Posts Tagged ‘ reinforcement ’

Steve Martin: Training Birds with Trust Accounts

Feb 22nd, 2010 | By Mary Hunter | Category: ORCA

I love hearing Steve Martin speak. (the bird trainer, not the actor!) He was one of my favorite speakers at the 2009 Art and Science of Animal Training conference and I enjoyed his talk at this year’s conference just as much. These are a few of my thoughts from his talk.
Steve Martin is a [...]



Alexandra Kurland and Loopy Training

Feb 11th, 2010 | By Mary Hunter | Category: ORCA

At the Art and Science of Animal Training conference this year Alexandra Kurland spoke about loopy training, which is a concept she has been developing over the past year. Loopy training was the focus of a clinic I did with Alexandra Kurland last fall. The more I hear about it, the more it makes sense [...]



The Worming Adventure Continues

Jan 27th, 2010 | By Mary Hunter | Category: Horse Training

I wrote recently about our success worming 40 of the 41 rescue horses in a single day. The final mare, Daisy, refused the flavored wormer that we had mixed in with some tasty senior feed. Smart girl! She knew that something was amiss. So, Dawn and I returned to the other property last Friday with [...]



Are You Having Fun Yet? (video)

Jan 11th, 2010 | By Mary Hunter | Category: Training Tips, Youtube Videos

Horse training (or dog training, parrot training, fish training, etc.) should be fun. Let me repeat, training an animal should be fun and enjoyable for both you and the animal! So, are you having fun yet? And is your horse or dog having the same amount of fun?
Many times we say an animal (or person) [...]



What’s the purpose of the click in clicker training?

Dec 14th, 2009 | By Mary Hunter | Category: Horse Training

This is a follow up post to Do I have to treat every time I click?
The clicker is commonly thought of as one or more of the following:
–a marker signal
–a bridge signal
–a secondary reinforcer
–a cue
The clicker is often thought of as a marker signal, meaning it marks good behavior. However, just marking a behavior doesn’t [...]