Kind of Wordless Wednesday: Having Fun is Exhausting!

Whew! All that running around is hard work! But look how happy Maisy looks! Have I mentioned how much I appreciate the staff at A Dog Spot for not only running an excellent boarding facility, but also for giving me so many pictures? I'm having so much fun sharing them with you!

Shedd Animal Training Seminar: Introducing New Animals

It's inevitable: whether you work in a zoo or you own pets, there will come a time when a new animal arrives on the scene. And when it does, will you leave the introductions up to chance, or will you do something to help ease the transition for everyone? If you know anything about Ken Ramirez, you probably know that he's very methodical and systematic about how he does things, and new animal introductions is no exception.

The very first thing that happens with every new animal at the Shedd Aquarium is a quarantine period. This is especially important for wild-caught animals (at the Shedd, their wild animals are rescues), who may be harboring disease or parasites. This is a wise thing for pet owners to do, too, especially if the animal being introduced was a stray, but even if they weren't. Fleas and worms are sneaky, and can infiltrate even the most responsible owners' homes.

Next, the Shedd staff have some pre-introduction tasks. Without other animals present, the new animal is allowed to explore the habitats it will be living in. This will increase the animal's comfort with its new surroundings. The staff will take the time to observe the animal's explorations to ensure that they know where to find things like food, water, and hiding places, and if necessary, help them fully investigate their new home. They will also introduce the concept of gating so that the animal can be easily separated in case things go wrong.

These penguins can live together peacefully thanks to careful introductions.

Animals will then “meet” the other animals by being placed in a nearby or adjacent enclosure that gives all of the animals visual, olfactory, and/or audible access to one another. This allows for a measure of safety while the animals get acquainted. The Shedd staff will observe the interactions to make predictions about potential problems. If necessary, they will make the introductions more gradual. The staff will also feed all of the animals near each other (but with barriers between them) to promote general positive feelings about each other, taking special care to reinforce calmness and acceptance.

Animals who have had prior training, such as those who are “on loan” from another zoo, will get some additional introductions. The trainers will have the new animal and an existing animal work together cooperatively. For example, they may both be asked to target the same item. Reinforcement is contingent on both animals being calm and accepting of the other.

The Shedd staff also keep in mind that every introduction is unique. Everything from the the species, the individual animal, the habitat's size or layout, and the trainers themselves can affect how the introductions go. As such, the staff take care to have contingency plans on what to do if things go wrong, and they constantly monitor and assess the situation to see if problems arise.

One problem that sometimes comes up is aggression between two animals, and whether or not you should let the animals “work it out” on their own. If you separate the animals every time there is aggression, they won't learn how to live together. What's worse, once reunified, the animals often show aggression again, as if they'd never met before. On the other hand, if an animal is at risk of serious injury or death, separation is necessary. Because this is such a difficult matter, the Shedd staff pay a lot of attention to creating good introductions. Their goal is always for introductions to go as smoothly as possible, reducing the need to separate animals.

Have you ever introduced a new animal into your household? What did you do? Was it successful? I'd love to hear if you have any tips- or words of caution!

Shedd Animal Training Seminar: Training Multiple Animals

While one-on-one training is ideal, it’s not always possible. Maybe you need multiple animals for a trick, maybe you’re working with a mom whose baby is too young to be separated from her, or maybe you’ve got highly flock/herd oriented animals who just don’t do well when apart from its cohorts. Whatever the case, sometimes training multiple animals at once is a necessity.

As with many training questions, the answer to how to best set up a session with more than one animal depends on many factors. The species, the size of the group, and the trainer’s experience level all matter. And, Ken said, one of the most important considerations has to do with social situations. Although dominance is something of a dirty word in the dog world, it does exist, and it’s important to understand who is currently at the top of the social structure and whether or not that’s in flux. Understanding the current social situation will help you be more successful. For example, a lower-ranking animal will be extremely hesitant to perform a behavior that requires it to be in close proximity to a higher-ranking one. It could even provoke a fight, which would definitely wreck your training session for the day.

When training in a group, Ken encouraged us to find a way to most closely replicate an individual session. Physical separation is the easiest way to do this; animals could be brought out of an adjoining enclosure one by one. If this is not possible, spatial separation may be another viable option. To do this, two trainers are required. One occupies the group (by feeding them, usually), while the other works with an animal a short distance away. If this won’t work either, then the next option is to use stationing.

A selection of name targets used by Shedd staff.

Stationing is when an animal goes to and stays at a designated spot. Stationing can take several different forms. In location specific stationing, the animal will go to a specific place in its habitat, such as under a tree or next to a boulder. Position specific stationing is very natural to animals; it requires them to take up a position relative to others in the group. In other words, they always line up in the same order, regardless of which habitat they are in. Name targets are used to direct the animal to a particular place. Shedd uses colorful shapes, and many of their animals know to look for the shape they’ve been assigned and station there. Choice is a more informal type of stationing in which the animal needs to follow certain guidelines but has more control over the details. For example, the group may be required to assemble in front of the trainer, but can choose where to stand in relation to one another. Finally, shuffle stationing is where each animal chooses a spot on their own, and then moves to a location as specified by the trainer.

The type of stationing you use will depend on the group and your goals. For example, location specific stationing is often used for meal times. Position specific stationing is frequently used during training sessions.

A common question people have about group training is how to avoid bridging confusion. How will each animal know if the bridge was meant for it or not? Ken recommended having multiple bridges for each animal, which means that you will need to teach each animal several bridges separately before you bring them together as a group. Although we often think of bridges as audible (a click or a whistle), Ken suggested having tactile bridges (a tap on a particular body part) and visual bridges (pointing distinctly in the animal’s face or a thumbs up) as well.

Another group bridging problem occurs during unison behaviors. If there are three dolphins leaping into the air, and two get it right but the third doesn’t, the trainer needs to decide whether or not to give the bridge. There are two ways to approach this. You can make the bridge group-contingent. This requires all of the animals to do the behavior correctly in order to get the bridge and subsequent reinforcement. This is particularly useful when competition between two animals is causing one to fail. The other option is to not give the bridge, but reinforce the animals that were correct. Of course, this only works if the behavior is “self-terminated” (ie, ends on its own and not continued or repeated until bridged).

The last thing Ken encouraged us to consider when training a group of animals is the concept of fairness. Animals are very aware of whether or not they are receiving your attention or food… and if someone else is receiving it instead! What’s more, he believes that animals will question why they should bother to pay attention to you if you aren’t paying attention to them. Animals need to be taught how to share your attention (and food!), so Ken encouraged us to recognize that during a group training session, all of the animals are doing something. Whether it’s simply staying at their station or waiting their turn, all animals should be reinforced equally. The ultimate goal is to avoid competition, so you’ll need to set up your sessions well. Know your animals and your goals.

Although this is just a very brief look at a pretty complex topic, I hope it gives you a starting point the next time you find yourself faced with the need to train more than one animal at a time. And if you often train multiple animals, join the conversation! What have you done to make your job easier?

Somewhat Wordless Wednesday

I love this photo. Not only does Maisy look absolutely hilarious mid-zoomie, but you can also see just how huge the play yard at A Dog Spot is. (And this is only half of it!) There's more room there than Maisy has at home. No wonder she's having so much fun!

Shedd Animal Training Seminar: Husbandry Training

In the most general sense, “husbandry” refers to the careful management of animals using the best scientific knowledge and principles, but usually when zoological professionals use the term, they mean the animal’s participation in medical care. This makes husbandry a type of cooperative behavior on the animal’s part.

There are many types of husbandry behaviors. At the more passive end of the spectrum, the animal simply tolerates or allows the human to touch its body. It gets progressively more difficult as the animal learns to accept tasks that restrict its movement or ability to escape. The animal can also become an active participant in its care by presenting particular body parts to be worked on. 

This dolphin is a willing participant in dental exams thanks to husbandry training.

Husbandry training is important for several reasons. First, whether the animal is tolerating the task or actively participating in it, the human involved will be safer than if the animal was forced to do it. Second, there is far less stress for the animal if it knows what to expect and how it should react. And finally, and perhaps most importantly, the animal will be healthier because it will receive more regular medical care.

We saw a lot of videos of husbandry training during the seminar. From a tiger allowing its teeth to be brushed to an elephant putting its foot through a hole so its feet could be trimmed to animals voluntarily getting on a scale, it’s clear that there is a wide variety of tasks that can be accomplished. We also got to see husbandry training in action as Ken worked with Ty the sea lion on a voluntary blood draw behavior.

I was struck by how slowly Ken moved through the steps, but he told us this was important because husbandry behaviors are typically uncomfortable or even painful for the animals. As a result, it’s vital to take your time and use very small approximations towards the final behavior. He also said that the trainers take care to practice the behaviors in a fun way hundreds of times for every one time it’s used in real life.

For behaviors that can’t be practiced “as is” in a fun way (such as a blood draw), the trainers will do many types of touches in the same context. Sometimes the animal will be tickled, or slapped lightly, or touched with a small ball, or tapped. This teaches the animal that the touch will feel different every time. Since they understand the structure of the behavior, they are far more willing to tolerate the occasional needle stick.

I definitely think we don’t do enough to prepare our dogs for husbandry tasks, whether it’s participating in a vet appointment or being groomed. Our dogs are often physically restrained to get shots or have its temperature taken, and while they are generally tolerant of all of these behaviors, force isn’t necessary. A little bit of training can go a long way towards making such things more tolerable for the animal. While we can’t prepare the animal for every possibility, we can make routine tasks like getting the toe nails clipped or tooth brushing more tolerable.

Ken told us that if you’re going to train your animal for a husbandry task, the most important thing to do is to find out exactly what needs to be done. Ask lots of questions of the vet or groomer to find out what they will need the animal to do. Ken told us a great story about preparing an animal for an eye exam, only to be surprised on the big day by learning that the lights would need to be turned off. The trainers hadn’t included that step in training, and it proved to be a challenge.

Other possible errors? Looking for a quick fix or using the medical behavior before it’s completely trained. While you might be able to get the behavior once, you probably won’t get it again. Don’t limit future possibilities by rushing through training. Likewise, don’t push the animal beyond what it has been trained for. “Just once more” or “just a little longer” is likely to backfire, wrecking all your careful work.

It’s also important to remember that medical behaviors are never fully trained. Always continue to reinforce the animal for calm, cooperative behavior. Along those same lines, don’t make assumptions about what the animal likes. Since medical procedures are usually uncomfortable, awkward, or painful, you need to make it worth the animal’s effort to participate.

Possibly the most important message I took away from my week at Shedd was that I don’t do enough to help my dog feel better about routine tasks, and that there’s plenty I could do to make things easier for her- especially when it comes to something like nail clipping (she hates it!) What about you? Is there a husbandry task your dog could be trained to do? Or maybe you’ve already worked on helping your dog feel better about certain things. I’d love to hear about it.

Shedd Animal Training Seminar: Cooperative Behavior

One of the most important things we can teach an animal is to cooperate with us humans. This is especially important for animals in zoological settings because the animals are often large and/or dangerous; being trained to work with the human keepers makes things safer and less stressful for everyone involved.

There are many types of cooperative behavior, and today we will look at what Ken considers the most important. These are the behaviors that allow us to successfully manage the animals in our care, and if there is anything that I took away from my week at the Shedd, it’s that we do not do enough to help our pets understand how to work with us in everyday situations.

Targeting

Targeting can refer to a number of different behaviors. In its most basic form, it simply means touching a specified item, but it can be much more complex than that. Some examples include touching different types of items, touching the target for an extended period of time, following a target, targeting with various body parts, touching multiple targets simultaneously, or going to a remote target away from the trainer. Targeting is possibly one of the most versatile behaviors taught to an animal because it can serve as the foundation for teaching the other cooperative behaviors.

Stationing

With stationing, an animal goes to and stays at a designated location. This may be a specific location (as in Leonard Lion sits by the big rock, Lucky Lion sits by the tree stump, etc.), or it may be a position relative to the other animals (Leonard always lines up to the left, then Lucky is next to him, etc.). This behavior is particularly useful during group training sessions or at meal times as it lowers the competition between animals.

A to B Behaviors

A to B behaviors refers to the idea of moving from one location to another. This can be done for reasons of safety. For example, a keeper may want to enter an enclosure without getting rushed by an excited animal. By teaching an animal to move from an area near the doorway to another spot, the keeper can enter in a safer manner. These behaviors differ from stationing in that there isn’t a set location for the animal to go to.

Gating and Separations

When an animal “gates,” it moves through a threshold (such as a doorway or gate) from one area to another. While this is closely related to A to B behaviors, it specifically refers to moving from one enclosure to another. This is important because zoological settings often have multiple areas for animals to live in. For example, at Shedd, we saw Ty the sea lion in four different areas over the course of the week. Having Ty be a willing participant in moving from one place to another allows him a great deal of variety, which prevents boredom.

In addition to gating, Ty also had to separate from the other sea lions. This is an important concept for animals typically kept in groups, such as the dolphins or beluga whales. The animals need to be comfortable leaving their group behind in order to participate in medical procedures or individual training sessions.

Tactile Behaviors

This beluga whale is comfortable with human contact. Also: SQUEE!

 Tactile work involves desensitizing the animal to being touched by humans. Since most zoological animals are wild animals not used to human contact, this work is a vital precursor to medical behaviors, either trained or untrained.

Tactile behaviors can be taught in a number of ways. The animal can habituate to human contact, which means that it happens passively without much thought from the trainer. The animal can receive basic desensitization, in which the trainer systematically increases the amount of exposure below the animals fear threshold. Counter-conditioning can be actively pursued by reinforcing acceptance of the human’s touch. Finally, the trainer can use flooding, which is an intense form of habituation in which the contact happens at full intensity and the animal is expected to “just deal” with it. Flooding is useful when there is no other way to teach the animal to accept human contact, but since it can result in learned helplessness, it shouldn’t be used routinely.

So, how can we use these concepts to help our dogs be more comfortable in the human world? Well, we can teach a dog to target our hands with their noses. Following a hand target can help a dog move through a difficult environment- something that can be especially useful for a reactive dog to focus on! We can teach a dog to go to a mat or a crate, which helps keep him out from under foot while we greet guests at the door or change baby’s diaper. And helping a dog feel comfortable being touched will make grooming and vet visits so much easier.

There are tons and tons of examples of ways we can help our dogs develop more cooperative behaviors. I’d love to hear how you’ve used these techniques with your dog! I hope you will comment with your experiences.

Wordless Wednesday

Here's another awesome picture of Maisy during her stay at A Dog Spot, the boarding kennel I used while I was in Chicago for the Shedd Animal Training Seminar. I just loved all the pictures they gave me of Maisy playing with other dogs- look how happy she is! I can't imagine leaving her anywhere else.

Yesterday the local paper did a feature on them. Check it out by clicking here!