I watched a video awhile back of someone working with an animal who did not like having his ears touched. The trainer started by touching the animal’s neck, then touching close to the ear, touching near the base of the ear, touching the ear briefly, and eventually touching the ear for a little longer. The […]
Training Stories and Tips RSS feed for this section
Dogs, horses, and rats. Birds, goldfish, cats. Dolphins, raccoons, and elephants. What animals can’t we train? In this section you’ll find lots of great training stories and tips. You will also get to meet many of the wonderful animals that I get to train. I hope that you’ll enjoy reading about my adventures (and misadventures) and that these articles and tales can provide you with insight that will help you with your own animals.
Horse agility obstacles: The noodle walk
This year, Apollo and I have been working on some horse agility training. Horse agility is similar to dog agility. The horse and trainer must navigate a series of obstacles with teamwork and precision. One fun obstacle that is often used for horse agility or horse obstacle courses is a pool noodle obstacle, sometimes called […]
From good enough to Grand Prix
Several years ago, I wrote a post about Grand Prix clicker training. This was a concept that we discussed at a 2014 clinic that I attended with Alexandra Kurland at Cindy Martin’s ranch in Arkansas. “During our discussion, Alexandra offered another perspective on ‘Grand Prix’ that was not limited to top level competitions. Instead, think […]
Mats of many colors
Recently, Apollo and I have been practicing standing on mats. This is a seemingly simple training exercise that has many practical uses. A mat can give a horse a concrete place to stay during other activities, such as grooming, saddling, or veterinary procedures. Mats can also be used to direct a horse to go to […]
Dead trees, one foot in a bucket, and other ways to be creative
Apollo and I have been looking for some new challenges. So, I’ve been trying an activity that we discuss in the “Creativity” episode of our new Listen and Learn online course. In the episode on creativity, Alexandra discusses a simple strategy for helping yourself be more creative. Put some new stuff in your arena or […]
Starting off on the right emotion
Social distancing means that all of the conferences and other events I had planned for this spring and summer have been cancelled. However, the conversations are still continuing virtually! If you’d like to listen in on some of these conversations, you can listen to the Drinking from the Toilet episode about shaping that I did […]