I often make my ratties “work” for their dinner. I’ll take their dinner, divide it into several portions and then make it into some sort of puzzle. For example, I often hide their rat blocks and dry food in boxes, toilet tissue rolls, or egg cartons. Then, they have to chew through the paper and [...]
Upcoming seminar with Dr. Jesus Rosales-Ruiz
My advisor, Dr. Rosales-Ruiz will be giving a 2-day seminar in Missouri this summer. This is a great opportunity to learn more about the science of clicker training and animal training. Registration for the seminar opened recently and, as I understand, it is filling up fast. Here’s some information about the seminar that was posted [...]
How many rats can you fit in a Kleenex box?
How many rats can you fit in a Kleenex box? Apparently, three rats! Here’s just a fun picture from yesterday. I went to check on the girls and all three of them were curled up in a Kleenex box together. They do all three fit, although I will say that they look a bit squished. [...]
Stale Cheerios featured on DugDug!
Stale Cheerios was featured recently on DugDug, as part of their list of top pet blogs for 2013. DugDug features a blog that is full of lots of information about all kinds of pets, as well as a search engine that pet owners can use to research and compare prices on different types of pet [...]
Amy goes high-tech (video)
I’ve started teaching Amy to use my iPad! Actually, this is really a project I started on about two years ago. In 2011, I worked some on teaching Ginger, my parent’s dog, to use my iPad. Although she did learn to touch a square button on the iPad, we never really progressed past that point. [...]
Willy Wonka Learns to Target (video)
Here’s Willy Wonka, the pot-bellied pig that I wrote about in yesterday’s post. He was such a smarty and caught on to clicker training so fast. He had clicker training and targeting mastered in about five minutes flat! I started with a short session introducing him to the sound of the clicker and then clicking [...]
Some smart sanctuary pigs
My friend Bonnie volunteers at a nearby sanctuary for farm animals. Last weekend, I got a chance to go with her and visit the animals! We also did a bit of training while we were there. The sanctuary has an assortment of critters, including pigs, horses, donkeys, sheep, chickens, and a few dogs and cats. [...]
What’s the best way to train an animal?
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I'm a graduate student studying the science of behavior and training. On this blog I share stories of my animal training adventures, as well as tips, techniques and tricks to help you improve your training. I work with a variety of species, including horses, rats, and dogs. Join me as we explore the best training strategies for creating fast learning, effective communication, and enthusiastic, willing animals.
Mary Hunter
mary@stalecheerios.com
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