Animals like knowing that something good is coming. Think about how excited children get when they know a reward is coming–the kid squirming in his chair 5 minutes before the final school bell rings or the anxious child 2 days before Christmas. Expectations and anticipation can make rewards even more exciting than they might be [...]
Carolyn Resnick — The Waterhole Rituals DVD
I recently rented Carolyn Resnick’s DVD, An Introduction to the Waterhole Rituals, from horseflix. I learned about Carolyn’s methods from several friends. Carolyn advocates beginning the training process at liberty and working on developing a bond with the horse, rather than immediately teaching a set of behaviors. I think training at liberty is extremely valuable–it empowers [...]
What is Stimulus Control?
Well established cues are under what is called stimulus control. The stimulus (cue) increases the chance that the behavior will occur because the animal has been reinforced for performing the behavior in the presence of the cue. But what does it really mean for a behavior to be under good stimulus control? Properties of cues [...]
An Introduction to Reinforcement
We’ve been talking about different forms of negative reinforcement in class. So, I thought this might be a good week to talk about positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement and different types of behavioral responses associated with negative reinforcement.
What’s a good reinforcer for an elephant?
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 [...]
Why do animals exhibit stereotypies?
Stereotypical behaviors (abnormal repetitive behaviors) are commonly seen in animals kept in captivity. Polar bears and other large carnivories are notorious for repetitive pacing type behaviors. Grazing animals kept in unnatural or confined environments often resort to chewing on bars or fences or obsessive licking. Other animals rock back and forth, obsessively groom themselves or engage [...]
Temple Grandin–The Way I See It
I love Temple Grandin. I recently finished reading “The Way I See It: A personal look at Autism and Asperger’s,” which I really, really enjoyed. It’s a collection of a bunch of short articles she’s written over the years for various publications. It was just very interesting getting an insight into how differently some people [...]
What’s the best way to train an animal?
Stale Cheerios will help you learn new knowledge and techniques to take your training skills to the next level. So stick around, your animals will be grateful!
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. Although most of this blog centers around training rescue horses, the ideas discussed apply equally to all species. The other animals I work with, including dogs and rats, also appear occasionally on the blog.
Mary Hunter
cheeriotrainer@gmail.com
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