baby girl and the other one is STILL cooking!  We are at about 12 and a half months into her gestation.  I've had the veterinarian out to examine her about two weeks ago and he thought she'd deliver in a couple days!  He expressed milk out even.  So yes, she is pregnant!  

I get asked a lot if I'm worried and I say, not too much.  Dove's behavior is normal.  She eats, goes potty, naps and all systems appear normal.  Her eyes are bright and she is very active.  I'd be worried if she was off feed and seemed to have a low energy field.  I intuitively tap in occasionally and ask if I should be concerned and I get "no."  I trust that intuitive voice.  Plus, with the other normal behavior Dove exhibits, all indications seem to say not to worry.  

I have to fight myself from being impatient.  I have much I want and should be doing instead of still stuck watching for a baby to show up someday.  But, I don't want an unhealthy baby so I tell myself to suck it up Buttercup and trust your girl to know when it is right to have this baby.  A few rescheduled appointments are not that important compared to having a healthy baby.  I try hard to choose my words carefully in asking for this baby to show up.  I say over and over, that this baby can come any time as long as it is healthy and an easy birth for momma.   

Being human though, the hard part of sitting and watching is how helpless the watcher is.  We humans like to get in there and fix things.  Doing nothing is so very hard for most of us.  That is one of the many reasons I love being able to do intuitive energy work.  I can at least offer gentle energy to my very pregnant, overdue alpaca moms-to-be.  Today, as I brushed my teeth it hit me that perhaps Dove has some trapped emotions from previous births that are holding up the process.  I tapped into her and asked and got a "yes!"  So I removed those trapped emotions and offered her gentle balancing energy that supported her body as it prepares to give birth.  Will it make things happen sooner?  I doubt it.  Mother Nature trumps all!  And, truly, I want this baby to come when it is the right time for it to be born healthy and strong.  But if it could happen today, I won't complain!

Waiting For Dove's Cria Birth

 

The Eyes Are The Windows To Your Soul

     William Shakespeare wrote, "The eyes are the windows to your soul."  He must have been looking into alpaca eyes when he wrote that.  There is nothing more soulful than those big eyes when they look right into your own eyes.  When we take the time and calm our own hearts and soften our eyes, the response of an alpaca is seen in their eyes.  They communicate so much with them. 
     I have heard and learned many times over that when we want to gain the trust of an alpaca, we should lower our eyes and not look right into their eyes.  I used to turn my back and would hold my hand behind me with goodies to gain their trust in accepting treats. I have bent my head down low so they could sniff the top of my head and not show them my eyes.  However, I have since learned that they really do want to see our eyes.  If you want to gain your alpacas trust more quickly, keep your body posture in such a way, that they can always see your eyes.  Not only can we read much of what is going on with our alpaca, but they can read us as well through our eyes.  If we avert our eyes, they can't see what we are thinking or doing.  Our eyes convey much, stress, worry, where we may want to step next.  They can also convey calm, relaxed, gentleness and happiness. What we do not want to do is look at them square on with our shoulders directly facing them.  That is more a challenge.  I reserve that look for when they are very naughty and have spat at me and I need to be the "parent."  That is the only time I look at them in such a direct fashion.  However, when I work with them, catching them, or building trust with the various other energetic techniques I do, I make sure they can see my eyes.
     Alpacas, like horses have nearly 360 degrees of vision.  They don't see as well right in front of their face and right behind their rear end.  If you are walking behind an alpaca, you can tell exactly where they can't see you because they will shift their body slightly to put you into their field of vision.  They can see not only you but your eyes in that position.  It is a sign of respect to let them see your eyes.  So next time you go out to visit your alpacas, take a moment or two and let your alpaca look into your eyes and look into theirs.  It is often a very moving experience.

Zenyatta has such soulful eyes

How Many Tools Do You Have?

It is shearing season.  We, farmers, often help each other with our shearing days for our various animals.  I was at my friend's place that owns sheep.  Things were going smoothly as usual until the second to the last sheep.  I was outside the barn area waiting for the fleece to come off to help clean and bag it up.  I knew something must be amiss when the noise of the shears stopped and all was quiet for longer than normal.  Someone called for my friend who had just gone inside to get her brunch she serves us volunteers after the work is all done.  I went into the barn to see if there was something I could do to assist.  The shearer accidentally cut the sheep and hit an artery in a sensitive part of the little boy.  He had immediately pinched off the artery to staunch the bleeding.  The sheep was on its back and started to struggle from the pain and fear.  I went to his head and began sending him the calming energy I have learned to do.  He settled down and stayed quiet while the shearer discussed with his wife (who happens to be a nurse) and owner what could be done.  They decided to see if pinching it off for about 20 minutes would get the blood to coagulate.  I stayed at the sheep's head doing my energy work while they pinched the artery.  The sheep remained amazingly quiet.  The injury had to hurt like heck. 

After 20 minutes passed, we realized that pinching the artery wasn't going to be enough.  It needed to be sutured but they didn't have any on hand so someone volunteered to run to the the local feed store that had some suture kits in stock.  That was about 10 minute drive each way so at best they'd be gone about 20 minutes.  We all got on our phones to try our various vets to see if any of them were around and available.  None were available or willing to come out.  One even said to let the sheep die!  We were dumbfounded by that reaction and none of us were willing to accept that answer.  As we waited for the sutures and about a half hour into the taking care of the sheep, he looked as if he were going into shock.  His eyes rolled back into his head and he became non-responsive to my touching his face and checking his eyes and his breathing became more shallow.  I feared we were losing him.  The shearer's wife mentioned that when a patient goes into shock, they give an IV with Calcium fluids.  I knew my friend was on Body Balance which is loaded with nutrients and minerals including Calcium and because it is liquid, it can absorb very quickly.  I told my friend to please bring me a little Body Balance and a syringe.  She came back with it and I dribbled about a 1 cc inside his cheek.  I knew it could enter his system sublingually.  Within seconds, his eyes blinked open and became alert and he started to smack his lips as if he were enjoying the cherry taste of the Body Balance.  I drizzled another cc or 2 into his mouth.  Each time he licked his lips as if he were getting every bit off his lips.  I continued to slowly drizzle in the Body Balance as if it were an IV drip into his mouth.  I didn't want him to choke so just a drop or two at a time to absorb in through the cheek and little enough to swallow without choking.  His breathing returned to normal and he was more alert.  I went back to keeping him calm with energy work along with occasionally giving him the Body Balance.

Nearly an hour passed when help arrived with another shearer and the sutures.  The new shearer had more experience suturing animals and within 5 minutes of his arrival, he had the artery sutured and the bleeding stopped.  The sheep was well enough for them to finish shearing even!  Disaster was averted.  The owner continued to give the sheep Body Balance for a few more days to help keep his immune system built up solid and to help avoid infection along with her antibiotic shots. 

This was a great example of how important it is to have as many "tools" in your medical kit and knowledge base.  To save this sheep, we needed traditional medical first aid with sutures and knowing how to pinch off the artery, we kept the sheep calm using my energy techniques which allowed the shearer to keep a tight hold on the artery while we waited for assistance and the sutures, we needed the Body Balance to bring him back from his going into shock, and the antibiotics and Body Balance helped in making sure no infection set in.  It was a team effort all around and I'd hate to think if we were missing one tool what the outcome would have been.  Thankfully, he is healthy and enjoying grazing and the feel of sun on his skin. 

To me, you can never have enough tools in your wellness and medical kits.  I am always open to new ideas and ways and always grateful when I have something in my kit or knowledge that can and has assisted my own animals or others.  What tools do you have in your kit?  Would you like more tools for yourself?  Email me for more information on how you can add to your tools.  Cindy@humsweethum.com

Emotion Code Energy Work and Miss Marple

Miss Marple

Miss Marple is a young alpaca that will be 2 years old this summer.  She has been one of the farm favorites since she was born.  She is one of the most social alpacas and she came out of the womb that way.  She greets visitors with kisses.  She was such a confident baby exploring her world.  That is how I came up with her name because she investigated every piece of the barn and pasture area from the moment she could walk.  Her mother, Dulcinea, was my first alpaca that I owned.  I was so thrilled to get another girl and a beautiful, sweet girl with lovely rose gray fiber, and with the best personality to boot!  Last summer, I came out in the morning to begin my normal chore routine and discovered Dulcie, laying on her side not looking good.  I knew immediately that it was very bad.  I lost my sweet and wonderful first alpaca that morning.  Although Miss Marple had been weaned from her mother for some time, she was still close and back in the same pasture.  She followed her mother closely.  It was a shock and loss for both of us. 

Miss Marple latched onto her older sister right after losing her momma.  She follows Twister everywhere.  Although Miss Marple, still loves to greet visitors, she raises her tail in a submissive fashion and walks like a cria does when they are showing their submissive behavior.  She raises her tail and hunches her body as small as she can and still walk.  I thought with time, she would begin to gain her confidence back but instead, I've watched my once confident baby, become more and more insecure. 

Learning Emotion Code to release trapped emotions, I wondered how or if it could help Miss Marple.  I went out to the pasture where they were all grazing.  I didn't want to catch her or hold her unless she wanted me to.  The herd saw me and came running.  Miss Marple ran to me in her hunched cria way and greeted me with kisses.  I mentally reached out to her and asked if I could do the energy work.  The others quickly trotted away from me and Miss Marple ran to be near her big sister.  I discovered many trapped emotions.  Grief, defensiveness, insecurity, unsupported, terror, and panic showed up as well as a traumatic trapped emotion.  I released them all observing her behavior the entire time.  After the first trapped emotion was released, she cushed immediately (laying down with her legs folded under her).  She had her tail raised still showing submission which was odd since I was a good 30 feet away from her.  I was no where close to being able to catch her.  I knew she was "hearing" me.  She stood up after the first trapped emotion was released and ran again to her sister.  The herd moved further away from me.  I stood still and let them be where they felt most comfortable.  Miss Marple turned and stared straight at me and was very nervous about what was going on.  I released more of the trapped emotions and when she said she had released all she wanted or could, I slowly walked over to where the herd was standing and grazing.  She ran back to me still in the cria position and gave me kisses and then cushed again right next to me. This was not her normal behavior.  I kneeled down and patted her neck and gave her a kiss.  She didn't stay down long and popped up again to run to her sister.  This time, I was shocked when Zenyatta, another female in the herd, jumped on Miss Marple's back and started to bite at her ears and spitting at her.  I was so surprised by this aggressive behavior.  I immediately jumped into the mix hollering at Zenyatta to leave Miss Marple alone and pointed my finger at her face staring right into her eyes showing my leadership of the herd.  It got Zenyatta's attention and she stared back at me.  I knew I needed to get this situation under control quickly.  I calmed Zenyatta down and focused on her.  I wasn't sure if she was jealous of the attention and communication I was giving to Miss Marple or if my energy work was shifting the dynamic of the herd or if there was some other cause of this odd behavior.  I mentally communicated to Zenyatta the reason for my communication with Miss Marple and then told her that she was growing to be a leader of the herd.  Then I told her how it was her job and role to show Miss Marple how to be a confident girl and that was what made a true and good leader of a herd.  I knew that telling her the negative of what I observed wasn't what I wanted planted in Zenyatta's brain so I repeated several times what I saw her role as and what I expected from her as a leader of the herd.  She was quiet while I communicated with her and I could tell she was listening to me.  She stood perfectly still taking in what I was saying.  The fighting all calmed.  Miss Marple was more in the cria pose then ever so I'm not sure if the energy work shifted anything in her.  I had more questions of what may be causing the lack of confidence in Miss Marple.  I had assumed it was all due to the death of Dulcie but after seeing Zenyatta's behavior, it could be in part of being bullied.  

I walked back to the house with many thoughts running through my head of what I observed.  What I expected to happen was blown out of the water with the reality.  What dynamics I witnessed!  I now realize I made a serious mistake in this session.  I need to communicate with ALL of the alpacas in the group before I begin and tell them what is about to happen and why and that they all need to be a part of it.  I surprised the heck out of them and I suspect they weren't sure what the heck to do with what was happening.  They aren't used to two-leggers coming out and communicationg in their way! But now that I have that good lesson under my belt, I have lots of great information on how my herd works together and how I need to approach them.  What was really great was how quickly they calmed with more communication and settled back into their routine.  And I saw how many could "hear" what was going on with this emotion code work.  Wow!  That was pretty cool seeing them all react to it even when it was just the one being worked on.  That 5 minute session was a wealth of information and training for me!  Time will tell how much it helped Miss Marple or if we made things worse because of Zenyatta's reaction.  But now I have more information of what is going on that might be causing Miss Marple's lack of confidence.  The work may be more with Zenyatta instead of Miss Marple!

Zenyatta

  

The Wedgie Method of Change

I was recently asked how I chose the people to invite to the launching of my two new ventures with Life Force International and Emotion Code.  It was such a success and they were curious if there was any thought to my invites.  The answer was a definite YES!  Yes, I thought about the people I wanted there to launch my business.  To me it wasn't about quantity of people attending.  I had limited space for one thing.  But more importantly, I wanted to be surrounded by the people I knew would be the most supportive and eager to hear what it was that I had chosen as new ventures.  I had about 20 friends come to my evening event.  Also attending were my mentor and coach, Francie and the Vice President of the Life Force company there as well as Pam, who introduced me to Body Balance.  I had a strong team that was more knowledgeable on Body Balance there to back me up and provide answers to questions as well as set a tone of confidence.  I wasn't quite there yet in feeling confident about the details of the product to answer questions accurately.  I joked that night that I still felt like had my training wheels so I was so grateful to have the knowledge and experience of Francie and Alex there.  Their presence was a key element to the successful launch.

It has been my experience that when I have a new idea that I want others to buy into, I have been most successful when I use my "Wedgie Method."  If you have a huge boulder to be moved, pushing against it with all your might, won't get that boulder to budge.  To get that boulder to move, placing wedges underneath to provide leverage will eventually get that boulder to move.  When I have ideas that I want others to buy into, I seek out those people that are more open to new ideas.  I seek out positive personality types that are open to change and willing to try new things.  Their egos aren't attached so strongly to the old method that they aren't will to try.  Finding the right people to be the wedge is key. 

There are many different personality types.  There are some of us that almost need change or we get bored so we are very open to it.  It is probably a good thing there are boulders to slow me down at times so that I have to think through ideas more carefully before jumping in and going after too many things.  Then there are types of people that may take more time to catch on to the vision of the idea but they have a lot of trust and faith in the person that has the idea so they are willing to give it go based solely on the fact that they trust the idea person.  Then there is the next type of person that needs more evidence.  They need to start seeing some of the change happening and what it it looks like.  They might be able to picture it, but they really need to see it better.  Those will be the second level wedges and they are the vast majority of people.  So getting many of those folks to buy into it is when those boulders start to budge and move.  But you need those first people that just have faith in the person to give a try and it is their spreading the word about how great an idea it is that convinces the next level to try too.  The last group of folks, hate change.  They aren't going to try or will try it with their feet dragging and fighting it the entire way.  They will do whatever it takes to not have it happen.  If you want them on board, it is going to take a lot of your time to get them to do it.  When I worked as an engineer and supervisor, it was my job to get those folks to accept and do whatever the new method the change required but I found myself spending the vast majority of my time, listening to them complain, fight the change, undermine the change, sabotage things, etc.  However, now that I work for myself, I can chose not to invite those types to my events!  I can choose what people I want around me and what will help me be successful.

Those people that came to the launching of my two new ventures are the best.  They listened and were so engaged with what Body Balance has to offer and they volunteered to help me complete the requirements I needed to become certified in Emotion Code energy work.  Instead of me singly trying to get all the work of getting the word out on these ventures, they are the wedge moving this business forward and spreading the word of how amazing Emotion Code works and how much better they feel now that they have been on Body Balance.  I like to set myself and others up for success.  And I love this Wedgie Theory and that night of the launching of my business ventures, proved how incredibly great that theory works!  Thanks to all who came!!!!

Emotion Code: Do We Really Store Memory In Other Parts Of Our Bodies?

I am a firm believer that energy work is not just a bunch of woo.  Ok, maybe it is pretty woo-woo but I don't care because it still works!  Studying and working to becoming an Emotion Code Practitioner has actually made me wonder why it works more than just trusting that it works.  If I understand it better from a science perspective, I can hopefully, explain it better to new customers or to someone that is teetering on wanting to believe that it is possible but not quite there yet.  And, I'm just curious that way.

From studying Emotion Code and other areas of energy work, it makes sense to me that our body stores our emotions and traps them into our tissues and organs because if you break us all down to the atomic level, we are all made up of basic energy units.  I stopped there at understanding things and that was sufficient for a long time.  But lately I've become much more curious, as I work on individuals and animals using the Emotion Code technique, I'm amazed and fascinated as we determine what age emotions become trapped in their bodies.  How does that work?  I keep getting asked how do I tap into someone else's energy system whether it be an animal or human from a distance or if they are just standing next to me and I'm touching their arm doing muscle testing. 

I don't think I can answer the distance question just yet.  I don't understand quantum physics anywhere close enough to grasp that concept just yet.  But as I ponder on things as I rake my alpaca poop up, I got to thinking about how memories are created.  We take them for granted that we have them.  But do we ever think about how the physiology of memory works?  I went to Google after I was done raking to see what studies were out there that talked about that.  I found a few interesting articles about how memories are stored.  That was intriguing but didn't quite answer the question I was looking for.  I Googled the Biochemistry of Memories and came up with some very fascinating articles and the energy work started to make further sense reading them.  I also read an interesting article recently titled, Heart to Heart.  It is a study of the connection of human and horses being done using electrocardiograms.  They monitored the beat to beat changes in both horse and animals to measure quantitatively the bond between them. 

I have to admit, that many of the articles I read were beyond my comprehension but I came away with understanding some basics at least.  If our memories are created by a neurostransmitter or biochemicals.  These biochemicals are just energetic molecules that come together making cells.  So why not have our cells have some sort of memory abilities? 

Yesterday, my wrist started to ache terribly like I sprained it.  I didn't recall doing anything that would cause that much discomfort.  I didn't feel anything tweak while I tended to my alpacas yesterday.  I did do some extra herd health work so it was possible but for it to hurt the way it did, I expected it to have some cause and incident.  I couldn't recall anything though.  I decided to see if I had any trapped emotions regarding my wrist and came up with 2.  I released them but it still ached.  I asked my subconscious if there was an injury to it and I got yes.  It wasn't just trapped emotions causing the pain.  But at least it felt a little less painful after doing the energy work so I went off to bed for the night.  As I turned off the house lights, I didn't judge my distance from a door and bashed my arm into it.  In that instant, I had an immediate memory come to me from when I was a young child.  I remembered stubbing and breaking a toe and crying to my dad about it.  Instead of giving me a hug, in his typical teasing fashion, he gave me a light slug-bug hit to my arm.  I hollered at him about why he did that.  He asked me if I forgot about my toe.  I didn't want to stop crying but I was laughing at the craziness of his logic and the silly grin on his face and it worked, I did forget about my toe for a bit.  As I ran into that door after working on my wrist, I forgot about the pain in my wrist and rubbed my upper arm that I just bashed and laughed because of the memory.  So was there a memory in my arm that got hit in that spot over 40 years ago that triggered my brain to remember the incident?  Or is there just that good of a filing system in the brain decided to open that file from 40+ years ago just because I hit my shoulder?  I bonk into things all the time so why not have that file open more often?  Why this time did it open?  Or was it because I released a trapped emotion seconds before and I repeated a similar injury to trigger the old memory?  

I am believing more and more that our organs and tissues carry some of those memories.  One more thing I've Googled and that is "organ transplants and memory."  There is a lot of interesting stories of people who have received transplants having the memory of the person that had those organs before them.  Paul Pearsall wrote a book titled The Heart's Code.  It talks about heart transplant patients also having part of the donor's personality and memories transplanted with the heart transplant. Fascinating cases documented in this book.  After reading these cases, I suggest perhaps those trying to convince me that energy work and other organs carrying memories don't exist and doesn't happen are the ones with the logic that perhaps is the woo-woo.

Creating New Life Paths

I've been in the alpaca industry for not quite 10 years.  It has been a lot of fun along with considerable challenges which I call learning opportunities.  The first few years, my learning curve mostly entailed learning about caring for the alpacas themselves and setting up my farm infrastructure.  I did some marketing and I sold a few alpacas and some products I made from their fleeces.  Once that was going routinely, I focused my energies in learning more about marketing and usages of the alpaca fleece.  There is so much to learn on the alpaca fiber side of the industry.  I went to some alpaca shows and did many local events to draw attention to my farm.  I followed the model that you read about and most farms especially the successful farms use.  I had some success but it just hasn't been enough to keep us viable.  I have long known you need multiple lines of income coming in.  I boarded alpacas on my farm and that brought in nice steady income and it covered the expense of feed.  Nothing to sneeze at in getting that covered!  Yet, that wasn't enough of an income stream coming in and all my boarders intended to eventually get their own farms going so there was a limit of how long that income was going to come in.  One thing I learned as an engineer, having one line of income equates to a single point of failure.  What happens if that one income stream has a hiccup?

The alpaca industry has been growing considerably since I entered into it.  We have shifted out of exotic breeding to a more cottage industry model.  It has not been an easy transition.  We have been going through that transition simultaneously to one of the worst economy down turns in recent history making it an even harder adjustment.  It has been stressful to say the least to try and maintain a business going and growing during all these obstacles and challenges.  I've watched as farms leave and liquidate their herds.  For several years, it felt like I was getting more emails marketing alpaca farms going out of business sales than staying in business type sales.  I love this business and having my farm and I want to figure out how to make it work.  Instead of griping about it, although I do my fair share of that too, I try and figure out what else can be done.

One thing that I see our alpaca industry needing more of is to grow more alternative markets.  The Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association has spent a lot of time and energy building a show system and criteria for evaluating alpacas and their fleeces.  It is all very good and an important foundation for us to grow from as an industry.  However, it has been my experience that most that come to the shows are other farms and we wind up marketing to each other.  Not a lot of outside and new people are drawn to the shows.  The show system is one path of marketing, however, it cannot be the only one there is.  There have been individuals that are building solid fiber businesses and a few coops out there for farms to join and help market their fleeces.  Those are great models and proven successes when we had a smaller industry.  But, now we have many more alpacas and farms to market and we are all trying to cram ourselves down this one small path.  I feel like a salmon fighting for survival swimming up stream against not only the current but so many other salmon in the pool.

I get on my soapbox complaining about how we need more business models from an industry level.  But it comes back to that griping doesn't get me anywhere.  If I want to have my business be a success, then it is up to me to figure out another model that will work for me.  That is why I decided to branch out beyond my alpaca farm and begin my two new ventures with Life Force International and offering Energy Work as a service to animals and humans.  I needed additional income streams so I don't have a single point of failure.  I want something that creates a new path or model that maybe other farms can emulate and branch from themselves. Someone has to take that machete and start creating a new path.

It seemed daunting to create a brand new path and I must admit, that I would get so far and get overwhelmed very quickly.  Then I got to thinking, that I didn't have to invent the new path.  It may be new to alpaca farming and new to me, but it didn't necessarily have to be completely a new invention.  That is when I found the Life Force International company.  The more I study their model and mission, the more, I see how I'd love to create a similar model for my alpaca farm.  I'm not sure how it will look or work yet.  I'm still learning but I love that I have a well designed and successful structure with mentoring and coaching available to me as part of their model and mission to learn from.  And while I learn, I can make another income stream for my farm.  One of the first mentors I spoke to through Life Force lives in and has a farm in New Zealand.  Not only did I get some outstanding advice and a different perspective on some old thinking patterns, but I got to market my alpaca farm to someone I'd never have met before and in a country I'd not be so easy to market in!  When I think of the countless hours and money I have spent PAYING to send out e-blasts and get my farm known and now I'm being PAID to market, I have to ask myself, "Ummm, I think I like this new model and path a whole lot better!!!!"

Achieving the Life We Want

Achieving the Life that Fits!

 
How do we achieve what we want in life?  Such an easy question but rarely an easy answer.  This past year or more, I've spent many hours (usually as I'm raking my alpaca poop and doing my outside chores) pondering on this very question.  What I discovered I was doing for most of the time and why I wasn't getting those things I wanted was because I was thinking in the negative.  I was spending more time thinking about wasn't working and what it was I did NOT want.  For example, I'd would say I want my farm to be lucrative and be able to stay home to work but then I'd think about how I didn't want to go back to having a day job and most of my thinking was how much I hated the thought of going back to a day job of an 8 - 5 routine.  Even though I knew that was not the correct way of thinking, I found myself still thinking that way.  I believe that we attract what we most think about so here I was attracting that which I most dreaded.  I did that because I did not have a full picture of what it was that I DID want.

It really hit home and made me fully aware of what I was doing when I read one of the many books I picked up to help me shift my thinking patterns.  One asked the simplest question.  I was asked to write and picture what it was that I wanted my life to look like.  I should have been able to write volumes of what it was I wanted in drawing income towards me and I came up blank.  My vision had been stuck in just picturing me raising my alpacas and running my farm.  I knew I needed other income streams coming in.  I have tried various ones that are all within the alpaca industry norm. This exercise made me stretch my mind out of this one way thinking.  I was so stuck in seeing my farm in this one model and vision.  I thought, well why does it have to be only alpaca related?  Can I do something else that isn't alpaca related that I really enjoy and stay home to do it?  The answer was of course!  Such a simple mind-shift that was so obvious to do yet I hadn't done it!  My brain had created an equation that said, if I don't make my alpacas support me, then I have to go get a day job.  I remember the moment when I said, "Who says?"  That isn't the only way it has to be.  Why can't I find something else do do that I enjoy as much or maybe even more than my alpacas that also allows me to run and grow alpaca business too. 

My time thinking while raking changed dramatically after that simple shift in my mind-set.  I began picturing the key elements I wanted for myself in creating these new income streams.  I finally came up with four main criteria:
1) I want to stay home and work from my farm; 
2) I want to still work with animals in some fashion and if it helps people too that would be great;
3) I have been fascinated with social entrepreneurial businesses and would love for my business to grow in that way.  I love win/wins.  I want it to be a very positive feel and to attract that kind of positive, pay-it-forward kind of people to the business model I choose, and
4) I want it to be very lucrative.  If it isn't lucrative, the 3 other criteria won't stand a chance of being successful.  There is nothing wrong with doing good and making a very good living.  This last statement is another blog or two to write about!

Once I fixed in my mind those four criteria, suddenly opportunities came to me.  I learned of  Life Force International and Emotion Code.  Life Force International has some amazing products.  I started taking Body Balance after my friend Pam, owner of A Peaceful Sanctuary, in a passing conversation told me about how great the Body Balance product was and how it had helped her little dog, grandchild with a serious life issue and her mother's Alzheimers.  If I just read about it as a testimonial online, I would have been not as believing but I know my friend and have met her sweet granddaughter and her cute little dog and have watched from the sidelines their coping and dealing with those health issues.  So knowing from a closer view of the realness of those issues and then hearing how this product aided them, intrigued me.  I decided I'd try it for myself.  It was within days that I noticed I wasn't hungry throughout the day and when I did get hungry, it took hardly anything to fill me up.  Food cravings dissipated.  In a few weeks of taking my Body Balance, I noticed I was more energetic and some of my normal aches and pains weren't as bad or were gone!  I investigated the Life Force company more and as I got to know it better, I am seeing how it fits my 4 criteria.  This company is all about Pay-it- Forward.  It is part of its mission.  I have attracted such positive people to be learning from by being joining this company.  It allows me to stay home to earn income and I'm helping people and animals doing it.  The coaching and mentoring alone has been worth being a part of the company.  What can be better!

At almost the same time I heard about Body Balance, I stumbled upon the energy technique called Emotion Code.  I could tell something was stuck in me that was preventing me from being successful and drawing to me those things I wanted for myself.  Although I intuitively felt these blockages, I could not figure out how to get rid of them.  As I read online about this Emotion Code work, I thought, this is what I've been looking for in helping me unblock my trapped emotions.  How Bradley Nelson described trapped emotions completely fit with what I felt was holding me back.  I bought the book and although I knew I could do it myself, I wanted someone else to try it on me to see how it worked with someone more experienced doing it.  It is such a simple technique and yet it is powerful.  I felt immediately some changes in my body.  My constant neck pain I've had for ages disappeared as one of my trapped emotions was cleared.  I found myself thinking more positively and hopefully.  It took two sessions with the certified Emotion Code practitioner before I felt I could continue on myself.  I cleared my trapped emotions and my new business ventures started to formulate and take hold. 

These two new added ventures to my life have been so exciting.  They fit who I am and tap into where my talents lie.   The two blend so well together because some have emotional blocks to getting to healthier lives and we all need the Body Balance to help clear the toxins in our bodies and feed it with the lush nutrients it contains.  If you believe in Mind, Body and Spirit, then you understand that these two need to work together.  I can't imagine having one without the other.  I'm currently completing my certification process in Emotion Code and will be opening my shingle soon to offer this service to people and animals.  And I am so very pleased to be a member of Life Force International.  Helping people obtain what they want out of life is the coolest job ever!

GOOD Maker Competition Story

I submitted a story to a Hero Pet competition sponsored by Good Maker.  My story about my dog Rusty was selected to be a part of the competition!  The winning story will receive $5000 that will be donated to a chosen charity.  I picked the organization Pet Partners to receive the $5000 if my story wins.  But to win, I need folks to go to my link and vote!  Please take a few minutes and click on the link, Rusty to the Rescue and vote!  Voting is from Dec 2 - 6, 2013

Rusty was my first dog I chose as an adult.  He was a wonderful dog I rescued at 18 months old.  He was an Australian Shepherd and the dog I always dreamed of having one day.  Maybe because he was rescued from a rough first 18 months of life, he was more sensitive towards others in plight.  I could have written many stories about him helping others but this story involves him helping a lost 3 year old.  Growing up watching the old Lassie shows, I always hoped to have a dog like that one day and I sure got one in my Rusty boy. 

Thank you for your time and support! 

My Hero Dog Rusty

Being Sick on the Farm and Still Feeling Like A Million Bucks!

I picked up a nasty cold a few days ago.  I rarely get sick.  I think farm life and being outside every day, being active doing physical work and being around animals all day makes for healthier living.  I get enough germs in me each day being around all this dirt and muck that I probably have a fairly robust immune system.  This is the first bad cold/flu I've had in years.  It has made doing chores more challenging that is for sure.  What I have found though is that I sure have some great friends.  They have come and offered to help with chores, help get errands and bring in groceries and just been fantastic.  When I lived down south and worked as an engineer, I never had anyone do things like this for me.  I don't know if city folk just don't think about doing that for each other or if I was just independent minded that I never allowed others to come and help me out. 

Having a farm and tending to animals, I have had to change that attitude of being so independent.  I had to quickly learn that there were many times that I needed a helping hand.  If an animal were sick or injured, I couldn't hold them and tend to their needs.  I had to reach out to my alpaca neighbors and friends to give me a hand from time to time.  That was one of the harder things I had to learn believe it or not.  I never mind helping others but accepting help has not been as easy.  It is kind of sad that we see reaching out for help as such a sign of weakness.  I'm not sure if I learned that because of being in a male dominated field for so long and unfortunately had a number of supervisors that were looking for any signs of weakness on my part.  It was quite engrained in me that fierce independence.  Boy was I ever wrong in that attitude.  It took a bit before I figured out that the key to asking for help is to ask the right folks too.  I've been so fortunate that when I moved to Oregon, I found some amazing friends that come through for me.  They have been here for the good times and the bad, the animal illnesses and my own and I have been there for them in return.  It's how it should be!  Life is way too hard to keep having that mindset that Independence is a virtue.  Yes, we need to be independent and interdependent.  A community needs each other.  Somehow we have become so much about "me, me, me," in this culture that we have lost that connection to the other.  There is such strength from having a community.   

So as I hack away and go through a box of tissues, I'm so grateful for those that brought me soup and helped me rake my fields and feed my critters.  I still feel like crud but at the same time, I feel like a million bucks knowing I have such wonderful friends!

Fall Colors also means Cold and Flu Season

Educating Fashion Designers from US on Alpaca Textiles

I was sent this great article today on Fashion Designers from New York city heading to Peru to learn more about how to incorporate Alpaca fiber into their product lines.  This is awesome!!!  This is so what our Alpaca Industry needs.  I've been on my soap  box a lot lately talking about how we need more product driven ventures.  On CNN last night, they had a documentary on Ted Turner and my ears perked up on one of the briefest comments of the entire show.  He mentioned his Bison venture and how way back when he first started it, he had the vision that he had to have an end use to make it a viable and growing venture.  So he started restaurants that served Bison meat.  It was all part of the big picture of his breeding and livestock business.  It had to go hand in hand as he bred and grew the herd.  If you don't have a solid end state, then we quickly run out of ways of selling and bringing in income.  If all we do is sell to each other, we will have a glutted market.  We have small starts in bringing alpaca to more textile products but we have a long way to go.  These New York Designers are a great start in making this concept come to fruition.  What is missing in this article is US Alpaca breeders going with these designers to learn too what they need from us as the crop providers.  I'm afraid they will go to Peru for their end product needs when we have so much wonderful and beautiful fiber here in the US.  We need to be a part of this! 

Instead of worrying about whether we should merge the Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association and Alpaca Registry, Inc, we should be pushing to have teams working with these designers.  Then we wouldn't need to worry about financial challenges because we will be building a viable industry that will need these two entities.  We need to have visionaries that see our industry grow into more markets.  How business has worked for the first twenty years of this industry is not going to sustain it.  We need to quickly transition to a true textile provider. 


I say to you alpaca breeders who may know some of those fashion designers, start asking them what they need from us so we can start making it!  These are opportunities for us and for those of you that have that entrepreneurial eye.  Let's get cracking!  It is time to set this industry on the road to success.  And I define that success not just by how many Color Championships and Blue Ribbons I have won in a show ring but by us getting our fiber out of our barns and filling up mills and manufacturers with our homegrown, lush and wonderful alpaca fiber!!!!

Ready to supply fashion designers US grown alpaca fiber!

Learning the Language of Alpaca

I know we all think we are better listeners than what we truly are.  I admit to that.  I get into my routine and walk past things a dozen times or more without seeing it.  I can be very unobservant at times.  However, I have trained myself to be more observant with my alpacas.  I've done so because it has created a better relationship between us.  How true would that be for the rest of our relationships!  In the beginning, I had to be very focused and concentrate on what I was seeing in my alpacas.  They communicate mostly through their body language and so I had to learn some of their subtle signs of what was going on.  I'm still learning that language!  If I went to a foreign country where I didn't speak the language and it's root language was so different than the English language, I'd be clueless what was being said.  I'd have to use body language to communicate.  Think of the effort and focus that would be required to step into a situation like that.  When we communicate with animals in the beginning, that is a good example to keep in mind. 

Alpacas being prey animals, the signs of fear they demonstrate are important signals to learn.  There isn't just one sign that shows they are afraid.  They have a multitude of them and they can show one or more at any given time and depending on how fearful they are. 

1) The alpacas ears can be pinned way back on its head.  Or the ears can also be very erect and pointing towards the area they see danger coming from.  A friend brought her puppy over for a visit recently and all the alpacas came running to see what this new "wolf-like" creature was.  Their ears were very erect and pointed towards the puppy. 

2) Their eyes can be real indicators of fear.  They get larger and dilated and when in extreme fear, the whites of the eye can be seen. 

3)  The alpacas can flare their nostrils as their respiration rate increases and even have open mouth breathing.  I see this once in awhile the first time I halter a weanling.  I'm very mindful when I see that and work hard to breath deeply and slowly to help calm them.  I also do some TTouch or other calming techniques and if at all possible, keep the training session very short to show them that having the halter on isn't going to kill them (literally!). 

4) Alpacas also have the vocalization of alarm sounds and/or humming.  But I usually see the other signs above before I hear the trumpeting alarm sound.  During shearing especially, I often will see signs of large dilated eyes, flaring nostrils and rapid respiration rate. 

5) And of course, one of the more noted signs of fear is spitting. 

6) For my social alpacas that enjoy their treats, another sign they are in a feared state is that they won't take food.  If you were afraid something is about to eat you, you probably aren't going to stop and have a bite to eat yourself.  When the fight or flight system is triggered, the digestive system shuts down so the blood flow and energy can go to the vital organs needed to keep oneself alive.  So if an alpaca is afraid, they probably won't eat.  I was loading several alpacas this weekend to head to their new home.  They were extremely anxious and afraid going into this odd vehicle and leaving their normal pastures.  Their new owner kept wanting to offer them food to load but I knew they wouldn't take it because they were too afraid.  If we had more time to lure them in slowly and had a trailer on the property for days or weeks, then yes, using food to help train and motivate them to load and unload is a great method but when they are as frightened as they were, then we are better using TTouch, breathing, aromatherapy, to help take the edge off of their frightening experience. 

7) How alpaca run can often show if they are afraid.  When they run with their head low to the ground, that is telling the rest of the herd, they aren't running away from a predator but just want to get someplace quickly. 

There are probably a lot more signs we can share that describe fear to the alpaca.  But these are the more obvious signals and alpaca language that describe fear. 

These show kids were pretty anxious as we walked to the trailer.  Notice how erect the ears are.

Sending Alpacas to Their New Home and Shifting Dynamics

I sent four alpacas to their new home yesterday.  I was curious to see if there would be shifting dynamics in the herd group those four were amongst.  One alpaca left behind is a 2 year old daughter and she is definitely missing her mom.  She looks over the fence and comes to me when I walk into her pasture.  She follows me and then goes to the fence looking off in the distance as if hoping to find her mom.  Her ears are pinned back as if more anxious.  But she isn't so anxious that she is skipping her meals and grazing so those are good signs.  The others in that group were not particular buddies with the others and they seem to not miss the others much.  The one that left was quite the matriarch and head of that group, so seeing if one of the others takes on that role will be interesting to watch.  So far, no one has seemed to be assuming that role, or if they are, not in the same way as Misty did.  Misty was the pig of the group too and I do know they are enjoying their meals without someone pushing them out of their bowls!

It is always bittersweet sending off animals to their new homes.  I miss them, but I'm also very happy that people are getting to enjoy the fruits of my labor with my clicker trained and social alpacas.  I got a call today from the new owner telling me all the antics the gang went through in their new home.  They are adjusting nicely and checking out all the new grass and areas to roll in and enjoy.  They are a little anxious and still not sure if they are coming back here or what is going on.  A little humming but that will ease in a day or two.  They are lucky alpacas having a wonderful new lovely home and owner to be their shepherdess.  I love win/wins and in this case, it is a win/win/win!  The alpacas win with a wonderful new home, their owner wins by having 4 lovely, gentle, and friendly alpacas and I win by having a sale and having made a new alpaca farmer friend!

Checking out their new home.  Look at all this green grass!  Weehee!!!