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Mary Hunter and her horse Apollo


On this site I share stories of my animal training adventures, information about the science of animal training and behavior, and tips and advice to help you improve your training.

Join me as we explore the best training strategies for creating fast learning, effective communication, and enthusiastic, willing animals.

If you’re new to Stale Cheerios, I recommend that you start by visiting this page to learn more about Stale Cheerios and that you visit my Top Posts page.

~Mary Hunter

Recent posts from the StaleCheerios blog

Colt 45 - Maasa and I - KG

Friday fun: Colt 45

By on August 30, 2013 in Fun Photos, Horse Training

The handsome fellow in the photo below is someone I’d like to introduce you to, as he will probably be appearing some more on my blog this fall! This pretty paint is about a year old. His name is Colt 45 and he currently lives at Serenity Spring Sanctuary, a farm animal sanctuary in North […]

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equine clicker conference

Online Equine Clicker Conference

By on August 29, 2013 in Horse Training

Do you remember last fall, when I posted about the World Equine Clicker Games, an online training competition for horse clicker trainers, which was held in conjunction with the first annual Equine Clicker Conference? Well, last year’s Equine Clicker Conference, hosted by Hannah Dawson Equine, was such a big success that they are doing it […]

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Rat agility A frame 2

Rat agility, coming soon!

By on August 23, 2013 in Rat (and Mouse) Training

I’ve made my rats an A-frame! If you’re not familiar with dog sports, an A-frame is a type of obstacle that is commonly used in dog agility competitions. The dog has to run up one side of the obstacle and then down the other side. The yellow portion is called a “contact.” When going up […]

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Mary Hunter - UNT graduation

Graduation!

By on August 17, 2013 in News and Updates

Well, I’ve graduated! The eventful day was about a week ago. But I’ve been travelling some this past week, so I haven’t had a chance to post on my blog until now. Those of you who follow my blog know that I’ve spent the past three years working on a master’s degree in behavior analysis […]

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chicken training go out

To change the behavior of the trainer,
try training a chicken!

By on August 6, 2013 in Horse Training, Other Species

This summer, my friend Laurie Higgins attended two weeks of operant conditioning workshops with Bob Bailey and Parvene Farhoody. The workshops teach participants about operant conditioning and the science of animal training using chickens. Bob Bailey, along with Marian Bailey, began giving operant conditioning workshops to the general public in the mid-1990s. The workshops were […]

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Madeleine trains Amy the rat

Want to learn to train a rat?

By on August 4, 2013 in Rat (and Mouse) Training

As some of you know, I’ll be graduating later this month and am currently in the process of setting up my own animal training and consulting business, Texas Animal Training. I’ll be providing training lessons and classes, as well as behavior consultation services, to pets and their owners in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas area. Although […]

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