What’s the best way to train an animal? What about the best way to teach a human to train an animal? How can we use the science of behavior and learning to develop better training practices? In this section you’ll find lots of articles and information about the science of animal training, research that has been done on animal learning and behavior, and information about teaching people.
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 […]
I’m (finally) starting to have some success with clicker training the rats. (Check out Georgie’s debut on youtube in this post, Rat Clicker Training Success.) Who would have thought training a rat would be this hard? In this post I’ll explain some of the initial troubles I had and describe how I finally trained the […]
Clicker training is GREAT for dogs, cats, and horses. (And even lobsters and goldfish!) With clicker training, animals learn fast and are generally more interested and engaged in the training process. However, like anything else, clicker training is a skill. Being skilled at clicker training takes time and practice. Here are 10 tips that will […]
Does an elephant forget what she’s learned? Do other trained animals forget what they’ve learned? What implications does this have for training dogs, horses and other domestic animals? Elephant Memory Tests In 1964, Leslie Squier used operant conditioning to train several elephants at the Portland Zoo. He presented his findings that year at the meeting […]
Alright readers, here’s a challenge for you. Check out this youtube clip below of a raven, who is being trained to peck at a yellow bowling pin. He has two choices–peck yellow or peck blue. If he pecks the correct pin, he receives a bit of food as a reward. If he pecks the incorrect […]
Many riding instructors and horse clubs will tell you NEVER to hand feed treats to a horse. This will spoil the horse and teach him bad manners by encouraging him to be pushy, rude and to beg for treats. Even worse, you’ll encourage your horse to nip and bite. At least, that was what I […]
