PREPARATION: When the reindeer first arrive, they will tend to try to escape to "go home". So ideally, have a small pen with 6 to 7 foot high fence or walls to prevent this. Have grass, hay, water and feed dishes or trough there. They will call it home after a week or two and then they can go out into a bigger pen or field with 6 foot fences. Reindeer like to "play" in the fence with their antlers. The fence wire should be high tensile strength and stretched tightly or they will cut holes in it with their antlers. It should be predator proof. Neighbor dogs have been our biggest predator problem. We have used corral panels covered with plastic fencing (like snow fence) and that works well until they are rubbing the velvet off their antlers, and then they tear it up!!
ON ARRIVAL: Unload crates into pen. Open the door and leave them alone. They will come out on their own. Make sure they have snow, or water. They may go back into the crate to sleep for a night or two.
TRAINING: Don't attempt to train them for a few weeks. Give them time to settle in, call it home, and get used to the people around them. Go in the pen to feed. Some will approach you and let you pet or hand feed them. Others will be skittish. Reindeer are less "spooky" than other kinds of deer, but they still like you to move slowly, and talk softly until they get to know you. Some feel less threatened if you are sitting or kneeling down. We tamed our first deer in 1987, off the tundra of Northwest Territories, Canada. We didn't look them in the eye; we sat with a big bowl of reindeer pellets and waited until they came to us. After a few days, we were able to pet them on the nose a little as they ate from the bowl. Then we held onto the halter for a few seconds, increasing the amount of time and pressure each time. Then we could put a rope on and take them out of the pen for some grass. Soon they looked forward to that.
TREATS: We put pieces of bread and apple in with their food to get them used to it. Some think of it as a treat.
Buy a Reindeer Health Aide Manual from Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (907) 474-7268