This year Tom and I are spending thanksgiving alone at home with all the alpacas and dogs. The turkey & stuffing  is in the oven (made by Tom) and I will finish up the side dishes with a broccoli casserole and candied yams. I also have a beautiful homemade pumpkin pie cooling off on top of the stove.

As I look out the kitchen window I realize how much I have to be thankful for this year. The female alpacas are happily grazing on the pasture. It was less than a year ago that they had no grass at all since we were living in the desert of Arizona. All the alpacas are happy and all are doing quite well. Even Michelle-Rose is holding her own and possibly has kicked her valley fever fungus right out of her system. As of now the ranch is filled with well doers and easy maintainers. Another thing I have to be thankful for is Gianna, maremma, giving me five beautiful puppies which have all sold. Now I eagerly await Donatella’s and Vincenzo’s pups to arrive any day now.

This year has not been all easy. Our move from Arizona to Georgia took a great deal of time and was quite frustrating. We are still trying to put the ranch together the way we need it for our dogs and alpacas. However, who can complain when we have 20 acres of beautiful pasture and a great barn in which to house our female alpacas. With time we will have everything the way we need it to be.

We have been lucky in that Tom received a promotion at work this year. When so many were hit with the hard economic recession we have been able to continue to hold our heads above water. We have seen many emails on farms and ranching dispersing their herds whether it is due to health issues, financial issues, or they just wanted out. It can be a little scary but I think back on what my brother once said to me, “It is recessions that millionaires are made from”. I live by this and strive to move forward.

Recently my mentor, Deb Hill of Cloud Dancer Alpacas, sent an email blast that I thought was absolutely relevant to what many alpaca breeders need to hear to know how far the industry has come and the direction for the future. With her permission I share it with you all here:

Kisses for Mom What’s Good, Better, and Absolutely Fantastic About the Future of Alpacas or Why We Still Love This Industry By Deb Hill, Cloud Dancer Alpacas

Let’s admit it…the past couple of years have been tough for our industry.  It’s true that taking the ‘ostriche’ approach to the difficulties we face isn’t useful.  Yes, we are completely aware that  alpaca markets have been negatively impacted by the recession.  Every week we hear about breeders that are forced to sell their herd, or their entire farm, and some of our best customers have been hit with loss of home equity, loss of retirement savings and investments, and uncertainty.  Sales are down, prices are down, and breeders are worried. While it doesn’t do anything to help our situation, we need to understand that we are not the only industry that is feeling the effects of the recession.  Alpacas are not the problem. The problem is the economy – banks failing, loans drying up, foreclosures and short sales, companies laying off workers, falling investment values.  With all the bad news, sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of what makes this industry worth the effort of hanging on until better times. So here’s our list of the top ten reasons why we still believe in the future of the alpaca industry.  Let’s count down (or up, depending on your point of view!) from #10 to our #1 reason that alpacas represent an excellent business opportunity.  #10.  World-wide Industry – Let’s not forget that an alpaca industry already exists.  Alpaca fiber is known and in demand around the globe.  We are not working in a vacuum here in the U.S., and we have possible partners in many other countries.  We also have partnering opportunities with other natural fiber industries.  Working together, we can make it through the tough times.  Locally, we’re greatly encouraged by the positive response of the sheep producers in our area to the idea of jointly promoting natural animal fibers.  Nationally, there is strength in numbers.  Internationally, alpaca fiber is known, loved, and highly desired.  The market for what we do is much larger than we realize. #9.  Consumers Know and Love Alpacas – Some of us remember when our biggest challenge was that no one we spoke with knew what an alpaca was or why they wanted one.  Try selling something no on has heard of!  Our industry has done an amazing job of introducing U.S. consumers to alpacas, and it’s a true success story.  Alpacas and alpaca products are much easier to market now that people know and love them.  Even here in the ‘wilds’ of central Montana, residents flock to see the alpacas and can’t wait to shop in our alpaca store, a direct result of the industry’s marketing programs. #8.  U.S. Alpaca Product R&D is Up and Running - Just a few years ago, the only alpaca products we could get were imported from South America.  And while we have nothing against that, we are excited by the recent announcements of U.S. product development.  In addition to national programs, more and more individual breeders are investing in fiber R&D.  Suddenly there are many more opportunities for our fiber, whether it is for socks, blankets, rugs, or yarns.  Our industry is full of brilliant entreprenneurs who continue to experiment, right through the recession.  Think about where that puts our industry as consumer confidence begins to return and the demand for U.S.-made alpaca items begins to grow. #7.  Finally, Alpacas are Livestock – When we started raising alpacas in 1996, hardly anyone used their fiber and the industry seemed mainly focused on providing tax write offs, rather than creating a true agricultural venture.  But look at us now!  Through the efforts of many, alpacas are federally-recognized as livestock, and our industry is making the transition from high-end fuzzy pets or tax deductions, to producing the best quality animals and fiber that we can.  With EPDs, fiber testing, and other measures, we’re bringing the state of the art tools to the breeding game.  That means we will soon be producing the best fiber, to satisfy the world’s demand.  Go U.S. alpaca breeders!  #6.  Alpacas Come With Ag Benefits – Yes, we could get all the benefits of being in agricultural by raising goats or cattle.  But hey!  How cool is it that a side effect of falling in love with alpacas is this:  we get to live in the country, deduct our legitimate agricultural expenses, use depreciation and other tools to offset other income, and lower our property taxes through ag classification on our land?  All this, and we don’t have to kill anything, milk anything, get kicked or run over by big animals, and yard clean up is easy.  Woo hoo!  Sign me up! #5.  Alpaca Industry Organizations are Working for Us – Whether it’s national marketing, industry publications, educational programs, or developing tools for breeders such as EPDs, our industry organizations are working hard on our behalf.  I don’t know about you, but not many of my former career paths included such dedicated teams of individuals volunteering their energy to provide help for my business.  Ok, you are going to say that sometimes they make decisions we don’t agree with.  Well, sure.  Name someone with whom you agree 100% of the time!    Agreeing isn’t the point…the point is, these people are working hard to make sure our industry succeeds, and we reap the benefits, whether it is national marketing, creating brochures or other materials to provide to your clients, offering shows for us to attend, providing continuing education, giving us fiber product opportunities, or…the list is really long!  We’ve got a good support system, altho we sometimes fail to take best advantage of all that is available. #4.  We Have a Small Farm Business with Big Returns – We dare you —  name another livestock business in which you can make enough to cover expenses with just a handful of animals.  Name another livestock business where you can make a profit with less than 20 animals.  Can you do this with alpacas?  Absolutely.  Our farm is living proof.  If we wanted to invest in, say, a cattle ranch, we would need thousands of acres of pasture and hayfields, massive barns, chutes and corrals, and big equipment.  In order to be profitable, we would need hundreds of cattle. Want to take a guess at how much all that would cost to get into? Because few alpaca breeders have any livestock experience, we sometimes lose sight of just how unusual our situation is.  We can have a small group of very clean, cute, amusing critters, cover our expenses or make a small profit with a relatively tiny up-front investment, and we can even take time off for a little travel, see the grandkids, or go to a show.  Ask your local cattle producer how his world works, and you will quickly realize how lucky we have it. #3.  We Raise Rare Livestock with Inherent Value – If you’ve been in the industry for a while, you may think that the lower prices we have seen in the past couple of years are a result of having too many alpacas.  Yes, the U.S. alpaca herd has grown – according to ARI’s figures, there are over 170,000 registered alpacas.  But let’s put that in perspective…according to the NASS, which collects ag statistics for the U.S.D.A., there are over 6 million sheep in this country.  There are close to 4000 members of AOBA, compared with over 64,000 sheep producers.  Have we still got room for expansion in the alpaca world?  You bet!  We don’t have anywhere near enough alpacas to statisfy even a small portion of the consumer demand for our fiber products – we need minimally 500,000 and probably closer to 1 million alpacas to do that.  Because of alpacas’ long gestation, the rate of herd growth is slow.  So the bottom line is:  as long as there is a demand for alpaca fiber, there will be a demand for more alpacas to produce it.  As long as demand exceeds supply, alpaca prices will remain strong.  The past two years are not a reflection of the value of an alpaca, they are a reflection of the economy.   Don’t give up just as a tiny light is beginning to shine at the end of the recession tunnel – prices will stabilize as the economy improves. #2.  Alpacas are Naturally Green - Did you know that alpacas come in more natural colors than any other fiber animal?  That their fiber does not require harsh chemicals during scouring because there is no greasy lanolin to remove?  That their hardy constitution means treatment with antibiotics and anti-parasitic products is kept to a minimum?  That they do not require energy-expensive milled feeds, or water-intensive alfalfa to be healthy?  That they can be kept on small-sized plots of land, leaving other land in a natural state or available for some other agricultural venture?  I can’t think of many other farm animals that are so naturally “green”.  And guess what?  The impact of more costly oil, “buy local” movements, and consumer concerns about how things are grown, harvested and created is creating rapid growth in “green” consumerism.  Depending on which survey you believe, between 30 and 75% of U.S. consumers now buy “green.”  Our alpaca industry is poised to catch the wave.  #1.  Alpacas and Their People are Wonderful!  In November of every year we mark another anniversary with alpacas.  This month marks the beginning of our 15th year raising these extraordinary animals.  Looking back over the past decade and a half, do you know what stands out the most?  It’s all the wonderful people we have met, all the friends we have made, and all the exciting, endearing, amusing, experiences we have had because of the alpacas.  I can’t think of many decisions in my life that have provided so many positive returns.  Some of the best people we know are friends we met because of the alpacas.  Some of the best times we’ve had are alpaca-related.  We belong to more than just a tiny little fiber livestock industry - we’re part of an amazing network of coast-to-coast friends and supporters.  So to all our friends and all our supporters, and anyone that loves alpacas, we offer this motto: When the going gets tough, the tough get alpacas! That’s our story and we are sticking with it.  Yes, our industry is facing some challenges right now, but name an industry that  isn’t?  Economic downturns always end eventually, and once we work through the rest of this one, we expect rapid growth in the U.S. alpaca world.  We plan to soar with it, and we hope you’ll be along for the ride, too.  Life didn’t give us lemonade, it gave us alpacas.  So let’s get out there and squeeze some!   Baby Carlton 2010

From Desert Mountain Alpaca Ranch we wish you all a very safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Michelle- Rose: OMG! I can’t believe what I am seeing! Those of you who follow my blog know that both myself and Michelle Rose have been battling valley fever for just under 2 years. I can remember clearly the day I called Tom telling him Michelle wasn’t going to make it until he came home. Well I’m here to tell you that miracles do happen. Got back the latest blood work and the Valley Fever test was negative…..not a low titer but negative. My vet said she called the lab to confirm and they told her that they only count titers when they appear and Michelle had none. Could this be true? I’m skeptical but very hopeful. Also her white blood cell count came back normal as well which is wonderful because at one time it was more than double. I’m thinking the move to Georgia has worked wonders for Michelle. Oh and BTW……just last week I caught Magnum breeding Michelle. I’m not sure for how long but when I looked under her tail I definitely saw evidence of breeding. Funny because Michelle was the only female in the boys area even though the gate was ajar. All the other females stayed in their portion. Was this meant to happen? This weekend we will spit check and see. Fingers are crossed.

DMAR Magnum:

 Is this not a good looking boy? Just under 2 years of age and already starting his breeding career with Michelle Rose. Magnum is such a joy to bring into the ring. He just stands posed ready for the judge to look his way. Son to Hraz Lock & Load and Kaitlyn Rose. I just can’t wait to use him this spring in our breeding program.

DMAR Dolce:

      I have to chuckle each time I see this pictures. The photographer obviously has a sense of humor for taking them and even sending them to us. I just don’t understand what is so scary about taking pictures but for the most part even my best behaved alpacas in the show ring don’t want to stand still for a simple photo. Dolce is one of the worst we have to deal with. But her problems stem in the showring as well as the photos. I trained her the same amount that I did Dior and Dior is wonderful in the ring. Anyway I love seeing Tom’s expressions. He starts off being happy with a smile to get a photo taken with Dolce. Slowly his smile begins to fade until we great a good shot of Dolce and he is basically unamused and frustrated. Tom has no patience and the alpacas don’t help. LOL!

Bingo and Gianna:
  Isn’t Bingo adorable? 8 weeks old and weighing 23 lbs. This pup is going to be big! New owner, Driwind Alpacas, has us holding Bingo until they move to Florida from Texas. They also reserved a female out of the next litter which is due shortly between Donatella and Vincenzo. Until he leaves with Driwind Alpacas it is my mission to spoil him rotten. So far I believe I am doing a great job of it!

Donatella and Vincenzo:

 Donatella and Vincenzo are expecting their second litter together shortly. Donatella is currently on day 54. If you are needing a Maremma lgd puppy please contact us at info@desertmtnalpacas.com. This will be the last litter of the year. We are ethical breeders and only breed each breeding pair once per year. We are also part of the Maremma Sheepdog Club of America. All of our puppies are sold as working dogs only and they have gone to alpaca ranches, sheep ranches, and goat ranches.

Things are busy here at DMAR but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Actually the female alpacas have been home since last Monday; however, Gianna’s whelping of her litter took first priority over the girls’ announcement. Doesn’t mean I haven’t been doting on them but it is only now that I have the time to write about it.

It was a month since the last time I saw them. Chablis and Prada were still crias and now they are juveniles that look like teenagers. I can’t believe how much they have all grown in just a short month. Also when they showed up everyone was their original color. Now they are mostly orange due to the red clay. It’s not like I don’t have grass but every time I hose them down from the heat they go and find the only patch of dirt in the pasture and roll.

I also have my hands full in trying to wean all the juveniles from their moms again. Since I left them agisting they were all allowed to stay together. Last night was the first time I separated the older juveniles from their moms. Everyone was crying and complaining. I have to get this done since our first show is next month. That doesn’t leave us too much time to get everyone weaned again.

I’m very thankful to have all my alpacas in one place (DMAR). I know the male alpacas are exceptionally happy to see the female alpacas again. They are constantly in a pose oogling at the females.

We were just returning from a trip into town yesterday and as Tom was closing the gate I noticed in the distance a white alpaca standing near the barn. I was puzzled wondering what it was I was looking at. My puzzlement quickly turned to fear as I watched one of my male alpacas turn and run towards the back. I screamed out the window to Tom that the boys were out!

We are still fairly new to our home of only 3 weeks in Georgia and have yet to totally enclose the property. Unfortunately, in certain areas we have found our dogs know how to get out of our yard and into the neighbors. It appears that the alpacas have also found that access because as I was now speeding down the driveway I saw two more of my males running alongside the fenceline but on the neighbor’s side. I was panicked. In the back of our property it can go on indefinitely for about 20 miles to I-20 through the woods. As long as there are two alpacas together who knows where they might take off to.

        As I pulled up to the barn Tom practically jumped out before I stopped the car. The first two alpacas we saw were Ruski and Lock & Load. Ruski was standing around just wondering what to do. He was worried as his two pals RK and Armani had run into the neighbor’s yard. Lock & Load, to no surprise of mine, was grazing happily on the lawn. Ok so these two boys won’t be an issue. I turned my sights onto RK and Armani to get them back into our yard as Tom went into the back to look for the rest of the seven adult males.

    RK and Armani ran up to the access entry point but were stuck behind the trees. If only they took 3 paces to the left they would see that the alley way was open for them to come back. Obviously this was too hard for them to notice as they searched their way along the fenceline looking for an opening. I walked down to RK and stuck my finger in the ring of the halter and walked him back into our yard with Armani following. Ruski was thrilled to have them back and the three of them walked with me back to their enclosure.

We tried to get Lock & Load but he kept running away to munch on some more grass. We eventually gave up as he obviously wasn’t going anywhere. There was nice long grass where he was eating and he was too busy trying to swallow as much as possible.

     Next I heard Tommy yelling that Diego and Eros were in the back field along with Santino, our maremma. The dogs never even popped into my head but what a good dog for staying with at least some of them. Tom said it looked like Santino was herding them back but when I looked up it was only Santino running by. I guess he figured he did his job and it was now up to Tom to finish bringing them back. Good boy Santino! Diggy was easy to catch but Eros ran right by me. I told Tom that he was upset since Apollo was still missing and that is his buddy. We put Diggy into the enclosure and saw Eros running right back into the back. My mom watched him but he only got so far before jumping straight into the air and then turning around to run back. We caught Eros and Lock & Load and put them back in the enclosure.

  I went to the front of the house to look for Apollo and Tom went back into the back area. When I didn’t see anything I headed towards the back where I noticed some people walking away from Tom. Tommy now had Apollo with him. I asked what happened and he said that the people were some neighbors a few house down the way. Their kids noticed Apollo and since Apollo is so easy to manage the father was able to catch him and walk him back with a finger in the ring of the halter. So in other words, Tommy met the neighbors before I did or actually Apollo met the neighbors.

All in all everything turned out ok. Everyone was back and accounted for. Apollo was a bit stressed out as he was alone for a little while with the neighbors, but I hosed him down along with the others and he was home.

So how did this happen? Part of the enclosement is made up of the heavy green panels. I left one of the panels unlatched as I use it for a door. Since they are so heavy I didn’t think the alpacas could get out. Well I was wrong! We think that two of the boys began to wrestle and hit into the panel causing it to open just enough that they could all get out.

So who were the ring leaders in this push to freedom? Your guess is as good as mine.

Today I latched all the panels together.

In just a few short days we leave our home in Arizona of seven years to head to the grassy, humid east coast of Mansfield, GA. We are both excited and apprehensive at the same time. Tom has been off traveling around for work while I am left behind to take care of getting the alpacas and dogs ready for the upcoming move.

Of course things could not go smoothly without some alpaca drama. Two weekends ago I went outside with Tom to give Eros his CDT shot. While Eros while trying to run away from Tom he got his foot stuck in the field fencing. He panicked as Tom got closer to help and when Tom got his foot free I noticed Eros was bleeding. Sure enough he had torn his left back toenail right at the top of the nail bed where it meets his skin. Poor thing. Well with treatment and separation from the other boys except his pal, Apollo, Eros never caught an infection and has improved greatly. The nail is still there, but I expect it to fall off once the new nail begins to grow and push it off.

The plan is to take most of the alpacas to Cienega Creek for agistment. The first trip to GA Tom will take the 4 maremmas, Max our min pin,  and 5 adult male alpacas. I will be driving behind him with a trailer full of equipment and Dutchess, my American Bulldog.

The five male alpacas have their health certs, all dogs are ready to travel except Max who I take to the vet today to get his rabies shot updated. Tomorrow I do herd management to update all shots and trim toe nails.

Tom comes home tomorrow night and he has a ton of work to do before we leave with finishing up home repairs and getting the trucks in working order.

I’m tired, stressed, and simply can’t wait to get this entire move over with. Once I get to the new home (pictured above with a view of one of the pastures) there is a ton of clean up to do with starting with the house and barn that have been empty since December. The pastures are overgrown and need to be mowed down. We need some more fencing to keep house dogs away from guard dogs and alpacas. The list goes on and on, but we will make it work.

Matter of Trust: Above is a video showing how alpaca fleece absorbs and holds oil better than the standard synthetic material. The oil spill in the Gulf is tremendous. Peoples’ livelihood have been put on hold. Our environment is once again put under siege. This is a shame and just plain unacceptable! Like always in the midst of tragedy there are always those that step up to try to help. DMAR is proud to be among the alpaca ranches who is taking the cost upon themselves to ship their alpaca fiber to the Gulf to help create these booms. Today one large box of fiber will be sent with more in the near future.

Weaning: This year we have successfully weaned 2 male alpacas and in the above youtube we have 3 females. I am happy to say that all know how to walk on a halter and lead. I have two more females to go but that won’t be until August when they hit 6 months of age. We got a great juvenile show string this year and we are very excited to show them off.

Breedings: Not sure why, but it seems to have taken Kaitlyn a bit longer this year to take to a breeding. Well it might be because she is a big time wiggler. Not sure if any of you have any of these females but they kush at the sight of a male; however, once the male is breeding then the female seems like they have ants in their pants. Kaitlyn is constantly repositioning herself and at times even ends up laying on her side. For an inexperienced male like DMAR Royal Knight this is very frustrating as he would find himself outside of her and having to start all over. So far we are at 2 weeks of her spitting off vehemently. I do believe she is pregnant.

Fans and Coolers: Tom got the fans and coolers going this past weekend. Good thing as the temps have hit 100. Every day I hose down the alpacas legs and bellies. Electrolytes have been added to the buckets and I see an increase in water consumption. So far the alpacas seem to be maintaining their cool.

Even though I may accomplish completing some items on the list there always seems to be another 2 items added for every 1 item I scratch out. I’m sure you all feel this way from time to time.

We are getting closer and closer to moving out of Arizona to Georgia. Tom has made several trips now and I have been to Georgia at least once house hunting. We currently made an offer on a house, so we have our fingers crossed that we will get it. I will post pictures if and when the offer has been accepted.

We listed our ranch and house for sale about a week ago. Yesterday we held an open house for the realtors to preview. We’ve had one showing and it went well. We will hold an open house for the public either this Sunday or next depending on when our realtor is available.

The listing of the house can be viewed at http://www.longrealty.com/AZ/Hereford/85615/homes-for-sale/7107-S-Nucci-Lane-48975606/popup. You can also take a virtual tour at http://tours.tourfactory.com/tours/tour.asp?t=620494.  We have an additional 4.77 acres that is being sold separately, but is right behind the house so a total of 9+ acres in all. Special concession for offers to purchase both. To view the land go to http://www.longrealty.com/AZ/Hereford/85615/landlots-for-sale/7107-Nucci-Ln-48306342.

This is a beautiful house on a corner lot. Plenty of space inside with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths. Plenty of stalls for alpacas, horses, goats, or any other livestock.

Mike Morgan is shearing 2 month old DMAR Prada. She was very good with no spitting or screaming. I’m collecting the alpaca fiber and my mom is the videographer. DMAR Prada will be part of our 2010 show string. She is out of HRAZ Lock & Load and Kaitlyn-Rose.

We told Mike to leave a fuzzy face on the crias and to A frame all legs. He did a great job with all the alpacas. Perhaps the alpacas weren’t so thrilled on shearing day but over the past two days it has been in the upper 80′s and I’m sure they are relieved to have their fleeces off.

 Monday, May 3rd we held shearing day at Desert Mountain Alpaca Ranch in Hereford, AZ. Originally we were supposed to shear on Thursday, April 29th but had to rearrange when our regular shearer, Pete Connelly, found himself in the hospital fighting an infection after cutting his knee with a shearing blade sharpener. Of course this would happen to Pete one week before shearing and as you all know finding a shearer at this time of year is close to impossible; however, Pete found us another shearer so with just moving the shearing a few days Mike Morgan came to shear.

Moving shearing day was not the easiest for us. Tom was scheduled to be in GA for training and my volunteers had rearranged their work schedules to be here on Thursday. We ended up losing some volunteers and Tom had to make other arrangements for work.

Another change for us was that Mike Morgan doesn’t trim teeth. This was sort of a blessing in disguise for me as I’ve been wanting to trim teeth ourselves for a couple of years now. Luckily a while back I traded transporting for a slightly used tooth-a-matic machine. Tom took it to work a few days before shearing and did some slight adjustments and we were ready. To my surprise Tom actually cut the alpacas teeth without asking me to do it. (If you know Tom at all you know he doesn’t do anything to the alpaca except to hold it).  I was so proud of him but to tell you the truth if he didn’t do it I wouldn’t have been able to as Mike was so quick with shearing I barely had time to collect up the fiber before running to the next alpaca. Now that we are going to Georgia where the alpacas can graze it is even more important that their teeth are in the right shape.

We sheared 32 alpacas between 9 and 2:30 PM. Mike could have been done earlier but us old people (Tom) couldn’t keep up with him. You could see Tom slowing down as he brought each new alpaca in.

We had socks filled with rumen in which I collected immediately in a freezer zip lock bag. Tom froze them afterwards and we now have liquid gold. All that we will have to do is defrost the socks soak them in water and then drench up the rumen. We didn’t realize how precious this stuff is until we had an alpaca who stopped eating a couple of years ago. Luckily we were able to get a prego to spit back then but now we collect it at shearing and freeze.

Special thanks goes out to Pete Connelly (we will be using Pete next year) for finding us another shearer, Mike Morgan and his wife for shearing, and to my volunteers….James, Lisa, Laurel and most of all my mom for recording all the fleece weights.

Now it’s time to skirt the show fleeces and to figure out which fleeces are going to the fiber festivals and which I am going to have processed.

Yesterday I was the judge for the alpaca youth show held at the Pima County Fair. It was a lot of fun in which I got to judge showmanship and obstacle course.  I was very impressed with the kids and their handling abilities. I was even more impressed when I found out that a lot of the kids had been with alpacas for less than a year. It is quite amazing to watch the alpaca do the jumps and allow the owner to place a hula hoop over it. It just showed us all how much trust the alpaca had in its young, confident owner.

I made it a point to tell the kids what they did right and what areas they needed to improve. I really went out of my way to express to the crowd how the kids should be supported. The parents thanked me afterwards for being so interactive with the kids. From the feedback I received the kids had a great time and are looking forward to doing more shows.

This show was pretty small, so I do hope more kids join in the future. It is a great way to support our future alpaca breeders. Perhaps I will get another chance to judge one of the youth shows again in the future. It was a great time for all.

 Bella has found a new home in Northern California with owners, Rick and Cindy Shipley, of Argonaut Farms. Bella will be guarding a herd of alpaca not at all different than what she was doing here at DMAR. Bella turns 5 months old on the 20th of this month.

Rick and Cindy drove into Tucson on Friday night. On Saturday I took Bella to meet them. Bella did great in the car and was quite a mush when she met her new family. I’m sure she was a bit nervous and shy, but in no time she will show her confident self.

Rick and Cindy appear to be a very good family for Bella. I am confident that they will dote love and attention to her and vice versa. Bella will have an older pyrenees dog to befriend on their return. I’m sure she will be excited.

For now we are out of puppies. We hope to have our next litter between Gianna and Santino in the summer of 2010. Of course this will all depend on how our current relocation goes. I’ll keep everyone informed as we go along.