​Blog 15 - One Big Happy Family!

Hello again!
​​Glacier has been literally a huge help to the herd. He has amazing guard instincts, and we all look up to him! Well, he is over 6 feet tall, so yes even Louie looks up to him, sort of! 😊
We all know Louie is still the boss, but Glacier is more muscle and another herd mate that we can call our friend. We all know llamas are there to protect us and we appreciate them, but they are also herd mates which means they are part of our family.
Herds are families. As I look in the girls’ pasture, I see all the girls helping to raise my baby brother. It’s not just my mom, its all of them. When mom is eating or resting, one of the other girls keeps watch on Grayson. Aunt Penelope even provides him with extra milk. Aunt Anica is a great teacher and teaches Grayson the difference between what is right and wrong. Unfortunately, when my little brother does something wrong, the result sometimes is a face full of yucky spit!
Spitting is something that we all do. It is a way to communicate when we are not happy and a way to try to protect ourselves. It is part of our heritage which goes back to being in the Camelid family. Like camels, alpacas and llamas all spit. It is yucky and smells bad, but it gets our point across. 
Grayson is quickly learning the right and wrong things to do! I bet he smells pretty bad right now, but he will learn. 
When Coco spends time with Grayson, she teaches him how to run and play. As a Cria, it was always fun to run and play with our herd mates. Since Grayson is the only Cria born, Coco takes the place of little herd mates. It is fun to watch her play “chase” with him and I look forward to the day he moves in with us so I can teach him too. Grayson will spend about 10 months with mom and the girls before he graduates to our herd! I am counting down the days, even though I know it is a long way off!
I decided I wanted to talk to Monty about my role with Grayson, since after all, he is his dad, and I didn’t want to step on Monty’s toes. Monty is truly someone I have always looked up to. He was like my big brother when we were at the other ranch. I learned a lot from him when I was a yearling. 
Monty and I had a great talk and he told me that yes, he had plans on training Grayson when he eventually moved over, but that he was my brother, and he should be a big art of his life as well. He said that he and mom talked about it and they definitely want me to help train Grayson. Monty said over the next few months we can come up with a game plan on training him and I couldn’t be happier!

- B