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Mary Hunter and her horse Apollo


On this site I share stories of my animal training adventures, information about the science of animal training and behavior, and tips and advice to help you improve your training.

Join me as we explore the best training strategies for creating fast learning, effective communication, and enthusiastic, willing animals.

If you’re new to Stale Cheerios, I recommend that you start by visiting this page to learn more about Stale Cheerios and that you visit my Top Posts page.

~Mary Hunter

Recent posts from the StaleCheerios blog

What is a cue?

By on May 12, 2009 in Concepts and Terms

This post is part of a series of several posts on cues. I recently posted about putting cues under stimulus control. (Read that post here.) However, I realize now that perhaps I should have started with a discussion of what exactly constitutes a cue. A cue (sometimes called a discriminative stimulus, or SD) is an […]

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Do You Have a Clue about Cues?

By on May 12, 2009 in Concepts and Terms

How do we teach behaviors when training animals and how do we associate cues with these behaviors? How does a dog or horse (or cat, goldfish, parrot, roommate, child, employee, etc.) learn a cue for a behavior? What’s the best way to create a solid association between a behavior and a cue, even when distractions […]

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Laurie Luck’s Smart Dog Blog

By on May 11, 2009 in Dog Training

I’ve found a new blog that I really like. It’s the blog of Laurie Luck, a Certified Pet Dog Trainer and Karen Pryor Certified Training Partner. She also has a M.A. in psychology and is the Vice President of the Certification Council for Professional Dog Trainers. She’s recently blogged about two topics that are near […]

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Free Online Clicker Training Short Course

By on May 7, 2009 in Dog Training

Norwegian dog trainers Morten Egtvedt and Cecilie Koeste (of Canis Clicker Training) offer a free 7 day online class that covers the basics of clicker training. I’ve seen the course advertised online before, but didn’t know much about it. From their website, “Morten is a trained biologist with a degree in psychology and Cecilie, also […]

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Waterhole Ritual 1: Sharing Territory

By on May 5, 2009 in Horse Training

Sharing Territory: When we sit in one spot, we become a curiosity. I’ve recently watched Carolyn Resnick’s DVD, “An Introduction to the Waterhole Rituals,” which discusses the 7 rituals she uses to develop a relationship and begin training a horse. The first two rituals focus on establishing a bond with the horse and are invaluable […]

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