The year got off to a great start in January when we started Tex under saddle. Tex had been completely untouchable and very afraid of people when he first came to the rescue. I posted a video of his second ride, as well as a follow up post several days later where we worked more with him on moving forward. Later in the month I wrote more about riding Tex with a video of a short ride showing how he loves to have his ears scratched. Starting young horses should be fun and a pleasant experience for both horse and rider!

February brought a ton of snow to north Texas. I got some great photos and video of Ginger playing in the snow. While I was stuck inside, I wrote an in depth post explaining “What is applied behavior analysis?” I also wrote a detailed post about the importance of shaping and training in small steps. Connor, the horse featured in this post, was brand new to the rescue and was very skeptical of people.

We made a lot of progress at the rescue this spring with our young horses. In March several of our youngsters went on their first big outing, a trail walk off of the property! I reported in April about the amazing training progress when several of our horses were fostered by a local high school agriculture program.

It’s always fun working with rescue horses. In May, we had some huge breakthroughs with Beau, one of our sanctuary residents at the rescue who had been badly abused and was previously untouchable. In June I blogged about Gingersnap’s unbelievable transformation. This beautiful filly hated people when she came to the rescue, completely starved, at the very beginning of 2011.

July brought miserably hot weather and an awful drought. However, we still had fun with the horses, especially playing with our new horse obstacle course that a Boy Scout troop built us in June. Chardonnay got to play with the crazy noodle obstacle, Stella gained confidence and learned about ground work with the trail bridge, and Blossom even learned how to do some of the obstacles with a rider.

Blogging in August brought two posts that followed up on previous posts I had written, a follow up post about how long it should take to train a horse and a follow up post on the importance of riding helmets. These are two topics that I think are very important, which is why I wanted to blog about both of them again. Both posts generated quite a bit of comments and discussion. I also really enjoyed reading the comments on the post I wrote about evaluating trainers.

Things got busy this fall when I started back to school and I didn’t have a whole lot of time to blog in September . For those new to the blog, I’m currently working on a master’s in behavior analysis at the University of North Texas. This year, I’m also the president of ORCA, a student-run lab group that does research and projects related to animal training. In October I blogged about how scientists have discovered that fish can use tools.

This fall I’ve been spending a lot more time working with my rats. In November, I shared two of Georige’s newest tricks, going through a tunnel and learning how to spin in a circle. The tunnel video is my favorite, as it shows the step by step shaping process that I used to teach this trick. I hope to do lots more rat training in 2012.

In December, I became the proud owner of three new mice. They made their debut on the blog in this post. They are very shy, but I’m planning on having lots of fun training them in the new year!

I hope 2012 is just as wonderful as 2011. I’ve recently started volunteering at our local animal shelter and am very excited about some of the training and work we are doing with the dogs there. I also, of course, play to keep training my rats, dog, mice, and the horses. In particular, I have lots of ideas brewing for fun tricks to teach the rats and mice this year. I plan to keep blogging, of course, so I’m looking forward to sharing my thoughts and adventures with you in the coming year. I’d also love to hear about what you have planned for 2012!

cheers,

Mary

I had a lot of surprised friends several years ago when I did some clicker training and trick training with my goldfish Blaze. Many species are much more capable of learning than we give them credit for. A woman named Barbara Ray recently posted on one of the discussion groups I am on (the Click-L_ABAT list) about her experiences training urchins and sea stars. Using operant conditioning principles, which are the same principles that form the foundation for clicker training, even urchins and sea stars can be trained! I ask her if I could republish her post on my blog and she said that would be okay.

It amazes me, though, that so many people doubt that many species are not capable of learning. How else would the species survive in a changing environment? Barbara does a great job explaining how training principles can be applied to some species that are usually considered unlikely candidates for training.

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Originally posted on click-L_ABAT on June 6, 2001.

I worked with seastars and urchins and various shellfish for many years, conditioning them to come and to station etc. These animals use various sensory organs to detect potential food and potential threats in their already very violent environments to which they are adapted (Reef habitats). So while we talk about them having no brains, theoretically one could say their body IS their brain, as the ganglia are spread out in a ring in the main body and branch out the arms etc.

What became hugely apparent and intriguing, from a behavioral evolution standpoint, is the different “urchinalities” the animals showed to the same sets of stimuli.

When transferred to a different holding tank, for example, there were urchins who became stressed and responded with the typical spines drooped as in detecting a threat (and possibly ‘change in tide” where they had to brace themselves and stop foraging activity if in the wild setting), there were urchins who took advantage of the ‘new’ environment to start exploring and identify potential new food source, and those that remained neutral to the same behavior or position prior to transfer.

When conditioning the animals to come, I used a light as a marker instead of a clicker, as they are very sensitive to light and dark cues and pay little attention to noise. Certain “tactile noise” (vibrational wavelengths) can elicit a defensive response, but I was not looking to scare them, I wanted to engage them. Most urchins and stars learned VERY quickly to come to station for a tidbit of shrimp (one of their favorite foods).

So millions of years of adaptation has afforded these animals to some very clever behavior to meet their needs, even though they lack a formal brain! (Same with plants of course, who also have their own behavioral evolutionary paths determined by the environments to which they must adapt or perish.)

Perhaps just the brain itself is not actually where the answers lie to explain the origin of some behavior or responses. Maybe there is other sensory input which is critically important but we focus so much on the brain, the other gets lost.

How else to explain how the brainless animals then also condition up in what appears to be so similar to animals with brains? Their physiology affords them chemical and photo receptors and tactile, EM receptors etc and some senses we probably have not completely identified but suspect exist.

To teach the ‘come when called’ response, for instance, that was done by shaping and luring. Using a touch on the animal’s spine or tentacle to get it’s ‘attention’ and luring with a piece of food. gradually raising criteria from moving the body to moving distance over time…so the animal eventually had to move from point A to B, such as coming from the bottom of the tank to a station at the side or top, to earn the shrimp reinforcement.

Fading the lure quickly was no problem, as again, these animals are adapted to an environment that very violently shifts from high tide to low twice a day, so their response to come for the reinforcement was quick with the cue, and no reinforcement present. Or I should say, none directly in their tanks! I have no doubt they can detect the food bits in the room from the ambient molecules that then enter the water through surface contact, drift and wave movement.

They had good ‘memory’ for the cue even after as long as 12 month ‘break’ without being in the training program.

The saltwater hermit crabs of course, with brains, were much more “fun,” as they could learn mugging behaviors and to demand attention (by tapping on the side of the tank with their foreclaws or one even learned to slug his shell on the tank wall as the sound was louder and more likely to get the human’s attention) when they wanted to be worked with/reinforced or saw their keepers and learned that by ‘asking’ for attention they could train the trainers to attend to them!

Its hard to resist a sweet-faced crab banging on the tank and looking at you directly with those big black pleading eyestalks, wondering why you are being so slow forthcoming with his shrimp!

Barbara and The Symphony of Hounds

If you’re a new reader, check out some of these older posts! I hope you’ll find the information, pictures and videos in them to be interesting and informative.

Stale Cheerios: The Ten Best Posts of 2010

1. But he knew how to do it last time…
This is a gem of a post that I had completely forgotten about.
What does it mean when our animals “forget” their training?

2. 2010 Art and Science of Animal Training Conference Notes
I couldn’t pick just one of these to include in the list, so I’m including a link to all of them.
This was a fantastic conference.

3. Lessons from Pat Parelli and Catwalk
How should we handle EXTREME behavior problems?

4. Book Review: Getting to Yes by Sharon Foley
I really enjoyed this book.
Check it out if you’re looking for more info about clicker training with horses.

5. When do I start Clicker Training?
What prerequisite skills does a horse need before clicker training?

6. Clicker Train your Horse to Take a Bath at Liberty
In this video, Apollo demonstrates that teaching a horse to take a bath can be fun and stress free.

7. Shaping Behaviors in a Goldfish using Clicker Training
Clicker training isn’t just for dogs and horses–it’s great for fish, too!

8. Train your Horse to Wear a Fly Mask
In this photo essay, Dionne and Boomer show just how fun fly masks can be.
(Warning: Great photos!)

9. 10 Tips to Improve your Clicker Training
This one was definitely a reader favorite. Some of these are a great place to start if you’re looking to improve your training skills in 2010. Many apply to training in general–not just clicker training.

10. If you give a horse a cookie…
A new research study determines that treats don’t cause bad behavior in horses.

Bonus! Spectacular Photos: Rescue Horses at the Waterhole
By far my favorite photos of 2010.
From your comments, I think they were your favorite photos too!

Now, while watching, I couldn’t help thinking how much this horse could benefit from a bit of clicker training. The trouble would be trying to figure out where to start!

In particular, he’d benefit from learning a few food manners, so he doesn’t take the rider’s hand off when he goes to take a treat, or knock the rider down while searching for more treats. Contrary to popular opinion, treats don’t have to cause bad manners. This horse has such a sense of humor, though, I’m sure he’d get a kick out of clicker training and be a well mannered mount in no time!

Watch on Youtube: Disney’s “How to Ride a Horse”

I’m (finally) starting to have some success with clicker training the rats. (Check out Georgie’s debut on youtube in this post, Rat Clicker Training Success.)

Who would have thought training a rat would be this hard? In this post I’ll explain some of the initial troubles I had and describe how I finally trained the clicker. At the beginning, we must teach the animal that the click means food is coming and what they should do to get the food. Otherwise, the clicker will not be an effective training tool.

Can Rats be Clicker Trained?

I initially got Georgie and Lucy about a month ago with all sorts of dreams of fun training goals. However, my early training attempts with Georgie were absolute failures. She’d take a couple of treats and then she’d run off to check out something or crawl up my shoulder to play in my hair. I tried putting her on a small table and she’d crawl down the legs. I tried putting her in a box. She jumped out!

We started being successful when I made the four changes below. These are all good things to think about when you start clicker training an animal.

1. Remove Distractions
The training environment should be clean and clutter free. Rats are VERY curious! At the beginning, I had too many extra things present that Georgie could investigate and interact with. With fewer distractions, the animal can be more focused on the training task.

2. Limit the environment
Smaller training spaces are better at the beginning. A box or small table limits the extent that the rat can roam and explore. With Georgie, I also had to make sure that she couldn’t climb down the legs of the table, or jump from the table to me.

3. Find a high value treat
I pick my training treats using the principles of DISC. It’s also important to find a reward that the animal can consume quickly and that is easy for you to deliver. For my rats, half of a chocolate Rice Krispy works great!

4. Plan for optimal food delivery
How are you going to give the animal the treat? Will you hand it to her, place it in a specific spot, or use some other method? At the beginning I was presenting the treats on a plastic spoon. Georgie would often miss the treat and go running up my arm instead! I switched to dropping the treat on a piece of duct tape and later to handing it to her. These both were easier ways for her to find the treat.

5. Keep sessions short
We’ve been keeping training sessions at 10 treats, which is about 2-3 minutes. Short sessions means she doesn’t get distracted or get full of treats.

Teaching the rat the meaning of the Clicker

The clicker can have many meanings to the animal. Primarily, I believe that the click serves as a conditioned reinforcer and as a cue for the animal to come get the food.

I want Georgie rat to:
1. Come promptly to get the food when they hear the click
2. Not spend extra time looking for food if I haven’t clicked

Here’s how I taught this:

Step 1: Let the rat get use to the environment
I started by letting Georgie explore and get use to the training area.

Step 2: Teach where food comes from
Next I started periodically dropping pieces of food onto a small piece of duct tape in the front corner. Once she figured out which corner food came from, she started coming over periodically to check this spot.

Step 3: Click when the rat’s coming to get food
I would wait until Georgie was heading for the food delivery corner and then click and present a treat. I wanted the click to be very close in time to the food delivery and to mean come immediately to get food. So, I start by clicking when she’s already heading for the proper corner.

Step 4: Start varying when I click
Now that Georgie’s starting to get the hang of how this works, I click at different times and when she’s in different parts of the training area. I am still training the meaning of the clicker, so I don’t want to heavily reinforcer any one particular behavior.

Step 5: Make the click even stronger
Right now I can tell that Georgie is listening to the click and watching for the movement of my hand. I want to make sure that I can use the clicker to reinforce behavior and that I won’t accidentally reinforce behavior by moving my hand towards the feeding spot. This is the step we’re working on now. Sometimes I click and then move my hand to feed her. Sometimes I move my hand but don’t feed her. She’s figuring out that she needs to pay extra attention to the click because this is the best predictor of when food is coming.

So, that’s where we are now with clicker training! Although this post is about rats, most of these ideas apply equally well to clicker training dogs, clicker training horses or clicker training any other animals. Check out this video of Georgie working on clicker training if you haven’t seen it already. You might also the list I wrote recently of 10 tips to improve your clicker training. You can also Click HERE to read about what the rats and I are working on currently!

Here are two great video clips I ran across today of shelter volunteers at the Michigan Humane Society. In this short clicker training session, they are working on teaching this young cat to go lie on a blanket. They reward the cat with a few seconds of play time for every correct response. What I like about this video is how eager and engaged the kitty seems. He is a quick learner and he is definitely enjoying his clicker training sessions.

Check out the two videos below. I think that you’ll agree that cats are trainable! These two clips are each about two and a half minutes. However, even in that short time you can watch the cat figure out what he’s suppose to do to get the reward. What I really like about these videos is that they use play as a reinforcer. Play keeps the cats active and moving around. This means that the cat is offering lots of behavior that they can then shape.

I’d love to hear more about cat training from anyone who’s tried it with their cat!

Being skilled at clicker training takes time and practice. Here are 10 tips that will help your clicker training skills go from good to great:

1. Play the Shaping Game
Find a clicker and at least one other person. Take turns training each other to perform simple behaviors such as turning on a light switch or opening the fridge. Take turns being the trainer and trainee. You’ll improve your shaping skills and learn how an animal feels during training!

2. Videotape Yourself
Set up a video camera and record your training sessions. You’ll be able to better track your progress and analyze spots where you are getting stuck. If possible, get another trainer or friend to watch your videos. They’ll see things that you missed.

3. Have a Well Defined Plan
It’s easy to get in trouble or get stuck if you haven’t mapped out where you’re going. Decide what you will and won’t click for. Plan each step towards your goal. Think about potential problem spots and know before you start what to do in each of these situations.

4. Train Another Species
Think you’re a great dog trainer? Try training a goldfish, cat, hamster or horse. Training other species will expose some of your weaknesses and ultimately improve your training skills. Bob Bailey trains animal trainers using chickens and Karen Pryor makes trainers in her dog trainer academy train at least one other species in order to graduate.

5. Improve your Mechanical Skills
Much of clicker training is mechanical skills, such as food delivery and clicker timing. You can work on improving your timing and accuracy without your animal. For example, watch the news and try to click whenever anyone says the word “today.” (More exercises and tips here.)

6. Learn from Top Clicker Trainers
Identify several trainers who you think are at the top of the field. Watch videos, attend seminars and workshops and read books. Go to conferences such as ClickerExpo. Figure out what top clicker trainers are doing, what works and why it works. I really enjoy watching Kay Laurence, who has lots of free videos on her youtube channel, ladstwo.

7. Reevaluate and Expand Your Reinforcers
Sometimes trainers get into a rut of always using the same reinforcers. Expanding the types of reinforcers you use can add variety to your training sessions. Also, evaluating your reinforcers using the principles of DISC can help you make your reinforcers more effective.

8. Find a Clicker Training Buddy.
Find someone you can bounce ideas off of. Someone who will help you discuss goals, celebrate successes and brainstorm about any difficulties you encounter. You’ll learn too from their ideas, progress and stories about their own animals. This could be someone you train with in person or even someone you keep in contact with online or by phone.

9. Train in Short Sessions or Take Breaks
Train in shorter sessions or add breaks to longer sessions. You can limit your sessions based on time (such as 5 minutes) or number of treats (such as 20 treats). Breaks give you time to evaluate how the training is progressing and decide whether to continue or change what you are doing. Shorter sessions are easier to intersperse throughout a busy day.

10. Teach Someone Else about Clicker Training
Can you explain the hows and whys of clicker training to someone who is unfamiliar with the concept? Can you help someone get started and help them troubleshoot through any difficulties? You’ll have a solid understanding of what you are doing if you can explain it to others. If you’re still learning yourself, see if you can find a trainer who will let you help out or assist with beginner classes.

Now it’s your turn!!
What are some of your favorite tips for becoming a better clicker trainer? Leave your comments below, and I’ll publish the best ones during the first week of November.

Alright readers, here’s a challenge for you. Check out this youtube clip below of a raven, who is being trained to peck at a yellow bowling pin. He has two choices–peck yellow or peck blue.

If he pecks the correct pin, he receives a bit of food as a reward. If he pecks the incorrect pin, both pins are removed and he gets a brief time out. The pins are then presented again, and he has to make another choice.

Birds are extremely intelligent, as Irene Pepperburg and others have demonstrated. (See my book review here about Pepperburg’s research with the parrot Alex.) They can easily learn simple and complex discriminations. Ravens are some of the smartest of birds. However, I’m not completely convinced that this one has learned yellow and blue yet.

So, what do you think? The bird usually seems pretty certain about his choice. But how well does he know his colors? Does he really understand “pick yellow?” Or are there other factors and rules that are influencing which pin he picks?

Check out the clip, then let me know what you think in the comments section below. I’ll post on Tuesday about what I think, as well as how we need to be careful when teaching behaviors and cues.

(Thank you to the Ark Lady for originally finding this clip.)

I recently finished reading Getting to Yes by Sharon Foley. What a great book! I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking to learn more about clicker training and positive step-by-step methods to improve their horse training.

I bought this book over a year ago and have used it from time to time as a reference. However, while I was on a car trip in August I took the time to read it from cover to cover. Getting to Yes is informative and a fun read. I am definitely adding it to the list of books I recommend to people looking for information about clicker training with horses.

Why I Liked Getting to Yes

In Getting to Yes, Sharon Foley presents a clear and straight forward approach to clicker training. The book is heavy in the beginning on foundational information, including the whats and whys of clicker training and how to begin clicker training your horse. Then, throughout the following chapters, the book builds on these foundation exercises to progress to round pen work, in hand work and even some advanced riding exercises.

The book makes it easy to see how and why early foundation lessons are essential for later training. For instance, the Look at Me exercise is used later when teaching the horse to follow a feel and even later when working on lateral flexions and getting the horse’s attention under saddle.

Horse people sometimes want to skip over the basics to get to more advanced concepts. Sharon Foley does a great job of showing how many advanced concepts are just elaborations on the basic building blocks.

Let’s Have Fun, But be Safe!

Getting to Yes is written for people who already have some horse handling skills. However, even experienced horse people sometimes get themselves into trouble when they start clicker training and add food rewards to their training program.

The first chapters in the book emphasize good manners, including how to train your horse to take food politely and how to train your horse to be attentive to you while staying out of your space. The early lessons, such as teaching your horse to target, also include plenty of troubleshooting tips that cover many common questions.

Sharon Foley emphasizes practicing clicker and food delivery mechanics before starting with your horse. She also includes a great explanation of how to play the training game and the “no” game with another person before you start training your horse. These are great exercises for people new to clicker training or for someone who has been clicker training for years.

The Clicker Training Mindset

Getting to Yes is filled with practical applications for clicker training with horses. (There’s a great chapter on using clicker training to teach your horse to longe.) The book isn’t just a practical how-to guide, however. Sharon Foley also does an excellent job explaining the underlying science behind clicker training and why it works so well.

Sharon Foley’s underlying philosophy is that the “horse would be doing what was asked of him if only he were clear about what was wanted and was confident that he could do it.” Our horses aren’t trying to be brats or challenge us or make us angry. However, they often don’t understand what we want or why they should be doing what we are asking.

The goal of good training should be clear and precise communication between horse and rider. In Getting to Yes, Sharon Foley shows us how to break training down into small steps and show our horses exactly what we are asking. By doing this we can build a mindset where we work with the horse, rather than against him, and help the horse be right every step of the way.

The methods in the book are simple enough to help someone new to clicker training solve training problems and create a better partnership with their horse. However, the more advanced chapters will help even those already familiar with clicker training refine their skills. I would highly recommend Getting to Yes for anyone who is interested in clicker training their horse. As well, Sharon Foley’s website is a great source for more information on clicker training with horses.

Check Out Getting to Yes on Amazon.com

Many times we say an animal (or person) should do something because he ought to or because we think he should. The horse who disobeys and the dog who doesn’t listen are both being disrespectful and bad. Same goes for the child who won’t sit still in school.

But think about it this way, what’s in it for them to do as you say? If the answer is not a whole lot, you can bet the animal isn’t going to be so keen on listening or following directions.

Check out this video below. Many doctors and health experts are forever hounding on their patients to get more exercise. A simple way to get a bit more exercise is to take the stairs instead of walking. However, humans, like horses, are often masters of conservation of energy and prefer elevators and escalators. If we can make stairs fun, people are more likely to use them.

So, here’s what I want to know

What are some simple ways you make your training fun? Do you have any special games or activities that your horse, dog or other pet just loves? What do you do when you have trouble motivating the animal?

Where are the magical musical stairs in your training?

I look forward to hearing your comments!

And a big thanks to Cheryl, of Painting Horse, who originally posted this video .