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What’s the best way to train an animal? What about the best way to teach a human to train an animal? How can we use the science of behavior and learning to develop better training practices? In this section you’ll find lots of articles and information about the science of animal training, research that has been done on animal learning and behavior, and information about teaching people.

Do I have to treat every time I click?

A recent discussion arose on a forum as to whether or not it’s best to delivery a treat (or other form of primary reinforcement) every time we click when clicker training. Part of the discussion stemmed from the fact that eventually, we want to fade out those treats. Random treats are more interesting and besides, […]

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Are You a Splitter or a Lumper?

Horse clicker trainer Alexandra Kurland often speaks of splitters and lumpers. These are funny words, but they refer to an often serious training problem! Most behaviors can be broken down into many smaller pieces and approximations. When we break our goal down into tiny chunks and build gradually to a target behavior, we’re being a […]

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Animals in captivity

Zoos, aquariums, wildlife parks, sea world, nature centers, personal pets, we encounter animals around us all the time. Many of the wild animals we encounter today (especially in zoos and aquariums) are bred in captivity, rather than collected from the wild. Animals have a host of needs that must be met in captivity. If the […]

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