How do we increase response time to our cues and requests? Say we ask our dog to sit. The dog sits, but she takes her time and waits several seconds before sitting. We can reduce the time interval between when the cue is given and when the animal responds by using what is called a […]
Drill Team Dressage and Unicycles
Putting on a drill pattern with 10 girls long-lining 10 ponies would be tough enough. Now, how about doing it with all 10 girls riding unicyles! These girls have a bunch of talent and they also have some very well behaved, well trained ponies. Riding a unicyle is hard enough, I would think it would […]
Shaping Recipes
Many positive trainers are fond of of saying that an animal can be taught to do anything it is physically and mentally capable of doing. Behaviors are often taught through shaping–using successive approximations towards a final goal. (For instance, a trainer could teach a horse to put it’s nose in a trailer, then put two […]
Can you unsaddle your horse while cantering over jumps?
This is an incredibly impressive video. Watch the Metropolitan Mounted Police perform at the London International Horse of the Year Show in 2006. See three horses jumping in sync over a jump, horses jumping through fiery obstacles, riders taking on and off their jackets while jumping, and at the end, even taking off their saddles while […]
Going Back to Kindergarten
I’ve been reading Karen Pryor’s first book on training, Lads Before the Wind. Written in the 70s, it’s her personal account of how she learned the principles of operant conditioning and positive reinforcement training by training dolphins in Hawaii. Her park was one of the first to do this, and the book is filled with […]
Which comes first, the behavior or the cue?
This post is part of a series of several posts on cues. When teaching a new behavior, we have control over when we introduce the cue. Many clicker trainers advocate getting the behavior before ever introducing the cue. Here’s a bit about each teaching method. (more…)