Basic Training walking

Basic training: Halter
You have successfully gained your lama's trust and he will allow you to catch him and halter him. Now
you are ready to go for a walk. Step one is to have him understand that a tug on the rope means move.
You not only want him to move but you want him to move beside you and not behind or in front of you.
However to start you just need him to move. Tug on the rope and pull him to one side so he needs to
take a step or lose his balance. When he takes a step, step back (give him his space) and reward him
with a treat or a good boy. Gradually ask him to take more steps before he gets a reward. Once he
moves forward willingly gradually move beside him while asking him to walk. (you may want a friend to
encourage him from behind for the first couple of lessons) It won't take long for him to walk with you,
especially if you go some place interesting.
Now he knows what walk means we need to work on stop. Walk out across the field and when you
want him to stop give a quick jerk on the lead at the same time you say "whoa" and turn right in front of
him so if he takes another step he will step on you. When he stops immediately step back a couple of
steps and say "stand". If he moves step right back in his face and say stand. When he does, step back
again. Space will be his reward. Gradually move further and further back asking him to "stand". Then
begin moving around him still asking him to stand. Soon he will understand that" whoa" means stop
and "stand" means stand still. Once these are mastered you can use the same idea to teach him to back
up or move over.
Make these sessions fun by going to interesting places not just moving around a corral. Although the
corral is a place to start, they will soon get bored if they don't get to go for a real walk. Try to find trails
where you can go through streams and over bridges and maybe jump a few logs!