Llama Intelligence
For animals that are grazers, llamas are remarkably intelligent. This characteristic makes them exceptionally useful on the trail or in other work situations. Just like people, they, too, are variable in their amount of intelligence. We have some that are pretty "dim" for a llama (which is still pretty smart), and others that are so smart that they put most dogs to shame.While they are not capable of human-type reasoning, llamas rely on their acute vision and their sensitivity to behavior (in other animals as well as their own species) to help them learn a great deal about their environment, very quickly. At the same time, most llamas have a very calm attitude which enhances their usefulness in a work situation.
They can also be trained fairly simply, if you can approach them from a llama perspective. In fact, some people accustomed to training dogs or horses will be at a disadvantage when training llamas. One of the best ways to develop communication between yourself and your llamas is to use "Click and Reward" training. The video tapes from Jim Logan on this show llamas able to pick out particular tools on request, put trash in trash barrels, etc. Lots of fun and great inspiration.