We all know that if an animal has been trained, life is easier all round. I knew about training dogs – we have all seen sheep dogs in action or watched obedience training on the television – but I was surprised to find that cats can also be trained. Mind you, they do tend to 'take a message and get back to you' when you call them but ours would come when we whistled and get down or stop scratching the furniture when told.

Alpacas are not likely to come when you call unless you rattle a feed bucket. In fact, they often appear not to have heard you and show no reaction. However, you can train them to trust you and feel safe when you are near them or handling them. It is down to you to help them overcome their innate alarm and feeling of being threatened.

How can you do this? By being patient. Remember that an alpaca's natural reaction is to flee. If you have got your animals used to wearing a halter then you have taken the first step and you need to build on that.

Don't try to teach your alpaca everything in the first session. You are much more likely to succeed by taking things slowly, a bit at a time. I once went on a management training course where we were asked the question "How do you eat an elephant?"

The answer? One small piece at a time.

By breaking down the route to your objective into small pieces, you can end each session on a positive note, even if there has only been a little progress.

If you persist in making your alpaca do something that distresses it or it becomes dejected then it will not be able to learn as it has ceased to trust you.

Every alpaca is an individual. You have probably already seen the differences in your herd. To an outsider, all alpacas (at least those of the same colour) look the same but as you look after and observe your own herd you will readily notice small but significant differences. This will enable you to notice if any one of them is acting out of character and you can then investigate.

Just like children at school, different alpacas will learn at different rates and will pick up some things more quickly than others. They all effectively need their own personalised training schedule along which they will progress at their own pace.

However, don't train them on their own away from their companions. This will just cause more stress and make training extremely difficult if not impossible.

If you can't train animals in groups (of two to six) then make sure the student can see other animals which are penned so that they cannot wander away.

For halter training, you will need a lead rope per animal. This should preferably be thick and made of soft cotton. You will also need somewhere secure where you can tie the animals and one sound bicycle inner tube per animal. Make sure the rubber isn't weak or perished or the technique will fail.

Attach an inner tube to the post at each training point. If you are training more than one animal at the same time, ensure the points are far enough apart so that the animals cannot reach their neighbours. Also make sure the animals cannot get trapped in any fencing at the training points.

Gather the alpacas into a catch pen and put on their halters, making sure they are fitted properly. In a training situation, they may well struggle and pull and if they are hurt by the halter, they will remember and it will be very difficult to regain their trust. Remain calm and keep talking quietly to your animal. You are seeking to give it confidence in you.

Move the alpaca to a training point, it may need quite a bit of persuading, and tie the lead rope to the inner tube. You should use a quick release knot but make sure the animal cannot undo it accidentally. Keep the distance between the post and the halter to a maximum of around 1.5 metres.

Then you can move away but don't leave the area. The alpaca's reaction is likely to be to pull to try to get free. However, the harder it pulls, the harder the inner tube will "pull" back. Animals usually learn quite quickly that it is preferable to stand with the lead rope slack. If one of them stops with the lead rope taught, give is some help by pushing it forward to slacken the tension.

When the alpaca is standing quietly on a slack lead rope, you can approach it gently, release the lead rope, remove the halter and let it go. If an animal hasn't got the message after a while, up to around 15 minutes, then push it forward, slacken the lead rope and release it. Hopefully it will get the message in the next session If you can, you will find it easier to train animals as they are weaned. Not only are they physically less difficult to move around, they are at the stage in their lives when they are used to accepting authority so they might as well learn to accept yours. Older animals can be trained but it is more difficult and there is a higher risk of injury both to it and to you.