Stereotypical behaviors (abnormal repetitive behaviors) are commonly seen in animals kept in captivity. Polar bears and other large carnivories are notorious for repetitive pacing type behaviors. Grazing animals kept in unnatural or confined environments often resort to chewing on bars or fences or obsessive licking. Other animals rock back and forth, obsessively groom themselves or engage […]
Ginger gets a gold star!
Well, not really. If we gave her a gold star, she’d probably eat it. But, we are really proud of Ginger because she passed her pre-agility level 1 class Monday night! The last time I wrote about our training classes, I had just increased our reinforcers from measly dog treats to hot dogs and string […]
What Do Animals Need?
I’ve just started reading Temple Grandin’s lastest book, Animals Make Us Human. I’ve read other books by Temple Grandin, and enjoy her writing style and insight. In the first chapter, she talks about what an animal needs for a good life. This is an incredibly complex question, which has enormous implications for how we manage […]
Teaching new skills using targeting
Targeting is a great way to teach a horse or a dog (or a goldfish!) new skills or tricks. The animal learns to follow a hand, a stick, or any other sort of object where ever the object might lead. (For the horses, I usually use an empty plastic water bottle duct taped on the […]
Rosie practices her figure-eights
Rosie and I have had some grooming sessions and some hang-out time, but I’ve just recently started doing some ground work with her. This is a video of our second time working on figure-eights. (This is also her third session with the clicker.) She’s doing great, and catching on quickly. In later sessions, I’ll start […]
Dog and Horse Blog Carnivals
Stale Cheerios has been included in a few Blog Carnivals* this month. If you’re looking for some interesting horse and dog related blog posts to read, you ought to check out either of the carnivals. The April 2009 National Dog Blog Carnival Carnival of the Horse, April 2009 (*From wikipedia: “A blog carnival is a […]