Dogs, horses, and rats. Birds, goldfish, cats. Dolphins, raccoons, and elephants. What animals can’t we train? In this section you’ll find lots of great training stories and tips. You will also get to meet many of the wonderful animals that I get to train. I hope that you’ll enjoy reading about my adventures (and misadventures) and that these articles and tales can provide you with insight that will help you with your own animals.
Chewie has recently learned to touch a small blue cone attached to my boot! It took just a handful of repetitions to teach this behavior, because I used the idea of “transferring actions.” I started with a behavior that Chewie already knew, touching her nose to a blue cone. Then, I made a few changes […]
I recently acquired more traffic cones! They are bright green, and I have lots of fun ideas for how Chewie and I can use them in our training. Chewie walks between an orange cone and two green cones. However, first, I needed to introduce Chewie to the new cones. I did not think Chewie would […]
Fall is here! Our hot, hot summer and drought are finally over. Chewie and I are both happy about the cooler temperatures and rain. Chewie, as well, is quite pleased about rolling around in the damp dirt. Chewie takes a roll in the dirt Muddy Chewie! This week, we’ve starting expanding Chewie’s stay behavior. Up […]
One project Chewie and I have been working on this summer is a long-duration stay. Chewie stands on a sturdy plastic platform while I stand about 12 feet away from her. Several weeks ago (in Diary #79), I shared a video of Chewie standing on her platform for about 40 seconds. And now, we’ve now […]
I have a security camera set up at the barn, since I’m generally only there for a couple of hours per day. I can use the camera to see what Chewie and Liberty are doing and monitor the property for anything unusual or unsafe. Most of what I catch on the camera is rather mundane, […]
Chewie looks at and listens to the tambourine Earlier this week, Chewie and I spent some time playing with a small tambourine! We’ve spent a lot of time exploring new and interesting objects, including various objects for Chewie to stand on. (You can check out the exploration sessions tag to read about some of our […]
