My Philosophy and Approach

My goal for this site is that it be informative, educational, interesting and entertaining for alpaca and llama owners and anyone interested in these wonderful animals. It is important to me to share with you many amazing lessons I have learned in over 20 years of living and interacting with them. And that you might then go on to learn and share through your own interaction with alpacas and llamas.

One of my most significant learnings is the deep importance of believing in ourselves. To believe that we each truly do have abilities to interact with our animals in clear understandable ways and can build comfortable 2-way trusting relationships. Many of us just don't know that yet -- or at best, don't trust the possibilities. I smile to think our alpacas and llamas might share the same point of view! I didn't trust it either until I began to pay serious attention to the nuances of their behavior.

It was amazing. The more I understood them through their behavior, the better I could communicate with them through my own behavior. Of equal significance, I came to realize there wasn't just one way to appropriately and successfully do most anything... and that would include interacting with alpacas and llamas. I was so relieved to lose that word "wrong." I realized the same technique or method was not necessarily always the best approach for every alpaca, every llama, every human, in every circumstance... every time. And, the most appropriate choice at one time may not be the most appropriate at another. From there, I met myself again on the other side -- back at the place where I learned to believe in myself. To take back my own responsibility and trust that if I felt to do something differently, even be creative in my approach, everything could-- and would -- be just fine. It wasn't about "right" or "wrong." In fact, learning to understand and respond in a way that seems the most appropriate for the presenting circumstance has greatly improved my relationship with all my alpacas and llamas.

I do my best in each and every clinic and presentation to encourage and assist each participant in building skills and personal confidence in themselves -- that we can all think, make sound choices and interact with our animals in a skilled way. To get there, we just need the information, understanding, practice and... belief in ourselves.

New content will be added to this site regularly. Readers will receive updates through the Gentle Spirit Newsletter.

Craig and I hope you will be pleased and benefit from what you find here. Thank you for visiting.

Here's more information about me.

Cathy

 

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