Did you know that ALL animals can be trained? In this section, you’ll find stories and articles about training birds, goldfish, cats, dolphins, zoo animals, and more. We can learn a lot by training other species and by studying trainers who work with animals that we are not very familiar with.
In recently years, there’s been a huge increase in interactive toys and food puzzle toys for dogs. While there are some of these types of toys for cats, I think there is a lot larger selection of fun interactive dog toys. This is unfortunate, as many cats are quite active and playful and would enjoy […]
I had a very fun Wednesday this week! I got to present the research study that I did for my Master’s thesis at the Dallas Zoo, as part of a lunch lecture series that the zoo organizes for employees. It was fun getting to share my research and we got into some good discussions about […]
Many of you who read my blog have probably heard of ORCA (The Organization for Reinforcement Contingencies with Animals). ORCA is a graduate student organization in the department of behavior analysis at the University of North Texas. It conducts projects and research on animal behavior and training and also organizes and hosts the yearly Art […]
These are my notes from the 6th Art and Science of Animal Training Conference, held in March 2014 at the University of North Texas. Visit this page for more conference notes. Ken Ramirez’s presentation centered around different strategies and approaches for working with more than one animal at a time. I thought this was a […]
I recently watched an awesome hour-long lecture by animal trainer Ken Ramirez that is available to view for free on YouTube. If you’re not familiar with Ken Ramirez, he’s the head trainer at the Shedd aquarium in Chicago. He’s been a professional trainer for several decades and has trained hundreds of animals and dozens of […]
The Art and Science of Animal Training Conference, held yearly at the University of North Texas in Denton, Texas, is one of my all-time favorite conferences. This conference is organized and run by ORCA (the Organization for Reinforcement Contingencies with Animals) a group of graduate students in UNT’s behavior analysis department that researches animal behavior […]
