I have two new rats. I’ve had them two weeks. I have a couple of books on rat care and training and I’ve been surfing the web.
But really, I have no idea what I’m doing! It’s like starting all over again. How do I deliver a reinforcer? What’s the best way physically (and temporally) to structure my training sessions? What’s the best trick to start with?
I mostly train horses, but I’ve also worked with dogs, a goldfish, a few birds and a handful of exotic species. Every time I work with a new species I learn a lot of new things. Robert Epstein refers to this as broadening. When we learn something completely new, it can change the way we think about things we already knew.
I have several questions for any readers who have trained (or tried to train!) multiple species. I’m curious about the answers and would LOVE to hear what you have to say.
Survey Questions
(please answer in comments section)
1) What was the first kind of animal you trained?
2) What other species have you trained?
3) What have you learned from one species that has helped you train a different species?
4) What is your favorite kind of animal to train?
5) What animal (or species) has taught you the most?
Thanks! I look forward to reading your answers.
1) What was the first kind of animal you trained? Dog
2) What other species have you trained? Horse, cat, chicken for specific behaviours on cue, lots of other for more general things
3) What have you learned from one species that has helped you train a different species? find and respect that species primary motivators, be patient, and be absolutely clear and consistent
4) What is your favorite kind of animal to train? They’re all fascinating in their own way
5) What animal (or species) has taught you the most? Training a chicken. There’s a really, really blank slate that has no motivation to do anything for you or even to be with you. Interestingly enough, I had behaviours turn up in my chicken that I also have in my dogs… I thought it was breeding or temperment, turns out it was something I was inadvertantly training into them! A chicken really helps you perfect your timing, and forces you to break something down into clear, concise steps.
I have trained rats before. They like to learn and love to puzzle solve. They love yoggies but cut yoggies up into smaller pieces because they easily fill up. Keep it to 5 minutes or less.
1) Dog
2) Rat, chicken, cat, horse 🙂
3) I have mostly worked with horses but my dog taught me that you have to keep things calm even when you want to reward vocally, and rats taught me to keep it brief!
4) horse
5) horse
Have fun! 🙂
The first animimals I trained were sea lions, and they were clicker trained. I also worked with killer whales, and elephant seals. Probably the sea lions, because it helped me understand horses a bit more. My favorite animal is the horse, and not only have they taught me the most, they have taught me everything about being a better human.
Maybe not what you were thinking but KIDS. I have a standard curriculum, a set of grade level expectations, and a positive behavior system in place. Training horses has really helped in the classroom…….. I now, always look for the slightest try and reward it quickly as well as taking a concept and breaking it down into smaller steps to recombine as a whole. Oh and wait time……. this is something that both species need a lot of. Processing speed varies from horse to horse and human to human. This aspect is a very important piece of the puzzle for both species.
1)Dog 2)horses
3) I’ve learned that clicker training works equally well with both species. I knew what to expect from dogs so it was my starting point. I didn’t know what to expect from a horse but I soon discovered it wasn’t very different. Using clicker with dogs with such success gave me the confidence to work with horses. I learned to train dogs without touching them…that was a big advantage since it is much more difficult and not very rewarding trying to overpower a horse. Learning to “communicate” in a positive way is much more rewarding and having trained dogs using operant conditioning led me to training horses in the same way. I think having the confidence with dogs helped me with getting started with horses. While horses are prey animals and dogs are not, they still respond the same way to food or play. I had a Border Collie who didn’t care about food but loved his Frisbee, he taught me that my interaction with him thru play was his reward. I have a feisty 4 year old gelding who loves to play at liberty in the pasture. I chase him and he goes off bucking and running and then I run the other way and call him and he chases me following me up and down hills and jumping over obstacles. I taught my dogs to fetch and I taught Pi my gelding to fetch my hat and bring it to me. I haven’t taught him to lie down but I’m thinking of it. 🙂
4) I love training the horses because they are so big and they truly have to offer you the behaviour.
5) I would have to say they have taught me equally…while I have more experience with dogs, every dog and every horse is different. So it is always a learning experience.
Cheryl (from Costa Rica)
1) What was the first kind of animal you trained?
Dog.
2) What other species have you trained?
Cat, horse, donkey
3) What have you learned from one species that has helped you train a different species?
Training the horse has taught me to get better at teaching cues, because you don’t want behaviours offered all the time. Training the cats teaches patience. Training the terriers teaches planning ahead and getting good at swift clicks.
4) What is your favorite kind of animal to train?
They’re all fun/frustrating/puzzling/educational in different ways.
5) What animal (or species) has taught you the most?
I’d say I became a better trainer through training the cats. They have shorter attention spans, mostly, and can’t be forced into doing things!
1. First animal trained? Dog
2. Other species trained? Cat, horse, human children and geriatric adults
3. Find what the species and the individual generally consider desirable and undesirable, be consistent with expectations
4. They are all fun.
5. Humans
I clicker trained my llamas, its very much my training protocol for teaching them ground manners like to stand, picking up feet and then doing obstacles. I also taught them to give kisses, spin circles, knock balls off cones, ring a bell and such. They clicker train just as normal as any other species
Just deliver the reinforcer by hand.
I trained my rats mostly using the secondary reinforcer with pretty steep variables.
One was bonded strongly with me and the other wasn’t. Interesting comparison because when I was stressed, the bonded one’s performance deteriorated while the other could have cared less.1) What was the first kind of animal you trained?OMG I don’t remember. As a kid, probably a parakeet, dog, cat. My first official training for obedience stuff as a novice was a dog.Professionally? Eesh, I had several animals at the same time–tiger, camel, and I can’t remember what else.2) What other species have you trained?Non-human? You name it, I’ve probably trained it–exception being some marine species, polar bear, panda. LOL Seriously, at one time I had a list of species and I finally just tossed it.3) What have you learned from one species that has helped you train a different species?I don’t think it is a species specific type of deal. I think the key to training aptitude comes from experience in knowing how animals communicate and understanding the nuances of it. Plus, I see trends similar to human social styles in animals that is evident across species. So knowing how to recognize that helps get success with different individuals. I believe you learn from all animals collectively but that studying the natural history is very helpful and observation without verbal interactions is key. Also, wild animals are very different from domestic animals and moving from predator to prey is also different.4) What is your favorite kind of animal to train?That isn’t fair! They all are great and I think more of individuals who challenged me and taught me how to be a better trainer tend to stand out in my heart. I always tend to work with the renegades–more intelligent or more sensitive or a combination of the two. If I had to chose, I’d say I prefer working wild animals over domestics.5) What animal (or species) has taught you the most?As I mentioned, lots of individuals influenced me as a trainer…I’d say the one I am with is probably the best answer!The ones that stand out? My first tiger and a sea lion.