Blaze is my star fish who I’ve been clicker training. (Actually, err, he’s a goldfish, but he is a star pupil!) I trained him a bit at first using the R2 fish training kit (see a video of his first few tricks HERE). He proved to be a smart fish and a fast learner for [...]

One of the most common arguments I often hear against clicker training for horses is that we “can’t use dog training methods for horses.” However, clicker training wasn’t originally invented for dogs (or dolphins either, as many people falsely claim). The principle of reinforcement, on which clicker training is based, was originally described and researched [...]

Many animal trainers that use positive reinforcement and operant conditioning rely on a clicker or a certain word (such as “Good!”) to mark correct behavior. The marker sound or word functions as a secondary reinforcer. It’s paired with food over and over again until the animal associates it with good behavior. Then, when you give [...]

Here’s where Blaze and I are at after about 10 days of training.

Did you know fish can be trained to do tricks? To jump through hoops, weave poles, ring a bell or do all sorts of other things that you’d expect a dog to do? Fish are actually quite trainable, given the right motivation (i.e. yummy food, and lots of it).

We’d have goldfish every once in awhile [...]