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Are you interested in animal training?

Mary Hunter and Ginger - edited2
On this blog 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
mary@stalecheerios.com


Recent posts from the StaleCheerios blog

Quote - the organism is always doing something

Help! My dog does nothing during shaping

By on October 5, 2018 in Concepts and Terms

“The continuousness of behavior means that the organism can be thought of as always doing something.” In September, I shared this quote on my blog and discussed how it relates to “problem” behaviors. You can find that post here. However, this quote also relates to shaping. If you spend some time on YouTube, you can […]

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Quote - the organism is always doing something

Something is always happening

By on September 20, 2018 in Concepts and Terms

My friend Dr. Joe Layng was in town this past weekend. While he was here, he gave a two-hour lecture for the Department of Behavior Analysis at UNT which was titled “Implications and applications of nonlinear contingency analysis.” Joe’s talk was packed full of great information. For this post, however, I want to focus on […]

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living room with a couch

The paradox of choice – Part 1

By on July 13, 2018 in Book and DVD Reviews

Recently, I started listening to a new audiobook. It’s called “The Paradox of Choice,” by Barry Schwartz. If you’re curious – the book is available from both Amazon and Audible. Having choices is usually good. However, one basic idea that Schwartz explores in the book is that when it comes to having choices, it is […]

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poisoned cue in app

Repeat after me….

By on June 26, 2018 in Teaching People

Recently, I’ve been listening to a new podcast. It’s the Equiosity podcast, produced by Alexandra Kurland and Dominique Day. The conversations that Alexandra and Dominique have on the podcast center around horse training. However, the ideas they discuss are usually much bigger and apply to working with any species of animal. I think you would […]

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Goldiamond backtracking quote

Let’s go back a few steps

By on December 15, 2017 in Concepts and Terms

If you’ve spent any time training animals (or humans, for that matter), you know that things don’t always go as planned! Particular steps may end up taking much longer or shorter than your initially anticipated. And at certain steps, the animal may behave in a way that you didn’t expect at all. You should always […]

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