Alpaca & Llama Training Clinics
Clinic Types
Attending a Camelidynamics Clinic is the most targeted way to learn the methods and techniques of this effective system of training llamas and alpacas. There are four basic clinic types:
- Basics Camelidynamics Clinic
- Advanced Camelidynamics Clinic
- Mini Camelidynamics Clinic and Presentations
- Private Camelidynamics Clinic
The Camelidynamics Center Guide details events at the Camelidynamics Center in Bend, Oregon, including registration details, travels details and more.
If you have never attended an alpaca or llama training clinic, make 2008 the year you do! Choosing one alpaca and llama training method over another is a careful decision. Ask yourself:
- What kind of relationship do you want to have with your alpacas and llamas?
- How do you want your llamas and alpacas to behave in your presence, when you need to trim toenails, lead into the show ring or groom?
- How do you want your alpacas and llamas to be when you walk into the pasture or barn with an interested buyer?
- How much time to you want to spend on herd management? Medical procedures? Training?
- Is the llama and alpaca training system you choose grounded in sound principles and backed by reliable information with observable results?
- Is the training system easy to understand? Easy to apply to your own llamas and alpacas?
We encourage you to think carefully about the answers to these questions before you decide on a training approach for you and your llamas and alpacas. Camelidynamics has continually evolved since its founding in 1987. For more than 20 years, Marty has worked to create an approach to training that truly creates a win-win-win combination!
- Handlers win when the animals are easy to handle and they get their herd management job done efficiently.
- Exhibitors win when their animals are easier to show.
- Alpacas and Llamas win because they live in an environment that is safer and less stressful.
As a bonus, the camelid industry wins as llamas and alpacas relate more positively to their future owners.
The essential guiding principles of Camelidynamics for working with alpacas and llamas are:
- Kindness
- Respect
- Effectiveness
- Fun
Our objective is that you learn how to make life with your llamas and alpacas easier and more fun while behaving in a respectful and kind manner. Thousands of folks have learned this approach to training llamas and alpacas and thousands of folks have learned to live and work with their animals humanely and effectively. Read the experiences of Camelidynamic students.
If you have been to one of Marty's clinics in the past, your learning doesn't need to stop there. You can't get it all in one 2-day clinic. Consider attending another Basics Clinic or the new Advanced Clinic. Training and handling animals is a physical and mental skill, just like playing the piano or skiing. You will get better at it with more lessons.
Marty can teach beginners and more advanced students in the same clinic. As your skills develop with each clinic, you will be assigned more difficult llamas or alpacas to work with as you progress. Marty is meticulous at providing all participants at all levels with detailed suggestions about their handling skills. After attending one clinic, you will see everything at subsequent clinics with a new, deeper and more perceptive view.
Everything you see and learn after the first clinic is easier to absorb and stays with you longer. One clinic participant said,"It is like washing your hair you get lots more lather the second time!" Some llama and alpaca owners attend a clinic with an eye towards gaining skills in handling their own animals. Others intend to become Camelidynamics Practitioners and study with Marty on an on-going basis.
The Basics Clinic: 2-day
This 2-day llama and alpaca clinic covers the basic principles of Camelidynamics:
Day One
- Intro to Camelidynamics
- Guiding values
- Your colander
- Handling vs. Training
- Herding
- 4Point Approach
- Physics not Force
- Role-play learning signals
- Catching
- Haltering
- TTOUCH bodywork
- Halter fit
- Hands on practice
Day Two
- Review of Day One/Q&A
- Barn design
- Raising babies
- Medical management
- Hands on practice
- Review of haltering
- Teaching animals to lead
- Hands on practice
- Role–play: Leading
- Obstacles as opportunities
- Show ring issues
The two days are filled with hands-on practice with llamas and/or alpacas, invaluable role playing exercises and instruction. Class size is limited so Marty can provide sufficient one-on-one feedback. We encourage you to bring your own llamas or alpacas, but it is certainly not required. An additional day or days could be added for a Basics Plus Clinic to emphasize particular areas (packing, fiber, medical) and to add more hands-on experience.
2008 Llama & Alpaca Training Calendar lists the Basics Clinics available along with the contact person for each clinic.
The Advanced Clinic: 4-day
Pre-requisite: You must attend one Basics Clinic prior to Advanced Clinic.
This is a challenging and exciting four days that will deepen your understanding of llama and alpaca behavior like never before. At the end, your handling skills will have improved markedly whether you've had llamas or alpacas for two months or twenty years. This is the clinic for people who want to really hone their skills both working with llamas and alpacas and teaching humans.
The Advanced Clinic is also key to the curriculum for those studying to become Camelidynamics Practitioners. Camelidynamics Practitioners are dedicated individuals who will be certified to teach the Camelidynamics training system for llamas and alpacas. Go to our Camelidynamics Practitioner Guild page if you're interested in this opportunity to expand your expertise in the camelid industry and become a professional representative of Camelidynamics.
The Advanced Clinic was developed in response to the need for a more in-depth study of the laws and techniques of Camelidynamics. You will be videotaped working with alpacas and llamas and provided one-on-one detailed feedback. The practically over-night improvements achieved at the Advanced Clinic have been overwhelming.
For a detailed Advanced Clinic agenda, travel details and registration info, go to our 2008 Advanced Clinics page.
The Camelidynamics Center Guide details events at the Camelidynamics Center in Bend, Oregon, including registration details, travels details and more.
Mini Clinics & Presentations
Public speaking is an art, and Marty McGee Bennett is an artist. She is and has been one of the most entertaining and popular speakers in the llama and alpaca community consistently drawing a crowd since the mid-eighties. She has made hundreds of presentations at local, regional, national and international conferences and shows.
One of the most sought after Mini Clinics are the "Showing Off" Mini Clinics, a two-hour condensed instruction on how to show your llamas and alpacas in the show ring with finesse and success. Halter fit, standing and leading are all covered.
Check the 2008 Llama & Alpaca Training Calendar for Mini Clinics and presentations scheduled this year. If you're interested in having Marty present at your llama or alpaca show or function, contact marty@camelidynamics.com.
Private Clinics
If you want personal instruction on your farm with your llamas and alpacas, consider a private or semi-private clinic. Call a couple of llama and alpaca neighbors and friends and share the cost of an on-the-ranch session. Contact marty directly.
Hosting a Llama & Alpaca Training Clinic
If you don't see a clinic in your neighborhood, consider hosting one. It is likely there are other camelid folks who want the opportunity you do to learn and apply a better way of working with their animals. Hosting a Camelidynamics clinic can be a rewarding activity for you and your animals as well as an invaluable tool to draw other interested alpaca and llama folks to your farm.
The clinic you host can focus on the basics of Camelidynamics and the TTEAM approach, or--depending on your interest and what you think will be the most popular in your area--you can choose to emphasize certain aspects of training i.e. showing, leading & obstacles, alpacas, fiber, packing, or management issues.
What type of clinic you choose to host and how you market the clinic will depend on whether you have had a clinic in your area, the number of llama and alpaca enthusiasts in your area and their interests. All clinics can be tailored to meet the needs of your group.
The Camelidynamics Host Packet outlines the requirements of being a host, facility needs, fees and much more. Click here to request a Host Packet, if you would like to be considered as a host for a Camelidynamics llama and alpaca training clinic.
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