Resource guarding can be a serious problem for some dogs. (Resource guarding is when a dog displays aggressive behavior when another dog or a person tries to take something away from the dog, such as a toy or bone.) This spring, several of my friends at UNT used Constructional Aggression Treatment (CAT) to successfully treat [...]
Connor’s Second Short Ride (with video)
Here’ a short clip of Connor’s second ride, from last weekend. At this point, we’ve only walked around bareback in the round pen, so I’m still not entirely sure how much previous training he had before coming to the rescue. I think he must have had a fair amount of training at some point. He [...]
Tex’s Second Ride
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, we’ve started riding Tex, one of the ponies at the rescue. This is pretty exciting because it is a huge milestone in his training. So far, I’m happy to report, he’s been brave and confident and taken everything completely in stride. Here’s a short clip from Wednesday (his second [...]
Clicker Training for Veterinary Procedures
We’ve been talking a lot on facebook about using clicker training to teach your horse (or any other animal) to willingly participate in veterinary care. Many vet procedures, such as shots, wound care and even general examinations can be pretty frightening for a horse. Often the horse is not familiar with the vet and there [...]
Walt Disney needs some Clicker Training!
This is a humorous little clip that has been circulating around the internet. Its well worth watching for a few laughs, if you haven’t seen it yet. The clip is a 1941 Disney short called “How to Ride a Horse.” Now, while watching, I couldn’t help thinking how much this horse could benefit from a [...]
The Columban Simulations: How Smart Are Pigeons?
I found two wonderful youtube clips recently. I highly recommend taking the time to watch them! They are the first and second halves of a short 1980s film about the Columban Simulations. The Columban Simulations were a series of research studies where pigeons were taught to perform complicated behaviors that we usually think of as [...]
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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