Llama phone card, Bell South

 

Contact and Other Information

 

 

Alpacas de Los Olivos Who IS Cathy Spalding, Anyway?

Please read My Philosophy

Cathy Spalding lives with her husband of over 35 years and the youngest of their three children in Olympia, WA where they manage their herd of 18 llamas and alpacas.

Together with her family, she has been actively involved with llamas and alpacas since 1985. Cathy has served as a board member for the ILA, LANA and local associations, chaired and co-chaired many events and fundraisers, served as an active member on numerous committees for local and national associations including the ILR, edited the LOWS newsletter, spearheaded the Llama and Alpaca Symposium in Kansas City, written numerous articles, authored the original Delta Society guidelines for llamas and alpacas, and created the llama and alpaca cartoons Changing Places and Lamazing Wisdom. Her first behavioral textbook on CD-ROM entitled Llama Talk is a vast collection of llama behavioral cues complete with photos and vocals. Continually in high demand, Llama Talk is used in a number of veterinary universities including Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. and the Uruguay Veterinary School of Medicine in Uruguay, South America. Cathy’s second behavioral CD-ROM for alpacas entitled Alpaca Talk is highly acclaimed as a must have for alpaca owners. This text includes over 100 color photos of alpaca behavioral cues as well as vocals. Her article on positioning has been translated into Chinese and presented at the Xi'an Jiaotong University in China.

Cathy’s focus is in the awareness of alpaca and llama behavior as the very foundation for understanding training and herd management. Problem solving can be complex with more than one way to approach most issues. Understanding behaviors provides the crucial information needed in making educated decisions for appropriate resolution in any given situation. Understanding behavior also saves lives. Cathy teaches alpaca and llama behavior and training clinics (which include a detailed visual presentation of behavioral cues) for Cornell University, OSU and WSU, alpaca and llama associations including LANA, CLAA and AOBA and at private farms and ranches across North America, England and New Zealand. Cathy is a featured speaker at many conferences – including the Camelid Symposium at UC Davis -- works with FFA and 4H and serves as a judge at many county fairs and jackpots.

Please read My Philosophy