The quality of the human-animal relationship may affect the animal’s response to stressful conditions. In this study two components of human interaction with lambs were examined to determine if they have an impact on behaviour and stress response. Lambs were reared either by their mother or artificially. Half of each rearing treatment was handled by stockpersons in a ‘gentling’ treatment. The animals were then tested in a novel, isolated environment. Artificially reared lambs engaged in more investigatory behaviour when in the novel arena than did those reared by their mothers. Among the artificially reared lambs, those that were also handled repeatedly by stockpersons also recovered more quickly (return to normal cortisol levels) than did the other three treatment combinations. They also had stronger immune responses than did the other treatments. Both artificial rearing, and gentling within the artificial rearing condition, improved the lambs ability to cope with novel environments.