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What’s a good reinforcer for an elephant?

Apr 16th, 2009 | By Mary Hunter | Category: Training Tips

Regarding finding valuable reinforcers:

“One keeper I met learned that an elephant will perform for a single miniature marshmallow.”

This is from Temple Grandin’s latest book, Animals Make Us Human. (I also blogged recently about her discussions on introducing scary objects and stereotypical behaviors.)

I find many people object to adding a clicker to their training because they think they are going to have to constantly be giving their animal large amounts of unhealthy food. Really, though, training with positive motivation doesn’t mean a trainer is constantly shoving a never ending flow of carrots and sugar cubes in a horse’s mouth.

Positive reinforcement just means that something is added following the behavior that will increase the rate of the behavior. Food naturally works well, but plenty of other things are reinforcing too, such as scratches or getting to play with a toy. I’ve written before about choosing good reinforcers.

Different reinforcers work better for different animals and different situations. Sometimes, we even inadvertently reinforce behavior that we don’t want! For instance, if a parent gives a screaming kid a candy bar to make him shut up at the grocery store, the candy often reinforces screaming. The kid liked the candy bar, so he’ll be more likely to scream next time.

If you aren’t getting the desired results in your training, stop and consider what you’re using for reinforcers. What does the animal or person get for performing the behavior? Is this enough to motivate them to perform the behavior and to convince them that the behavior is worth performing in the future?

I’d love to hear any fun and new ideas for different reinforcers that your animals love!

Related posts:

  1. what makes a good reinforcer?
  2. ORCA: Part 4. Steve White
  3. What is Stimulus Control?

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  • My dogs will work for just about any food item...I often use whatever is handy (even a bite of my own meal!

    If I'm working with the rabbits, the dogs might get a rabbit pellet (the "before eating" type) as a reinforcer for good behavior...because it's handy to do so. If I'm playing with the rats, the dogs might get a bite of rat food (rat block and goodies).

    I was working with a client's dog the other day, and the dog didn't want my homemade treats that I brought along...took them, and dropped them on the floor. But what the dog WAS interested in, after the session...was the chocolate chip cookie that the client offered me (good reward for me!). I got the dog's attention...got an offered sit and reinforced with a bite of cookie (minus chocolate chip). I use what works! lol

    Great blog, btw...I'm really enjoying reading your posts!
    ~Erin
  • Thanks for the comment, Erin, I'm glad you're enjoying my blog.

    I use the same principles as you---if it works, keep using it!

    I have accidentally tried to feed dog treats to a horse before, though. The horse wasn't too thrilled about that!

    cheers,

    Mary
  • great, thanks for the info!

    I'll definitely look into those.

    Ginger LOVES hot dogs and string cheese, but I want to limit her intake of both of those for health reasons.

    Mary
  • Just to follow up, take a look at Natural Balance Sweet Potato & Venison dog treats. They come in big and small sizes. I take a small "bone" and break it into 6 pieces. (The four corners and the middle then broken into two more.) You can even break it as you go along.

    The other Natural Balance treats are great too. All ingredients that are better than most dog foods.

    The Natural Balance Roll-a-rounds are actually my highest value treat that I use when I need strong motivation. Kody loves them. Those I break into a lot of pieces. They're big.
  • I just discovered your blog, very nice information here.

    It's a pet peeve of mine when people criticize clicker training under the assumption that you have to carry treats around forever. I recently blogged about it as well.

    I have a client now whose dog loves to work for bits of carrot and apples. My lab mix actually loves the touch cue so much she will happily perform other behaviors just for a chance to jump up and touch my hand. And the biggest reinforcer for my spaniel is a chance to chase the birds and squirrels(of course I make sure they have plenty of time to get away before I release him).
  • Exactly Lindsey! I'll have to check out the post on your blog.

    Plenty of high level show dogs (obedience, agility, etc.) are clicker trained. Once the dog understands the behavior, the clicker and treat get faded out.

    The clicker is used as a teaching tool. Too many people don't seem to understand how to fade out the clicker and instead keep using it indefinitely.

    Actually, I think most dogs (and other animals) would get incredibly bored if we continued to click for low level behaviors.
  • Good points Matt!

    I've never heard of sweet potato dog treats, I'll have to look into that as they sound interesting (and healthy).

    Currently, I usually use turkey hot dogs for our dog. Each hot dog has 40 calories, and I can cut the hot dog into about 60-80 reinforcers, depending on how small I cut the pieces.

    Also, I think dogs are so socially oriented that the attention and training is just as reinforcing as the bit of food. When they become engaged and interested in the training process, the training itself becomes rewarding.

    I have several horses that will work for a single fruit loop. And fruit loops are tiny!

    cheers,

    Mary
  • First of all, dogs love training. Even a big dog will train for very small bits of food (or so I've heard, I have a dachshund). And if you get healthy treats made from oats or sweet potatoes you're basically feeding them a meal. Either buy them small or break them into bits, you can take a dog on entire "training walk" with one cookie bone.
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