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Mary Hunter and her horse Apollo


On this site I share stories of my animal training adventures, information about the science of animal training and behavior, and tips and advice to help you improve your training.

Join me as we explore the best training strategies for creating fast learning, effective communication, and enthusiastic, willing animals.

If you’re new to Stale Cheerios, I recommend that you start by visiting this page to learn more about Stale Cheerios and that you visit my Top Posts page.

~Mary Hunter

Recent posts from the StaleCheerios blog

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Chewie’s Diary Week 18: Forehead target

By on June 11, 2025 in Chewie’s Diary

Chewie has been learning to touch her forehead to my hand! This behavior is both fun and practical. I wrote last week about nose targeting. Chewie knows how to touch her nose to lots and lots of different objects. Nose targeting is the most common type of targeting. However, with positive reinforcement, animals can learn […]

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Chewie’s Diary Week 15: More mats

By on May 21, 2025 in Chewie’s Diary

Chewie and I have been playing more with mats. I shared some in March about Chewie’s first encounters with these blue mats. You can check out that post HERE. In our earlier sessions with the mats, my only goal was for Chewie to be confident and curious about the mats. I didn’t try to train […]

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Chewie’s Diary Week 14: Leaving is okay

By on May 14, 2025 in Chewie’s Diary

Chewie and I have been working on some targeting exercises. During a recent training session, Chewie was practicing touching a wall target with her nose. However, shortly after we started, someone began doing some work with a loud tractor, very close to Chewie’s pasture. Chewie has walked away from the target. When the noises started, […]

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