Barbara's Force Free Animal Training Talk

New Year's Resolutions for Animal Trainers 2018

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Fri, 29 Dec 2017 22:13:00 +0000

It's that time of year again! The New Year reminds us to do better, be better. And this can certainly be applied to many things, including our lives as animal trainers. For the third year running, here are some New Year’s Resolutions for animal trainers………

1. Get Out of your Routine – Are you in the habit of asking for the same behaviors, in the same order, offering the same reinforcers, and reinforcing every behavior? This can be a motivation squelcher for some animals. If your animal has a full repertoire of behaviors it knows well, it is time to gradually introduce some unpredictability. If everything has been the same for some time, you will want to slowly introduce changes so as not to create frustration. In the long run you can increase motivation by getting out of predictable patterns.

2. Wrap Your Brain Around Your Bridge – What I mean is…does your bridging stimulus mean what you want it to mean to your animal? This may take some scrutiny on your part or maybe the help of a trusted fellow trainer to analyze. I have seen some perplexing whistling, clicking etc. over the years. And if it isn’t clear to me what it is meant to communicate, it probably isn’t clear to the animal. Remember the bridge can mean whatever the trainer teaches it to mean. This could be many different things from “here comes food” to “duration has been met” to “that movement was correct” to “come back to the trainer” to “you are free to move”, etc. Try to discern if the animal is responding to your identified bridge or other signals to get information. I often observe the animal has learned to ignore the sounds and to focus on human body language instead.

3. Consider Animal Training a Necessity, Not a Luxury – I get it, training is fun! It is sometimes hard to imagine that “work” gets to be fun too. I sometimes consult at facilities where the attitude is that those who are training are shirking the real responsibilities of caring for animals. I disagree. Training allows day to day care of animals to be easier and stress free. It makes veterinary care easy to accomplish, both preventative care and urgent care. Bottom line, training is important to good animal health and welfare. Help foster the culture that training is an important part of animal care.

4. Get to Know a Scientist – And I mean a real scientist. These are the ones who run labs, produce graduate students, publish studies, etc. (Remember not all PhD’s are created equal.) I know catching up with a real scientist may not be easy for an animal trainer because these folks are not usually “internet famous” or out there on social media. They are usually busy focused on their research. One of my favorite places to mingle with real scientists is the Art and Science of Animal Training Conference. This conference brings together top trainers and accomplished scientists from different disciplines. If you want your mind really stretched this is a good conference for the trainer who is beyond the basics.

5. Get Creative with Training and Back a Conservation Project – Whether you work with domestic animals or exotics, there is always a way to help their wild cousins. I am often impressed by how much the companion parrot community does for parrot conservation. My favorite parrot organizations to support have been The Kakapo Recovery Program and The Bird Endowment. We unfortunately lost The Bird Endowment Founder Laney Rickman this year. But the Nido Adoptivo project she started which has made a huge difference for wild blue throated macaws will continue. I trained my blue throated macaw Blu Lu (a macaw rejected by her parents at The Bird Endowment) to paint portraits of parrots. Her paintings have raised thousands over the years to build macaw nest boxes in the wild.

6. End Your Sessions Well – Some may think this means to end on a “positive note.” While it is certainly nice to have a good last rep if the session goes that way, that isn’t exactly what I mean. Instead I am thinking more about having a plan for how you will end your session. For example, will you be using an end of session signal? If so, what happens after that signal? To avoid creating frustration I suggest having something engaging to offer after the end of session signal. I prefer things that take time for the animal to eat or play with so that there is something desired paired with the time the trainer is collecting things and exiting. Or will you be training until the animal is no longer showing interest in what you have to offer and chooses to disengage so that perhaps a signal is not necessary. Either way, having a plan for how the session will end will be good to work out before the session begins.

7. Try Training Multiple Animals at a Time – This may be something to work up to for some trainers, but it is a good skill to practice. It takes good observation skills and good timing of delivery of reinforcers. Some basic behaviors to practice are teaching all animals to station for duration and not interfere with other animals. This sometimes requires a higher rate of reinforcement for some individuals. Some animals are less likely to stay put while others are getting attention/reinforcers. This means they need more reinforcers and at faster intervals and/or delivery of reinforcers timed for when others are receiving goodies. You can then work up to selecting one individual from the group to target, recall, move forward, step up, etc. depending on the species.

8. Practice Giving Training Feedback in Helpful Ways – You don’t have to be a consultant to find yourself in the position of sharing information on training. You may be helping a colleague, friend or posting in a chat group. As animal trainers you would think the goal is to also reinforce the good things people do as well, but often humans focus on what people do wrong. In the world of animal training I don’t recommend completely ignoring errors in training for a variety of reasons, including safety. However how we convey information about errors can be done in way that is helpful and not hurtful. Take the judgement and emotion out and think more about providing information to help someone be successful. Just like training an animal, take responsibility for your human student not succeeding and change your approach to be of more help. And yes! Do positively reinforce when humans are on the right track too. But insincere accolades are easy to see through. Be genuine with your praise for good work and non-judgemental and informative when offering feedback on what needs adjusting.

9. Conduct a Shaping Plan Contest – Come up with as many different ways as possible to train a specific behavior. For example I can think of 4 different ways right now to train an open mouth behavior. Some plans may work better for different species. The fun part will be picking and choosing which plans to apply with which animals and then training the behavior!

Here is one strategy for getting an open mouth behavior started with a giraffe

Here is another strategy for an open mouth behavior we tried with a pig

10. Expand your List of Reinforcers – Most trainers use food to reinforce behavior, which is totally fine. But what fun it is when we start adding other reinforcers into the mix. We can extend training sessions, we can still have motivation when animals are satiated for food, we have more variety in reinforcers for maintaining behaviors, and some non-food reinforcers are super powerful (just think about the ball obsessed dog!) Two of my favorite non-food reinforcer stories involve target training a male guinea pig for the opportunity to sniff a handful of litter soiled by a female. He LOVED it! And getting a lovely stationing behavior from my macaw just by looking at her and giving her social reinforcers with some “time with my face” at unpredictable intervals. Its really just about identifying what your animal seeks to acquire or engage with and trying to deliver that experience for desired behavior. Definitely a resolution that will broaden your training immensely.

There you go! Ten more things for animal trainers to try in the new year.

Follow my Instagram page for more tips and animal training clips

All the best!

Barbara Heidenreich

Barbara's Force Free Animal Training

Websites

All Animals: BarbarasFFAT.com

Parrots: GoodBirdInc.com

Rabbits: BunnyTraining.com

Hello Chatty Trainer!

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Mon, 09 Oct 2017 20:06:00 +0000

It’s kind of a no-brainer to say I am an animal lover. And anyone familiar with force free animal training knows just how much this approach enhances your relationship with creatures of all kinds. That’s why I get a little spring in my step when I know it’s time to move out of the classroom and get on to the practical application portion of any consulting gig. Let’s face it. A good training session can be really fun.

When I work in the zoo community I often film training sessions to record our progress and what we may need to work on with a particular behavior goal. Sometimes that means I might even get a glimpse of myself doing a little training demonstration to get things started. In a recent session I watched myself working with a brown bear on a lie down behavior. Recording sessions are also a great opportunity to evaluate one’s own practical application skills. (I highly recommend it!)

This bear and session was most definitely giving me joy. And the way I expressed it was through my words. However, I knew those words of praise were really for my benefit and not the bear’s. In general, I tend to be a quiet trainer. This is for several reasons. One reason is that some animals can get highly aroused by our excited vocalizations. High levels of arousal can lead to undesired behaviors such as aggressive behavior and sexual behavior (that’s another story involving a monkey I will share later.) The other reason, is that I am quite aware that what is teaching my animal to give me desired behavior is delivery of the reinforcer. And if I can deliver that reinforcer in direct conjunction with the desired behavior, that is what is communicating to the animal what behavior should be repeated.

There are times when my words may be used to “bridge” behavior. Or a word may be used as a verbal cue. However, I am usually not very chatty when intentionally teaching/using a bridge or cue so that they will be salient. In this case, I knew any verbal cues would be changed (English is not the native language of the country where this bear lives.) I also knew I was right there to deliver the reinforcer and my hand moving forward quickly with the food would act as the bridging stimulus for the behavior. This was the only thing that really mattered…..the precise timing of the delivery of the reinforcers to communicate the desired behavior was presented. And despite all my chit chat and lack of succinct auditory bridge, the bear did learn to lie down on a visual cue. Overtime the cue can be made more subtle. But overall this was not bad for one session. And the trainers were new to creating behaviors and putting them on cue.

So, should I have learned to pipe down a bit when training this bear? Here is my take on it. While I am no stranger to precise use of a bridging stimulus and giving clear verbal cues, I was fully aware of what was actually influencing the behavior…. delivery of the reinforcer. I knew the words were me expressing my enjoyment in the moment and pretty much had no significance to the bear. Eventually we chose a hand cue, so words did not matter for learning this behavior. In fact, it is one of the cool things about reinforcement, it is a universal language. And yes, I think more importantly we (meaning bear and trainers) definitely had fun. I will certainly lighten up and let trainers enjoy their own verbal behavior when I have confidence it isn’t interfering with what we are trying to accomplish. Training should be fun and in reviewing the video of the last three weeks of consulting I hear lots of laughter and I see lots of behavior goals met. Mission accomplished this time, even through the chatter.

Barbara Heidenreich

www.BarbarasFFAT.com

www.AnimalTrainingFundamentals.com

Copyright 2017

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara works with the companion animal community and also consults on animal training in zoos.

Leave a Legacy

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Tue, 29 Aug 2017 16:40:00 +0000

My butt started buzzing out of control. Zzzt. Zzzt. Zzzt. Hard to ignore. However, on that Sunday I was lecturing to a very attentive group of veterinary professionals devoted to making the lives of parrots better. At the break, I checked my phone to see what all the incessant messaging was about. It was the weekend of hurricane Harvey pummeling Texas, but the worst had passed already on this trip away from home and my town was spared. Turns out Harvey did have a sucker punch in store for me and the bird world after all.

Many people are familiar with the Blue-Throated Macaw, Blu Lu that resides with me. She came to live with me at the request of Laney Rickman. Laney was the founder of a parrot conservation organization called the Bird Endowment. This organization focuses on saving Blue-Throated Macaws by keeping a genetically diverse flock in Texas in the event the wild population were to go extinct. (There are only about 300 birds left in the wild.) The captive population is managed so that they are behaviorally as wild as possible in a captive setting. Blu Lu had been rejected by her parents and had to be hand raised. Behaviorally she was inappropriate for the group. I agreed to take her if we (Blu Lu and I) continued to raise awareness and funding for the conservation efforts of the organization in the wild. The Bird Endowment also heavily focuses on supporting Blue-Throated Macaw conservation in the wild by partnering with Armonia to put up nest boxes to increase the population. This is the one thing that has proven to be successful in making a difference in helping these birds in the wild.

Some may think…”whateves, yet another conservation group.” Let me say up front. Conservation is political and controversial. Bottom line is, I am picky about where I place my support. I did not support the Bird Endowment because Blu Lu came into my life. Blu Lu came after I had already been a supporter of the Bird Endowment. I chose the Bird Endowment because of Laney.

I was at a companion parrot event and Laney was a guest speaker. Laney shared her story of being an ad executive making a hefty paycheck in Houston. She had a small companion parrot she enjoyed who inspired her to volunteer at the Houston Zoo. At that zoo, she had the pleasure of working with some Blue-Throated Macaws. It was at that zoo she learned of how unlikely it was this species would be around much longer in the wild. She also learned there really was no champion for their conservation efforts.

Laney was also a huge fan of blues music, another interest we shared. She told the story of how she had seen an interview with Eric Clapton in which someone asked him why he was so interested in preserving the history of blues music and he said, “Well if I don’t do it, who will?” That one sentence was a game changer.

Laney pooled her savings from her ad exec career, her passion for parrots and the “if I don’t do it, who will?” attitude and instituted a full-fledged conservation program that actually made a difference. Overhead was kept to a minimum and funds really went to helping birds.

What I loved most is that all this came from one woman’s passion to make a difference. And she did make a difference. Really made a difference.

Did I love that she named all the birds she cared for after blues artists…hell yeah! And I named Blu Lu after Blu Lu Barker an old obscure singer from the 1940’s. I also loved that when I challenged people to put a little blue in their hair to raise awareness for Blue-Throated Macaws, Laney dyed her entire head of hair blue! And it looked great on her. She lived in a small conservative Texas town, the blue hair was a brave move she once told me.

That small town was hit by hurricane Harvey too leaving people scrambling and shorthanded. Laney wasn't getting the diagnosis, treatment, care and attention she needed for an obvious serious medical problem. She was sent home. And when the worst of hit, it was too late.

Laney always talked about coming into Austin to see some music. She was one of the few who always liked my music posts on social media. I like to think she is attending the best blues concert ever right now with all her favorite artists. She certainly deserves it. There are lots of clichés that come to mind when we lose someone. Life is too short. Live the life you love, love the life you live. Make each moment count, etc., etc., etc. The lesson that comes to mind for me when I think of Laney is “Leave a legacy.” She most certainly did. The sky really is crying Laney. We do miss you. But you did what you set out to do. Thank you for showing us the impact ONE person can have on saving wildlife.

Barbara

PS Many want to know what happens to the Bird Endowment without Laney. Nido Adoptivo will continue on for this next season as Laney would have wanted.

Barbara Heidenreich

www.BarbarasFFAT.com

www.AnimalTrainingFundamentals.com

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara works with the companion animal community and also consults on animal training in zoos.

Raising Criteria Correctly

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 00:16:00 +0000

This summer I was very actively training a lot of birds every single day in preparation for a new free flight bird show. While this may sound like a dream job for some….and yes it can be, at times it can also be rather repetitive. That is because progressing through some behaviors can sometimes be monotonous. Some behaviors require repetition or very slight increases in criteria. And some behaviors may require relaxing of criteria. And some individuals may be working on the same behavior but be at a different place in the process. This means practicing the same things over and over for the trainer. This can be a good thing IF the trainer is paying attention. But one thing that can very easily happen is a trainer can become complacent and fall into a routine of automatically making changes in criteria without actually looking at the animal’s behavioral response.

For example, we were working on training a flock of Quaker parrots to carry a stick back to a nest. This behavior in its simplest form is really a retrieve . However, there are many components to consider. The components for various birds included holding onto the stick, taking the first stick offered, flying distances, flying without latency , flying with more than one bird, entering a crate for reinforcers, entering the crate with more than one bird at a time, flying to different people with sticks, flying though an opening, placing the stick in the right place, and so on.

As with any behavior it is helpful to have a picture in one’s mind as to what the final behavior goal is and what elements that includes so that each criterion can be added one by one as they are mastered. With multiple animals, that also means knowing where each animal is in that process.

An easy trap to fall into is going into autopilot and raising criteria without paying attention to how the bird did on the previous repetition. For example, I would sometimes see trainers ask for a rep, get a poor response and then automatically ask a bird to fly a farther distance. Uh oh! There’s that pesky autopilot turning on. My rule of thumb for raising criteria is if I get one or two perfect reps, then I will try increasing criteria. If the bird fails one or two times at the criteria I have set, then I relax my criteria to something at which the animal can be successful. This helps keep my animal wanting to participate in the session.

Another trap to watch out for is raising more than one criterion at a time. We had two birds learn to drop the first stick offered. This eventually turned into dropping many sticks before finally taking one to fly back to the nest. This behavior needed to be fixed before adding the criterion of flying distance to the nest could be added again. Working on more than one criterion at a time is tempting, but confusing to the animal. Get one aspect mastered before adding on another.

I had to head back home before the Quakers finished their training for their new behavior. Here is just a peak at some of the work. I hear they are doing well! Can’t wait to see the final routine once it is finished. In the meantime, practice raising one criterion at a time with your animals as well as making sure you are ready to raise criteria by paying close attention to your animal’s progress during a session.

~ Barbara

PS If you want to learn more about the basics of training parrots, try these resources

How to Train Your Parrot https://vimeo.com/ondemand/trainyourparrot

Train Your Parrot to Step Up https://vimeo.com/ondemand/parrotstepup

Flight Training for Companion Parrots https://vimeo.com/ondemand/parrotflight

Stress Free Veterinary Care for Companion Parrots https://vimeo.com/ondemand/parrotvetcare

Becoming a Better Parrot Trainer. Practical Application Skills That Make a Difference https://vimeo.com/ondemand/parrothandlingskills

Barbara Heidenreich

www.BarbarasFFAT.com

www.AnimalTrainingFundamentals.com
Copyright 2017

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara works with the companion animal community and also consults on animal training in zoos.

Touched by an Orangutan

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 18:51:00 +0000

Many would consider training exotic animals a relatively extraordinary career, and certainly it is. However, elements of it become routine, just like any other job. There are things that are repetitive and routine that are essential components of most consultations. However, every once in a while unique opportunities present themselves that forever change you and your perception of the species you encounter in this profession.

Countries and cultures interact differently with animals and as a consultant I am adaptable so that I can be of help to the facilities that hire me. This means I have sometimes found myself working free contact with species that some cultures would consider quite hands off. It is very much a judgment call in that moment based on the situation. And many times I have recommended we work protected contact (with a barrier between people and the animal) if I felt the situation was not safe. In this case, Eva the orangutan was only going to hurt me by melting my heart.

I have worked with a number of orangutans via protected contact. It is a different experience. It is fairly straight forward and easy to teach a great ape to present a number of behaviors on cue, one after another in a structured training session. Usually behaviors that allow us to provide stress free medical care. Free contact is a different story.

Eva is part of a conservation education program. She presents natural behaviors and helps educate audiences about orangutan natural history and the challenges they are facing due to unsustainable palm oil farming in Indonesia. During training sessions Eva was free to roam the area and engage in all the wonderful activities and enrichment around her. This included other people, trees to climb, new things to explore and destroy. This meant coming back to people and leaving stage was sometimes a challenge. Think of letting your dog or child play in the park. Your job, among other things, is to make yourself and what you would like your animal to do have more reinforcing value than those competing elements when it’s time to return to you.

This also means thinking outside the box when it comes to reinforcers. Food isn’t always the “be all end all” reinforcer. Especially when it comes to an animal that is demonstrating to you that what it finds interesting, is engaging with its environment. For this reason, we made an effort to start gathering novel enrichment items whenever we were going to be working with Eva.

We also had to pay close attention to her body language. When was the exact moment she was ready to respond to us if we were to call her so that we could reinforce quick response to the cue? We also had to start under conditions in which she could be successful. This may mean cueing her when there were few distractions and when she was close to us initially. Sound familiar? This is basic recall training.

So while these elements of training overlap with what many trainers already know, every time I watch this snippet of video my heart still melts. It melts because I remember the feeling when she grabbed my hand to bring me with her to go play with the towel. The thought that this orangutan wanted me to join her makes my heart swell. Perhaps it is the very human like quality of orangutan behavior that touched me so much. But having an animal want you to participate is in my opinion, the highest compliment. She often sought me out and I found myself drawn to her as much as “I think” she was drawn to me. I kept wanting to visit her and have more sessions with her; and she would recognize me and immediately come to me. Maybe it was just about good training. But I felt connected to this individual. I grew more concerned for her well-being which in turn made me think more and more about orangutans and their plight. And suddenly I found myself really wanting to know more about the destruction of forests in Indonesia for palm oil. These were things I thought I already knew about. But here I was in Indonesia working hands on with orangutans and now I felt like I really should know more.

The more I learned, the more I realized how dire the situation was. Beyond saving a species this was about helping a third world country find a sustainable way to feed its people, build its economy; so that the horrific things that were happening to orangutans (some stories too heartbreaking to share) would not be a choice a person needs to make in order to feed his or her family. I also realized these are the kinds of issues that really deserve media attention. (Not the ones that currently seem to get so much focus. The issues that are about targeting excellent zoological institutions questioning their care about animals…..seriously? The biggest advocates I know for animal welfare and wildlife conservation are zoo professionals.)

Yes, working free contact with orangutans is not the norm, not without controversy, and there are many more aspects to discuss. However, the experience for me was life changing. Certainly an excellent lesson in real life application of learning theory principles, but most importantly the personal connection with an individual animal motivated me to a higher level of conservation action for a species on the brink of extinction.

As a person who works in zoological parks we often speak of trying to help people connect and inspire conservation action. I work with many different animals frequently, and every once in a while have moments that are more moving than others. I am still deeply impacted by that experience with Eva. I am intrigued by coming up with more ways we can help others be equally moved in a way that is healthy, enriching and safe for both animals and people. This Xbox Kinect idea is just one that has potential in my opinion.

I hope you too have the opportunity to connect deeply with some special animals and direct your energies into something that really needs your support.

Here are Some Organizations Working to Save Orangutans- Visit Their Sites for Ways to Help

Health In Harmony

React Project

Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme

Orangutan Outreach

The Orangutan Project

Barbara Heidenreich

www.BarbarasFFAT.com

www.AnimalTrainingFundamentals.com
Copyright 2016

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara works with the companion animal community and also consults on animal training in zoos.

Touched by an Orangutan

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 18:51:00 +0000

So while these elements of training overlap with what many trainers already know, every time I watch this snippet of video my heart still melts. It melts because I remember the feeling when she grabbed my hand to bring me with her to go play with the towel. The thought that this orangutan wanted me to join her makes my heart swell. That gesture tells me something has gone well in my training choices. Perhaps it is the very human like quality of orangutan behavior that touched me so much. But having an animal want you to participate is in my opinion, the highest compliment. I found myself drawn to her as much as “I think” she was drawn to me. I kept wanting to visit her and have more sessions with her; and she would recognize me and immediately come to me. It wasn’t just about training. I felt connected to this individual. I grew more concerned for her well-being which in turn made me think more and more about orangutans and their plight. And suddenly I found myself really wanting to know more about what the destruction of forests in Indonesia for palm oil. These were things I thought I already knew about. But here I was in Indonesia working hands on with orangutans and now I felt like I really should know more.

The more I learned, the more I realized how dire the situation was. Beyond saving a species this was about helping a third world country find a sustainable way to feed its people, build its economy. So that the horrific things that were happening to orangutans (stories too heartbreaking to share) would not be a choice a person needs to make in order to feed their families. I also realized these are the kinds of issues that really deserve media attention. (Not the ones that seem to get so much focus that are about targeting excellent zoological institutions questioning their care about animals…..seriously? The biggest advocates I know for animal welfare and wildlife conservation are zoo professionals.)

I hope you too have the opportunity to connect deeply with some special animals and direct your energies into something that really needs your support.

Here are Some Organizations Working to Save Orangutans

Health In Harmony

React Project

Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme

Orangutan Outreach

The Orangutan Project

Barbara Heidenreich

www.BarbarasFFAT.com

www.GoodBirdInc.com
www.AnimalTrainingFundamentals.com
Copyright 2016

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara works with the companion animal community and also consults on animal training in zoos.

5 Animal Training Skills that Make a Big Difference

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Sat, 05 Mar 2016 19:00:00 +0000

I spent that last two weeks in the company of some amazing minds and practitioners when it comes to animal training and the science that guides it. It is a humbling experience. One that I appreciate. It is a good reminder that no matter how many years of experience one may have, there is always more to learn. I found myself rethinking the things I thought I knew and looking for ways to more accurately teach my subject matter. I also thought I need several more lifetimes to learn everything I want to know about the different species I work with as well as the science the influences behavior. I enjoy knowing, there is much more to know.

However, one thing that kept jumping out at me is that this world of animal training is one that requires the development of certain practical application skills. I watched incredibly skilled elephant trainers, dog trainers, and horse trainers practicing their craft. Almost all of them share some things in common.

1. They are excellent at reading and interpreting animal body language. Really skilled animal trainers seem to be able to predict what an animal is about to do. This comes from the ability to observe tiny movements of body parts, whether it is muscles, eye movements or other subtle actions that are pre-cursers to bigger actions. Time and experience around a species helps trainers understand what those signals mean such as fear responses, aggressive behavior, comfort, I’m ready, etc.

2. They are sensitive to animal body language. Skilled trainers show a connectivity to their animal. They are aware that their actions influence animal behavior and are careful to avoid creating fear responses and aggressive behavior. Their goal is to create an animal that is calm and relaxed in their presence, one that looks forward to their company.

3. They are incredibly aware of their own body and how they move. This ties in with number two but is worth a mention. This self-awareness is really impactful. Knowing that just walking past an animal or moving an object too quickly can influence behavior in an adverse way is something skilled trainers know and work to avoid. Why damage your relationship or disrupt a session if you can avoid it? Skilled animal trainers also know this is something to be aware of even if you are very far away from the animal.

4. They have amazing focus and observation skills. Recently I was engrossed in watching a rhino open his mouth on cue for his trainer. At the same time another trainer more experienced with large pachyderms took notice of his hind quarters and a little shift in his weight while he did the behavior. That slight shift turned out to be an indication of a bigger problem going on with his joints. These are the kinds of details people skilled with their species notice.

Later I am sure the pachyderm trainers experienced the same thing during a parrot training session as I explained all the subtle things going on in the session that were contributing to heightened levels of arousal and aggressive behavior for an Amazon parrot

5. They know the natural history (ethology) of their species and how it will influence their choices when it comes to training decisions. This usually translates into setting up the environment so the animal will be successful. This may mean thinking about antecedent arrangement (making it easy for the animal to do the action), contextual elements that might help increase comfort and motivation (like having a buddy around) and reinforcer choices.

Of course there are other things to talk about such as the timing of delivery of reinforcers, the use of the bridging stimulus, etc. But these kinds of mechanics are ones that are frequently mentioned and easily practiced with repetition. I like to think of the skills mentioned above as ones professionals earn with time and experience working hands on with animals, an experience that is something book learning or practice with a clicker can never replace.

While the principles of behavior analysis do apply across species, there is an art to applying it well throughout the animal kingdom. Most of us can apply the basics to many species, but it is breathtaking when you see someone who is clearly an expert with their species applying the technology. There is a fluid two-way communication without words. I think for many of us we find it quite emotional when we see that connection, no doubt because training is so much more than a click and a treat :) a fact not lost on both the trainer and the animal.

Barbara Heidenreich

www.BarbarasFFAT.com

What Trainers Really Do

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Wed, 10 Feb 2016 21:11:00 +0000

I wish I had a better word than “training” to describe what I do, only because it has come to be interpreted to mean so many things to different people. Different ways to influence behavior means that some types of training have involved the use of aversives. The kind of training I teach doesn’t recommend that approach, but the word out there on its own still carries that baggage. Training is the word that also has been affiliated with certain kinds of activities animals have been asked (or coerced) into doing that today’s culture no longer finds acceptable. For example as a child, I remember there used to be a Saturday morning TV show that featured chimpanzees dressed in human clothes being detectives.

Thankfully, training like any other profession strives to evolve and improve. Today’s progressive trainer is committed to a force free approach using scientifically sound principles to influence behavior. Furthermore the behavioral goals are pretty mind blowing. Most are familiar with using science based training technology to solve behavior problems, especially with companion animals. But did you know training is also being used to train animals to cooperate in their own medical care? One of my main jobs these days is to train animals in zoos to voluntarily accept injections and blood draws. Sedating an animal can be risky. Training frequently completely eliminates this problem and allows caregivers to ensure animals get the health care they need ASAP.

Training also gives people an opportunity to connect with animals in healthy ways. I have often thought that visitors at zoos who tap on the glass, call out to animals or otherwise try to get an animal’s attention are not doing so because they are bad people, but rather they would really like the animal to respond to them. With training we can teach behaviors that make guest interaction possible as well as safe and fun for both animals and guests. Most importantly we can add an educational component to the experience. And turn engagement into inspiration for conservation action. (Here is a clip from Avian Behavior International in which guests can spend the day "flying" with Cisco the Peruvian Harris' Hawk)

We have learned more about the amazing abilities of animals thanks to studies that have been facilitated by training. Check out this fascinating study about communication using echolocation in dolphins that could not have been done without training.

The many wonderful benefits of training make for a long list. Training has been used to help prepare animals for release into the wild for conservation and rehabilitation programs. Training is used daily in zoos to make day to day care easy to accomplish. Preventative health care is a breeze thanks to training. And we discover amazing things about underestimated species thanks to engaging with them via training. Certainly most people in my world understand the value of the word “training.” However I do hope to eliminate the baggage from the old days of training and continue to illuminate the work of today’s progressive trainers helping to improve animal welfare, the human animal bond, and facilitating conservation efforts. Today’s trainers are making the world a better place for animals.

Barbara Heidenreich

www.BarbarasFFAT.com

www.GoodBirdInc.com

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara works with the companion animal community and also consults on animal training in zoos.

New Year’s Resolutions Ideas for Animal Trainers

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 20:57:00 +0000

I had a lot of fun coming up with ideas for last year. Here are ten new ideas for 2016.

1. Learn a new term. There really truly is always something new to learn. You may finally know the difference between negative reinforcement and positive punishment. Perhaps it’s time for some new words and concepts. Maybe you would like to learn about overshadowing? Or what is an adjunctive behavior? I know these two terms kept cropping up in my vocabulary this year.

2. Present a paper at a conference. If you have never written and presented a paper for a conference before, be sure to add this to your list. Papers can be intimidating, but they are a great way to foster professional growth. They often cause you to study the work of others, make sure your information is accurate and help you become a critical thinker. I have already submitted five abstracts for 2016. How about you?

3. Expand your training repertoire. Is there a skill you tend to shy away from? Do you favor luring or free shaping? Or free shaping over targeting? Do you forget to set up your environment so the animal can easily do the behavior? Figure out what technique you have yet to master and make it your goal to excel at it.

4. Create a behavior goal chart. I like charts because they do help you organize your training goals and let you check off accomplishments. I also categorize my training goals. For example I can place behavior goals under headings such as medical, husbandry, behavior problem, enrichment, etc. It can also then help you prioritize each behavior.

5. Visit a zoo and watch a training session. Many zoos present scheduled training sessions with their animals for the public. Often these sessions include training the animals to cooperate in medical care. You might see an elephant presenting feet for a pedicure, a lion pressing its hip to the mesh for an injection, or an otter getting on a scale. Use these sessions to give you inspiration to train your companion animals to cooperate in medical care at home. Chat with the keepers afterwards and you can learn a lot more about the incredible work done by zoos to ensure their animals enjoy healthy and enriched lives thanks to training. (Here is a session with some Inca terns at the Copenhagen Zoo)

6. Question something you “think” you know. Is there a term or concept you think you know, but maybe you are not quite so sure? Maybe now is the time to get some clarity. For years I used to use the words time out and negative punishment interchangeably, until I got some clarity. Do you sometimes say reinforcement when you mean to say reinforcer? It is an ongoing effort for me to fine tune what I “think” I know.

7. Be a mentor. There is still a great deal of misunderstanding out there as to what "animal training" is thanks to many different methods of training represented in TV shows, film, media, etc.. There are also a great many animal lovers out there who want to be trainers. You can help those animals lovers get on a good path that supports influencing animal behavior using science based methodology and promotes high standards of animal welfare by being a mentor. Share what you know and point those eager students towards good resources to help them be kind and gentle animal trainers.

8. Get together with other trainers. Not everyone can afford to go to a conference, but I can attest, even at a conference some of the best conversation happens at the bar or at the dinner table. When I travel, just visiting with other trainers is often the best part. One friend and I met in a diner for lunch and talked so long we stayed for dinner. Other trainers are important teachers. Find ways to spend time with them. (Here is a clip from time spent with colleague Hillary Hankey at Avian Behavior International)

9. Attend a webinar. Last year I suggested attending a conference. With so many advances in technology, I highly recommend taking advantage of webinars. I presented too many to count last year! I hope to schedule a few this year too.

10. Do it now. Whatever you have resolved to do (write a paper, attend that workshop, learn a term, train that behavior, etc.) do it now! Animal training guru Bob Bailey once asked our chicken training workshop class “What is the one thing you will always run out of?” We all looked at each other, puzzled. “Time!” he exclaimed. Ain’t that the truth?

There you have it! Ten resolutions for trainers for 2016. Feel free to share with other animal enthusiasts and have a very Happy New Year!

Barbara Heidenreich

www.BarbarasFFAT.com

www.GoodBirdInc.com

Memorable Moments with and for Animals 2015

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Fri, 25 Dec 2015 19:36:00 +0000

As the year comes to a close, a glance to the calendar is a lovely reminder of the many wonderful animal encounters, endeavors and experiences in 2015. It was difficult to zone in on the things that were most significant to me this year. These are my stand outs for various reasons.

1. Working with Harry the Gorilla at the Dublin Zoo: I was thrilled to begin consulting work with the incredible team of keepers at the Dublin Zoo. A favorite amongst the staff is Harry, a gentle giant with an unfortunate past prior to his arrival at Dublin Zoo. Thankfully now he lives in a luxurious habitat and is the silverback of a beautiful troop of western lowland gorillas that are thriving. Because of their deep affection for him, staff members were very sensitive to wanting training to be something based in positive reinforcement and something all the gorillas would truly enjoy. As we were standing there discussing techniques Harry offered a behavior we liked. He opened his mouth. One of the keepers said “good” and offered a piece of fruit. Harry did it again. This repeated for quite some time. Within about 15 minutes Harry was presenting a beautiful open mouth behavior on cue! While capturing a behavior is not necessarily a big deal, it was for Harry and it was for this team. It was a breakthrough moment for everyone. Suddenly the door was open for so much more. In the next few weeks this team went on to train so many more behaviors. And nothing fills your heart with more joy than to get reports that say “Harry is a superstar. And he seems to really love it. And the training has improved our relationship.” It may sound a bit trite, but I do think force free animal training is about changing lives for the better…both animal and human. Harry for me was one of the examples that will stick with me for a lifetime. Can’t wait to visit again in 2016 and see the progress this team has made with him and his troop.

2. Not Forcing the Bunny: Not too many people know this, but for several years I have been asked to bring my rabbit and guinea pigs on America’s Got Talent. Although I do post video clips of my pets online as a means to encourage people to engage in positive reinforcement training to connect with their animals, getting my animals on a talent show has not really been an objective of mine, so I have always declined. After three years of pressuring, I finally caved. After lots of training to prepare my animals to perform under unusual conditions (new places, lights, 10,000 people, music, etc.) and driving 1800 miles to NYC in a snowstorm, the big day finally came. The animals performed flawlessly during rehearsals even with the crowds, lights and music. However when the cameras were rolling the bunny went on strike. Fortunately she was uber relaxed and even laid down on the table for a little siesta. I set up my segment explaining I was a force free trainer and my animals were my pets, not seasoned stage performers. They may or may not do their behaviors and to me that was just fine, I wasn’t going to force them. The funniest bit came when the rabbit didn’t want to go back in her crate to leave and I wouldn’t force her. The judges made a few jokes, Nick Cannon came out to “help", and of course eventually my rabbit did go in the crate voluntarily and the crowd cheered! It was actually delightfully funny and Howard Stern applauded my work and said he loved what I was doing. The producers told me they loved the segment, but it never aired on TV. Who knows? Maybe the clip will make it to the internet one day. After filming I met some friends in a nearby restaurant and was rushed by some children who were at the taping. They had seen the rehearsal as well as the live taping and absolutely loved the animals and the message. That alone probably made the whole trip worth it. (This is a clip of my bunny preparing her routine for AGT)

3. Jack the Cockatoo and the Fear Free™ Movement: In the zoo community we often train animals to cooperate in medical care. One of my favorites is a cockatoo named Jack at one of the zoos at which I consult. He has been trained to accept oral medications without restraint, intramuscular injections without restraint, tactile, wing manipulation, get on a scale, etc. He is also trained to be comfortable having a towel wrapped around him for restraint if needed and has had blood drawn relatively stress free using this approach. Recently he did become ill and all his prior training absolutely made a huge difference. I watched him accept four injections, take sub cutaneous fluids and put his head into a mask for nebulization (for 15 minutes) all without restraint in a single day. I was told since my visit he has had to undergo more treatment for his condition and continues to cooperate. What a testament to the power of force free training. Jack also was not the perfect training candidate. He was an ex pet, donated to the zoo with behavior challenges at the time. He was also over 40 years old when we began training him. Examples like Jack further support my belief that there is much we can do to reduce or eliminate stress when it comes to veterinary care.

I have long been lecturing on ways to train companion parrots, small mammals and zoo animals to cooperate in medical care. I was thrilled to be asked to be a part of the Fear Free™ Veterinary Advisory Group organized by Dr Marty Becker. This team is working hard to make Fear Free™ Vet Exams the norm by educating veterinary professionals about strategies such as systematic desensitization, counter conditioning, antecedent arrangement, hospital design, pheromones, pre-visit sedation and more to reduce stress for companion animal care. To learn more visit http://www.dvm360.com/fear-free-dvm360-leadership-challenge. Not only was watching Jack a memorable moment for me in 2015, but seeing Fear Free™ actually take hold and take off is a bit of a dream come true. Now instead of a few small voices talking here and there about this idea, there is a whole movement with lots of support behind it. Just think! It could one day be the norm for all pets to look forward to going to the veterinarian. (Here is a video of training a dog to accept injections without restraint from a 2015 visit with veterinary students from the University of Giessen in Germany)

4. Challenging the Industry- Continuing the Conversation on How We Create Motivation in Animal Training: This was an initiative I started in 2014 with a presentation called Weight Management in Animal Training: Pitfalls, Ethical Considerations and Alternative Options that I presented at a few conferences. You can read the paper here or watch a video on the presentation here. Since then a lot has happened. For one Eva Bertilsson and I co-hosted a very successful symposium in Sweden on the Ethics of Creating Motivation in Animal Training. What was clear is, this topic is hot! The Animal Behavior Management Alliance Conference (ABMA) immediately followed in Denmark and motivation was mentioned many times over in presentations. I was fortunate to present on Conscientiously Creating and Evaluating Motivation which I hear will soon be available for viewing via ABMA’s Collabornation site. Getting people talking has been step one. And in my travels as I talk with others I often learn of new examples or new scientific information that confirms it is essential we explore this topic more. This subject ranks for me because I find myself thinking about it or talking about it almost every day. It is a very deep, convoluted topic. And aspects of it can be very damaging to animal welfare. I very much hope to be able to provide some good resources in the near future for those who are interested. Stay tuned! (Here is a video clip of Kipling a Southern Ground Hornbill from Avian Behavior International. He is being trained using a progressive approach that allows healthy relationships with food and challenges traditional training techniques used for creating motivation. This clip is from my visit in December of 2015)

5. Teaching Through Technology: This has definitely been the year of the webinar for me. I made 10 new webinars! (Which was no easy feat. lol) Most were for the companion parrot community on just about every parrot behavior problem you can think of. (However I also made some for the zoo community as well.) All can be scheduled to be presented live as a virtual presentation for a bird club, your business, veterinary clinic, special event, zoo staff, rescue volunteers, etc. Or you can watch a recorded version at anytime. I am in love with these webinars because they are my most comprehensive resource. I was able to zone in on very specific topics and dive in deep. It is almost like having a private two hour consultation with me. They were a lot of work, and definitely count as a big chunk of my 2015. My summer was all about making and presenting webinars. However I stand by them as one of the best resources out there for expert advice on parrot behavior problems. I also made a new website for my zoo consulting clients that is packed full of information and resources. Regular zoo clients – be sure to contact me if you need access.

Other unforgettable moments:

There were a lot of pretty darn spectacular moments it is pretty hard to narrow things down. Some other stand outs include working with veterinarians and veterinary students at the University of Giessen on training dogs for voluntary injections and a horse for a voluntary blood draw. I also enjoyed some great brainstorming with this team on their projects and mine. It was a thrill to play a very small part in helping the Dublin Zoo team train their elephant calves for medical behaviors. This zoo is leading the way on progressive elephant care and management. My heart swells with pride when I look at the overall progress of the team at the Santa Barbara Zoo. I have worked with them for a number of years now and am just amazed at how much they have progressed. I especially enjoy the work they have done with their giraffes (including the fabulous hoof curl behavior!), big cats, and domestic animals to name just a few. I was extremely honored to have the opportunity to speak at the European Association of Zoos and Aquariums conference. And I never tire of the many hands on parrot training opportunities, this year in places such as Mexico, Sweden, France, Finland, Germany, The Netherlands, Canada, Oregon, and Texas. Of course what makes all of it most memorable are the people and the animals. Hope to see you in 2016!

Barbara Heidenreich

www.BarbarasFFAT.com http://www.barbarasffat.com/home.html

www.GoodBirdInc.com

Free! Training Rescued and Re-homed Parrots Webinar

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Sun, 22 Nov 2015 16:33:00 +0000

I have to be honest, while my name may be somewhat known, I am like many in the animal business and make a modest living. As an animal lover I struggle with the inner battle that many share, of needing to make a living but at the same time wanting to help as many animals as possible. I realize at this time some cannot afford to pay for the behavioral help they need for their parrots. However I believe I may have a small solution to this dilemma. As is commonly the case, as a community we are quite strong. When times are favorable we often have the ability to support our friends and colleagues. We often do this by donating what we can, when we can.

So for this reason I have decided to continue to make the webinar on Training Rescued and Re-homed Parrots available at no charge. However I ask if you watch this webinar that you consider saying “Thank You” by offering to pay what you can. The amount is up to you! (The webinar normally sells for $19.95.) Your contribution will help make it possible for this item to continue to remain free for those who can’t afford it. If the generosity of others has helped make this a wonderful opportunity for you, you can help pay it forward by helping spread the word about this resource on social media, in chat groups, etc.

If parrot people come through with their support, maybe this can be extended to other resources. I sure hope so! It is up to you parrot community :) If you love these resources and want more, let it be known through your contribution and/or word of mouth support. What you do and say matters!

Webinar Description:
Whether you work in a rescue or sanctuary, foster parrots or have adopted a parrot into your home it is sometimes difficult to break through or overcome behavior problems with a parrot with an unfortunate or unknown history. This webinar will provide guidance for those working with some of the more challenging behavioral cases in the avian community. Total run time is 1 hour and 50 minutes. You can log in and out as much as you want to watch at your convenience or repeatedly.

How to Contribute:

Click on this link.

The donation is set at $1. If you would like to increase this amount, change the number in the box under “Qty” then click on the words “update quantity.” This will allow you to increase your contribution by increments of $1. Then proceed to checkout.

Access:

Visit this link to access the webinar http://www.instantpresenter.com/barbarasffat/EB56DC86884B

If you are experiencing any problems connecting to the seminar in your usual browser, consider switching to a different browser. Just paste the link to the webinar in a different browser such as Firefox, Chrome, or Safari. Also be sure to have a current flash player on your computer such as Adobe Flash Player http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/

For iPads use the Puffin browser or Photon both are free apps. This will allow you to view flash video files included in the presentation. You can log in and out as much as you want.

This webinar is one of many resources you can find at www.GoodBirdInc.com. I hope you will find it extremely beneficial to helping you foster a wonderful relationship based on trust with the parrots in your life.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.BarbarasFFAT.com
www.GoodBirdInc.com
Copyright 2015

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara works with the companion animal community and also consults on animal training in zoos.

Overcoming Fear Responses. Two Tools Every Animal Trainer Needs

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Mon, 03 Aug 2015 17:05:00 +0000

When it comes to animal training you often hear people sing the praises of positive reinforcement. Me too! I love it. But there are two other tools that I can’t live without, systematic desensitization and classical conditioning. Try saying those three times fast! They sound like a mouthful, but they really are very important tools, especially when it comes to introducing your pet to new things or new situations.

Systematic desensitization is exposing your animal to something in a gradual way without evoking a fear response. For example if I want my parrot to get used to a syringe that I would like to use to deliver oral medications, instead of just presenting it in front of his beak, I will have it far enough away that he can see it but shows very little response to it. What I would like to see is mild curiosity or indifference. What I definitely don’t want to see is any body language that indicates a fear response. If I see fear responses, that means I failed at my use of systematic desensitization. If I use this approach correctly, over time I will be able to gradually bring the syringe closer to my bird and no fear response will be presented.

This same strategy can be used to introduce many different types of objects including stethoscopes, new toys, travel crates, even people. In some of my parrot training workshops I have had participants successfully wrap a towel around a parrot using this technique. It requires very slow movements and excellent observation of parrot body language.

Systematic desensitization becomes an even more powerful tool when paired with classical conditioning. This means at the same time I am gradually getting closer with this new object or experience, I am pairing it with something I know the animal likes, usually preferred food items. In other words new things are introduced at a pace the animal can handle and good things happen at the same time. This is a powerful way to help an animal accept new things. And it can happen quite fast. Using this approach I can usually get a syringe, stethoscope or towel very close to a parrot in just a few minutes. This allows me to then transition to using positive reinforcement training strategies in which the animal makes choices to engage with the object to earn desired goodies.

These two tools are great for training behaviors that facilitate medical care and they can also be used to help get your parrot engaged with new toys, new people or just about any new object or circumstance you think might be uncomfortable for your parrot. Next time you see your parrot or any other pet in your household hesitate around a new object or circumstance, think about pulling these two important but often overlooked tools out of the tool box.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.BarbarasFFAT.com
www.GoodBirdInc.com
Copyright 2015

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara works with the companion animal community and also consults on animal training in zoos.

5 Things You Should Know About Parrots

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Sat, 18 Jul 2015 18:35:00 +0000

You may be new to sharing your life with parrots or you may be an old pro. Or perhaps you have never even considered a parrot. Either way you may be surprised to learn a few facts about parrot behavior that make them a bit different from your average companion animal. Here are a few of my favorites.

1. Parrots prefer to have their head feathers stroked towards their beak. While your dog, cat or rabbit may appreciate being stroked from head to tail, this is often merely tolerated or it can be sexually stimulating to companion parrots. Look at your bird’s body language to clue you in as to whether your parrot is just taking it or can’t get enough. If your parrot is squatting, trembling or panting it is a good idea to reconsider this practice. A bird that is tolerating it isn’t really the goal either. I prefer to see a parrot who fluffs his head feathers up in a big ball in anticipation of a few head scritches. Touch on the head is definitely a great way to foster your relationship. Allopreening (grooming each other’s feathers) is an important part of parrot social relationships. Parrots can’t reach those pin feathers (new feathers growing in) on their head, having their human companion remove the keratin casing on newly grown feathers is usually quite welcomed. Check out this video clip on how to pet a parrot to see what touch should look like.

2.    Parrots show love by puking for us. Isn’t that a fun one? Yes it is a true. A parrot who has decided you are its chosen mate will express its love by regurgitating for you. The beak will be brought to the chest and the head will arc in a repetitive motion as food is brought back up into the mouth. The bird may try to dribble this usually smelly gooey mush into your hand if you make it available. This courtship behavior is also one that caregivers will want to avoid reinforcing. This means removing your attention the moment the behavior is exhibited. Wait for the bird to present any other acceptable behavior and reinforce that instead. Reinforcing courtship and sexual behavior can contribute to a number of behavior problems such as aggressive behavior towards other members of the household, excessive vocalizations for attention and more. Learn more on how to address these problems from the webinar recording Solutions for Parrot Behavior Problems Related to Hormones.

3.    Just because a parrot has feathers doesn’t mean it can fly well. In some countries it is common to clip the flight feathers on parrots right about the time the bird would first attempt flight. If this happens (or the parrot is kept in an enclosure that is too small to allow flight) during that time in development when flight should be happening, it can lead to a loss in flight for the rest of that bird’s life. This is especially true for heavy bodied birds such as Amazons, macaws and African grey parrots. Some people may have an older parrot that now has full flight feathers but never flies unless startled. These typically are the birds that were clipped during this critical stage of development in which their genetics would have been urging their body to attempt flight. Instead of flight, each launch off of the perch would have been met with a crash landing. This quickly teaches the bird to stop attempting flight. Unfortunately it has an impact that can have a lifetime effect on flying. Lighter bodied birds such as budgerigars, cockatiels, conures, some cockatoo species and a few other smaller species of parrots can regain flight. But unfortunately for many of the larger species, even with excellent training, a confident flying bird in most cases is very unlikely. It is often best to provide as an enriched a life as possible without flight for such individuals. If your bird was never clipped or has sufficiently recovered flight, training with positive reinforcement does offer solutions for managing the behavior of flighted parrots those who are interested in keeping parrots flighted. Behaviors such as recall, station training and developing flight skills make living with flighted parrots a pleasure.

4.    Parrots are super-duper visual. Your dog has a super sniffer. Your cat hears the slightest rustle of a cockroach in debris. Your parrot can see the tiniest speck of a spider on the ceiling or teeny tiny airplane in the sky. This means he is also carefully watching you. Especially if he is interested in your attention and companionship. If you have a parrot that has the problem of vocalizing for attention this is important to know. This is because one of your goals is not to reinforce the undesired vocalizations. Often we think we are ignoring the calls, but many times things like our moving shadow on the wall, or the body language of the dog responding to us (even though we are out of line of sight) is enough to clue our parrots in that we are just there around the corner. This can be enough to keep a parrot screaming for attention. This is often a reason why people have a hard time being successful at resolving this behavior problem. Learn more about how to address this common parrot behavior from the webinar recording Addressing Screaming for Attention in Companion Parrots.

5. Parrot friendships can take time, but can be extremely rewarding. Most of us are accustomed to meeting a dog or cat and within minutes being able to interact with our new furry friend. Certainly there are exceptions, but in general most dogs and cats friendships seem easily earned compared to parrots. Many parrot species are not as social as we might think. In the wild they live with only one partner or small family groups. Flocking may only happen under certain circumstances such as foraging or roosting. Therefore automatically accepting new individuals may not be the norm for those species. Some parrots species also show a tendency towards neophobia (fear of new things). This can also inhibit a parrot’s inclination to warm up to new people. Learning history also plays a role in how quickly a parrot may be inclined to respond to a new potential friend. That is where training can help. Teaching your parrot some simple behaviors (like waving, saying hello, or turning around on cue) to present with strangers can help give your parrot an activity to focus on that has past reinforcement history that can be paired with new people. This can go a long way in helping build trust with new people and experiences. It may take a little more effort than some of our more gregarious companion animals, but what an honor when a parrot decides your company is delightful.

Whatever species you share your life with; it is about getting to know them. Parrots have characteristics that are unique to them, but like any animal they are also influenced by learning history. This means behavior also has flexibility to some extent. Unfortunately we can really miss the boat on flight if we don’t allow birds to fledge properly when nature is telling their bodies to do so. However we can definitely still influence things like building trust, addressing vocalizing for attention, preventing behavior problems associated with reproductive behavior and more by getting a good understanding of learning theory and how it applies to the behavior of animals in our home. Even though your parrot’s behavior may present challenges that might be a bit different from your dog or cat, don’t give up! They are often eager students and ready to learn. Check out more resources on parrot behavior at www.GoodBirdInc.com.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.BarbarasFFAT.com
www.GoodBirdInc.com
Copyright 2015

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provide animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara also consults on animal training in zoos.

Animal Training Quips: Set them Up for Success!

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 00:35:00 +0000

Of course you want your animal to be successful…but what the heck does that mean?? Do you want him to graduate college, become the CEO of a major corporation, or get 1000 likes on his photo on social media? You hear people say that all the time when it comes to animal training. It sounds like a great idea, but if you are like me, you need a few more specifics please. If you want to get technical you might define setting them up for success in animal training as antecedent arrangement. What this means is you are going to physically manipulate things in the environment so that it is very likely that your animal is going to do the exact action you want.

I will give you two different examples, one in which I am trying to make it less likely an undesired behavior will happen and another in which I am trying to promote a desired one.

I have perches around my house that my flighted parrots have learned via positive reinforcement to visit frequently. They have learned these are great places to go to for attention, toys, treats, head scratches, etc. Most of the perches do not have many unacceptable things near them that are tempting to chew. (That is one example of setting them up for success.) However one perch in particular has some unavoidably tempting attributes. There are some edges of the walls that are often too inviting for my parrots to resist. Traditional training methods would have caregivers punishing parrots with aversives for chewing, but the force free approach is to set them up for success. Which means in this example, I could move the perch to a less tempting location or I could make those wall edges less accessible and interesting. I chose the latter.

I decided to custom fit plexi-glass to cover the edges of the wall. Just this cover alone has made the wall less inviting for chewing. This allows me to relax when my parrots are sitting on the perch. I definitely don’t ever have to be the bad guy and punish bad behavior, I get to be the good guy and reinforce excellent behavior while they sit on the perch. Just by making it difficult to misbehave by removing access to temptation I have helped set them up for success.

Another way we set animals up for success is when we are training new behaviors. One of my favorite challenges is finding a way to get the animal to present the action we want so that it can be reinforced. Manipulating the environment is often one of the first things I look at. This means I visualize what movements the animal will have to do. I then think how can I minimize how much effort the animal will need to present for me to get that movement? For example if I need the animal to load into a crate, will it have to step over a lip of a crate? Is the opening so small that it needs to duck its head? Will the crate wobble and cause the animal to be unbalanced? All those factors mean more effort and therefore not a good example of setting my animal up for success. If I was in that situation I would be searching for a different crate!

Anyone who has been to one of my parrot training workshops has seen me apply these strategies in my parrot training demos. Little details like placing a station on the corner of the table instead of the middle, putting my hand at the end of the perch, in line with the perch and with a tight grip for step up, making tunnels for towel training, all of these approaches were developed from years of trying to find a way to make it more likely a parrot would participate and learn a new behavior. Do they make a difference? Absolutely!

The next time you hear someone say “Set them up for success!” Now you can nod knowingly and whisper to your friends “Oh they just mean manipulating the environment a bit so it easy for the animal to do the correct behavior……you know, antecedent arrangement.” More importantly now with a clear understanding you have a tool you can use that can really have an impact on achieving your training goals.

Barbara Heidenreich

www.BarbarasFFAT.com

www.GoodBirdInc.com

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provide animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara also consults on animal training in zoos.

Secrets to an Awesome Training Session

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Sun, 24 May 2015 19:48:00 +0000

I had one of those training sessions the other day. You know the kind, the ones that stay in your mind because you just felt so great afterwards. This particular training session was at a zoo, one of my regular contracts. When I work with zoos I usually do a lot of coaching and stand back and let the keepers do the hands on portion. I only step in if needed since the goal is for keepers to practice and refine their training skills, as I am only a temporary visitor. On this day our third person was needed elsewhere which left just two of us of to work with one of the female giraffes. This meant I needed to help out a bit more than usual to attain the intended training goal. I had been told this female had been hesitant to offer much in the way of behavior and while she was often enthusiastic to eat the special leaf eater biscuits we had to offer it was challenging to get her to actually do much. I wasn’t quite sure what this meant but I kept it in the back of my mind as we discussed out training goal and plan.

A major healthcare goal for giraffes is to be able to trim their hooves. A nice behavior to have them do to facilitate this is to voluntarily curl a front hoof under their body and rest their fetlock on something like a bale of hay. This gives us full access to the bottom of their hoof for trimming. This was our behavior goal. The challenge is how do you get a giraffe to voluntarily present this behavior?

No matter what species you are training or what behavior, the first goal is to find a way to get an action happening so that you can reinforce it. There are a number of ways to do this. You can show what you have to offer. For example you can lure a rabbit onto a scale by leaving a trail of favorite food items to the scale. Eventually you can start leaving less of a trail and start delivering the food after your rabbit gets onto the scale. This is a good strategy as you don’t want your animal to be dependent on seeing what you have to offer.

You can also get action by using a target. You can easily train your parrot to gently touch a ball on the end of a stick with his beak. This can then be used to direct him where to go. This is especially helpful for parrots that may have issues with hands. You can easily direct them in and out of enclosure without having to pick them up.

Another strategy is to use free shaping. This is when the animal offers tiny actions towards the desired behavior and these actions are bridged and reinforced. This approach requires excellent observation skills by the trainer and good timing of the bridging stimulus and delivery of reinforcers. This approach creates an animal that typically is eagerly offering actions trying to discover what works. Trainers must walk a fine line of pushing for more action but also keep reinforcement rates high enough to avoid frustration.

We decided to use the free shaping strategy with this giraffe. We also set up our environment so that it might be easy for her to present the action we wanted. This meant placing the bale of hay close to her front feet, with the keeper on the other side of the fence offering her biscuits for any actions that involved interacting with the bale. She did start offering tiny movements of her feet right away, however as mentioned the challenging part can be trying to up the criteria without frustrating your animal or causing them to lose interest. To address this we came up with a strategy that relies on behavior economics. In other words we assigned a rating system to her efforts as we raised our criteria; 1, 3 or 5 biscuits. Low but acceptable effort only got 1 biscuit, a little extra effort got 3 biscuits and when she really gave us extra effort she received 5 or more biscuits. Yes sometimes her efforts were too low to receive any biscuits and as we raised criteria what earned biscuits did change. But we did this carefully and our rating system allowed us to reinforce more often rather than less often. This helped address the challenge of her reputation of not offering much. By keeping our rates of reinforcement high and communicating what was more important with extra reinforcers we were able to increase criteria and keep our giraffe girl eagerly participating.

Giraffes are BIG. I was focused on the feet and shouting out 1, 3 or 5 and the trainer feeding was also watching the giraffe's face and body language for her level of focus and engagement in the session. She could also decide if we needed to offer more to keep her engaged in the session. It may seem odd to have two trainers making decisions, but it is sometimes required when you can’t see the entire animal. In any case our strategies worked! Within 8 minutes we had her holding her left hoof in the exact position we wanted for a good 10 seconds.

Talk about a rush! We got the behavior quickly, our animal was eager and engaged and no longer labeled a hesitant learner once we revisited our training strategies. Best of all we are now looking forward to having regular hoof care be a breeze.

You probably are not training a giraffe in your home, but believe it or not the same principles can apply to your parrot, rabbit, guinea pig, dog, even your fish! Do you have a behavior or animal that has been a bit of a challenge to train? Do you have a good plan for getting an action started? Have you set up your environment so that it is easy for your animal to present the action? How will you keep your animal engaged in the session and avoid frustration? Take a look at these factors and with a few adjustments to your strategy maybe you too can have one of those training sessions that make you and your animal feel just awesome.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.BarbarasFFAT.com
www.GoodBirdInc.com
www.BunnyTraining.com
Copyright 2015

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provide animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara works with the companion animal community and also consults on animal training in zoos.

Yeah, But………

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Mon, 04 May 2015 17:34:00 +0000

"Yeah, but...." puts the brakes on receiving help

Have you ever found yourself saying these words when someone gives you advice? You probably have. We all have! Haven’t we? I am guilty of it too. But now I try really hard to catch myself if I feel those words creeping out. Here is why. When we respond with “Yeah, but….” it pretty much puts the brakes on receiving assistance from the person trying to help.

Here is an example:

Question: My parrot screams when I leave the room. How can I get him to stop?

My Response: It is really important to not reinforce the screaming and heavily reinforce another sound that will work to get your attention.

Owner’s Response: Yeah, we have tried that, but it doesn’t work. He just keeps screaming.

My Response: Well, there are a few things that could be going on. You could still be inadvertently reinforcing screaming. Birds are very perceptive to little responses.

Owner’s Response: Yeah, but we are definitely ignoring the screaming. We turn up the TV louder or go over and cover the cage.

My Response: Actually going over to the cage or making any sounds that the bird perceives reinforces the behavior. Everyone in the family needs to be on board and act like they have vanished into thin air the moment the bird screams in order for him to understand screaming doesn’t work to get attention.

Owner’s Response: Yeah, but that is not possible in my house

Many times every solution I offer is countered with a “Yeah, but...” and eventually I am so beaten down I just end up saying “Yup, you are right! It can’t be fixed in your case.” It is very disheartening especially when you know the problem is fixable and there is pet and household that could really use your assistance. But every time you try to help you are being told no your advice won’t work or doesn’t work or has already been tried.

Those who do provide professional science based services and information on addressing behavior problems with animals can tell you that the methodologies do work. If they are failing there is usually a problem in the application. Professional consultants are usually excellent detectives at helping uncover where the application is failing. They are going to ask detailed questions about your process. This is where it can be tempting to say “Yeah, but…” This is because most believe they have followed instructions to the letter. But in reality what was described by the consultant, what was heard and what was actually done probably were all somewhat different. Sometimes it can be difficult to have clear communication. But the good news is we can keep the lines of communication open and continue discussions about important details that will be helpful to both owner and consultant trying to come to the solution to a behavior problem together.

I recently had a phone call with someone having a hard time getting a bird to go back into his enclosure. I asked the person to describe to me how she asked the bird to step up and go back to the cage. The person suddenly got defensive and said “Just the way you told me!” I had to reassure her I was just collecting information so I could help her and that I had only seen her with the bird once and needed more details. Part of her defensiveness was that she was frustrated by the problem she was having with the bird and angry in that moment. Sometimes we have to remind ourselves it really is about getting the problem solved and putting our emotions to the side for a moment.

People who provide information on addressing behavior problems really do want to help. So the next time you find yourself tempted to say “Yeah, but…” ask yourself if maybe some other phrases might be more helpful such as “I think so, but maybe I didn’t apply it correctly” or “I am not sure, can you give me more information?” or “Can you help me understand how I can do that in my situation” You will find the person trying to help you will be even more eager to give you guidance towards a solution. And best of all you will get resolution for that troubling pet behavior problem.

Barbara Heidenreich

www.BarbarasFFAT.com

www.GoodBirdInc.com

Is Animal Training Really All About Relationships?

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Sat, 07 Mar 2015 19:15:00 +0000

I often hear trainers say animal training is all about “relationships.” I must admit I often say the reason I got into animal training is I love the relationship you can develop with an animal. But talk about vague! Let's be honest here, there's is almost always a relationship going on regardless of the kind of training being done and there's always training happening regardless of the relationship you have with the animal. A little clarification is most definitely needed.

First we need to define what we mean by “relationship.” I would venture to say most force free trainers are meaning a relationship that is based on trust, results in desired consequences for both parties involved, is free of aversive experiences, etc. We have all seen animals trained with aversives that work extremely well. I would venture to say these animals also have a relationship with their trainer. However that relationship may include things like avoidance behaviors. It may also cause the animal to resist presenting behavior for fear of punishment. It is still a relationship, but one that exists with very different criteria in place.

Some trainers state that animals behave because of their “good” relationship with the trainer. This is another interesting statement. “Good,” of course, is another word that needs some defining. Good may mean that the animal views the trainer as a deliverer of desired things such as treats, attention, toys, etc. To others, “good” could mean that aversives have been used with such accuracy that the animal wouldn’t dare present unacceptable behavior in the presence of the person that can deliver punishers. In other words the animal “obeys” so well!

Some might say a good relationship is one in which the animal seeks out the companionship of the trainer. Certainly this does happen when a trainer dispenses desired things. However we also see some animals that pick individuals as their preferred human for no obvious reason. Parrots are excellent examples of this. We often see a parrot completely drop the human who has been the perfect positive reinforcement based trainer for a complete stranger. On the not so pleasant side, many have also seen horses give in and “join up” with a trainer when the pressure of being forced to run around a ring has been lifted. Each of these pairings happened due to different motivations.

On the flip side of this, you can be an excellent force free trainer and have no relationship what so ever with the animal. This is often the objective in conservation projects. The intent is not to create a relationship between humans and wild, or soon to be released animals. The goal is to get behavior but find ways to reinforce remotely. We typically do not want to pair desired consequences with people to avoid the other fallout that can happen when humans and nature collide. In this example a relationship is not required at all to be a successful trainer.

Here is another example. Chris Shank is a trainer who free flies cockatoos on her property. This is a behavior that takes some study, skills and cojones! There is always risk involved and not something I recommend people attempt without an experienced mentor holding your hand every step of the way. Someone once stated her birds don’t fly away because of her relationship with her birds. This person had assumed these were hand raised babies with a pet like attachment to Chris. What this person didn’t know was that the birds were parent raised and didn’t have any formal recall training to the hand at the time. But this didn’t mean they weren’t learning and that other training wasn’t happening. Or that they couldn’t successfully learn to free fly.

The point is a relationship is a by-product of training. It is not what makes learning happen. What that relationship will look like is a result of what tools you choose to use as a trainer. If you choose things like positive reinforcement, pairing of desired consequences, systematic desensitization, being sensitive to not create fear responses and aggressive behavior, you might be lucky enough to enjoy a relationship with an animal that is very fulfilling, which is one of the wonderful added bonuses of being a force free animal trainer.

So while it may sound profound to say animal training is “all about relationships.” In reality it’s more about application of the tools of the trade that determines if and what type of relationship you will have with the animals in your life. So rather than focus on your relationship, focus on the choices you make to influence behavior. Choose wisely and you get to have a wonderful relationship with an animal based on trust.

Barbara Heidenreich

www.BarbarasFFAT.com
www.GoodBirdInc.com
www.BunnyTraining.com
Copyright 2015

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provide animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara also consults on animal training in zoos.

Do Animals Bluff?

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Tue, 27 Jan 2015 17:04:00 +0000

Have you ever thought about the word bluffing? Some synonyms are conning, tricking, faking. When people use the word bluffing in regard to animals it is usually associated with aggressive behavior such biting or lunging. In other words they are suggesting animals are faking it or don’t really mean it when they try to bite.

When an animal shows fear or appears content, it is pretty unlikely someone would label that as bluffing. It is a curious thing that people accept animals might be afraid, but not willing to believe an animal’s body language that is saying “Stop it! Or I am going to bite!”

Force free animals trainers understand it is a very rare animal that is deceptive in its body language. In fact few species have truly been shown to use deception intentionally. And usually it used to control access to resources. For example a raven may “pretend” he doesn’t know where a stash of food is hidden to avoid alerting others to the location of the goodie.

In my experience an animal that is showing aggressive behavior or precursors to aggressive behavior is being about as open and honest as he or she can be. Rather than thinking the animal is trying to trick me and doesn’t really mean the aggressive behavior, I take such body language as clear communication and time for me to rethink what I am doing. Even more important is to pay attention to the tiniest body language and respond in a way that says I got the message. I don’t want the animal to have to escalate its aggressive behavior to get me to stop. I also don’t want the animal to learn I only pay attention to big body language…like biting. This can teach the animal to skip all the subtle signals and go right to very aggressive behavior.

In the parrot world, some folks believe that bluffing is a stage of parrot development that will pass. Knowing a bit more about parrot development and how behavior is influenced will help explain what is really happening.

Parrots like other animals have critical periods of development. This time period starts in the nestling stage and continues for a short time past fledging. During this time period, parrots are very open and receptive to new experiences and also will allow quite bit of handling. This openness is what motivates young animals to want to explore their world and learn. Force free trainers take advantage of this time period to pair good things such as treats and attention with things animals will need to encounter throughout their lifetime such as nail clippers, scales, towels, etc. This can have a nice long lasting affect into the future.

Harness training is easier when started during the critical period of development

However this openness also means young parrots will tolerate a lot, including coercive handling. As they mature past this stage the willingness to tolerate such handling disappears. And parrots start responding to forceful handling with aggressive behavior to express their objection. This can be confusing to a parrot owner. For months the birds was so easy to handle and now it is becoming quite difficult. This is why it is so important to use positive reinforcement and empowering the bird to choose to participate even when it might allow a heavy handed approach.

If the critical period of development has passed and the parrot is being forced to step up or otherwise comply, this is when much more aggressive behavior is exhibited. This is when people start suggesting the bird is bluffing…because in the past compliance was easy. This thought process then causes people to be more heavy-handed in trying to get compliance. A bird can learn in these moments that no matter how much they object, they will be forced to cooperate. This approach can get compliance, but has tremendous fallout and is detrimental to the relationship between caregiver and parrot.

This ability to get compliance through force has also caused some to think it is just a phase, when in fact the parrot has learned to cooperate via negative reinforcement and in some cases flooding. Instead of being a stage, it is a parrot learning that nothing it does causes the coercion to stop, and gives up. Needless to say this is not a fun way to learn and in reality not necessary.

Instead, caregivers will want to focus on being incredibly sensitive to the tiniest body language that says the bird is uncomfortable. When such body language is observed caregivers should stop what they are doing and give the bird the choice to participate. Cooperation and participation should result in good consequences such as treats and attention. This approach will create a super eager participant without any need to use aggressive behavior. Instead you get to enjoy a wonderful relationship based on trust with your parrot.

Next time an animal in your life tells you “no” through his or her body language, think of it as useful information. Your animal is just trying very hard to communicate and your relationship will benefit if you choose to listen.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.BarbarasFFAT.com
www.GoodBirdInc.com
www.BunnyTraining.com
Copyright 2015

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provide animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara also consults on animal training in zoos.

New Year's Resolution Ideas for Animal Trainers

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Tue, 30 Dec 2014 18:01:00 +0000

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Everybody does the health and fitness resolution for the New Year. But animal people are different, aren’t we? Why break tradition now? How about some New Year’s resolution ideas that will benefit you and the animals in your life? Here are 10 ideas that will help animal trainers start the New Year just right.

1. Train a behavior that will make veterinary care easier for an animal in your life. Simple things like loading into a carrier, being comfortable with touch and training for restraint can make a big difference in reducing stress for veterinary care. Here is a video clip to get you inspired to train your parrots.

2.   Read a book that is related to the field but not specifically about animal training. I really enjoyed reading the Science of Consequences by Susan Schneider this year. Another good one is Coercion and its Fallout by Murray Sidman. Not a book but another interesting resource is the Brain Science Podcast.

3.   Try shaking up your training practices. If you always use a bridging stimulus, try to become a faster treat deliverer and see if you can train some behaviors without a bridge. (Trust me, you can) If you never bridge, try training a behavior that requires one, such as working with an animal at a distance.

4.   Train a species you have never worked with before. This is a great way to really learn how important natural history and ethology are when it comes to behavior modification. Sure the behavior analysis principles are the same. But real behavior change comes with practical application. This means also learning about what matters to that species.

5. Train a solid recall on an animal in your life. It is a pleasure when an animal comes running/flying towards you the moment a recall cue is given. Practice recalling at short distances when you are 99.9% sure your animal will come. Gradually increase the distance and make sure quick response to the cue is part of your criteria.

6. Train a behavior you have never done before. I had a blast training my rabbit to do a scent discrimination this year.

7.   Attend an animal training conference, workshop or lecture live and in person. In addition to learning you also get to meet like-minded animal training enthusiasts. Often the best part of attending an event is the wonderful friendships that are forged. Check the calendar here for upcoming events in 2015.

8.   Share something you have learned about force free animal training with at least one other person. Remember this movement to get people to understand you can be nice to animals and still have them be well behaved is a wonderful virus we want to spread. Pretty soon, being kind in animal training will be the norm and traditionally heavy handed approaches will be a thing of the past.

9.   Do a before and after story. If you work with animals with behavior problems or have one in your home with issues you would like to address, start documenting! Nothing shows how beneficial force free animal training is than a transformation story. Take video footage or notes on the behavior problem before intervention. Develop an intervention plan, implement it and document your process. Once you have resolution (and you will) take your “after” video and share with the world! Real life success stories are great motivation for others and show people that behavior problems can be fixed.
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10.   Question a practice you have always done. Decide if it still has a place in your training tool kit. If it doesn’t maybe it’s time for out with the old and in with the new. When I reflect on my own growth as a trainer, I see there are many things I used to do, that I would no longer consider. Some dropped off naturally but others were conscious decisions. Every trainer that improves their practices contributes to an even stronger and better training community.

There you go! Ten ideas to jump start the New Year for animal trainers. Feel free to share with other animal lovers looking to kick off 2015 with some animal training adventures.

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides pet training DVDs, books and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in eighteen countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara also consults on animal training in zoos.

Memorable Moments with and for Animals in 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 18:59:00 +0000

The year is not quite over yet, but it is hard to resist taking a trip down memory lane. I usually like to reflect on my top three animal training related moments. This year, conservation initiatives took the top spots.

1. Working with Kakapo Chicks

Coming in it at number one has to be the opportunity to work with the Kakapo Recovery Program and this year’s chicks. Certainly training these youngsters was a thrill, but the real reward is being able to help merge science based training technology with conservation. These two fields are rarely intentionally overlapped, but the truth is there is a growing need for what trainers can contribute to conservation. One of our main goals is to reduce stress related to capture and restraint for kakapo health care. With today’s technology there are a number of ways we can accomplish this goal without impacting natural behavior adversely. Not only did we get started on this type of training with the hand raised chicks, we also developed a plan for parent raised chicks in the future. I love that this dedicated team thinks about and explores such options. Check out these blogs to read more about the training we did with these amazing rare parrots.Why Train Kakapo? and Powerful Parrot Training

2. Blue Hair for Blue Throated Macaws

You gotta love viral internet campaigns. That ALS ice bucket challenge was my inspiration for the Go Blue for Blue Throated Macaws idea. Yes, I was challenged to dump ice on my head. And while I thought it was a worthy campaign, it wasn’t exactly my cup of tea. As I pondered what to do I found myself thinking about the charities I love and support. Of course my blue throated macaw Blu Lu and the Bird Endowment immediately came to mind. In jest, I texted a friend I should dye my hair blue and start a viral campaign to raise money and awareness for blue throated macaw conservation. As I was writing the text I thought “Hmmmm, I could be on to something here”. Next thing you know we have people all over the world dying their hair blue and donating to the Bird Endowment. I never did actually find out how many people dyed their hair. But it was A LOT! And it was a blast watching people video challenge each other on social media. Some people really ended up with some amazing hair. The best news was that enough money was raised to support a bunch more nest boxes for blue throated macaws in the wild in Bolivia. The nest boxes have proven to be the most successful method of increasing the wild population to date.

3. Shaking Things Up in the Bird Training World

After 24 years as a professional bird trainer (plus another 8 years in animal care prior to that) you would hope one would learn a few things along the way. And I guess I did. I realized my current training practices were vastly different from what I had been doing for a good chunk of my career. This led me to explore the reasons why my training had changed. Conversations with other trainers also made me realize those old practices I had left behind were a still a problem out there and they needed to be addressed. Inspired by others I decided it was time to challenge some of the commonly accepted practices in bird training and asked the professional community to do the same. In particular my concerns were about methods people have used for many years to create motivation for food. I definitely ruffled a few feathers. I may have even lost a few friends over it. But I also gained new ones. Questioning some old practices started bringing amazing new people into my life. Ones who expanded my thinking about animal welfare and taught me there is so much more to learn. Some people openly attacked me in a professional setting and some hugged me with tears in their eyes, thanking me for saying what needed to be said. While it has been a bittersweet journey, (and an ongoing one) it counts as a very memorable moment for me in 2014. I am looking forward to a symposium some colleagues and I have put together on the ethics of creating motivation in animal training to further advance people’s knowledge on this important topic.

Bonus: Spending Time with Amazing People and Animals

2014 was the year of extensive travel. This meant meeting amazing animals and people from all around the world. They all have been the best teachers, mentors and inspiration. This year I had a walrus suck my thumb, a goat decide I was the object of his affection, a kakapo sit on my lap, and a giraffe give birth an hour after feeding her a biscuit to name a few fun animal moments. From people I learned about the evolution of animal emotions, had deep discussions about the use of time outs, LRS and no reward markers, discovered there are things trainers do that don’t exactly fit neatly into a category defined by behavior analysis and realized some kindred spirits live 1000’s of miles away in other countries, but are kindred spirits none the less.

I get to spend the rest of 2014 home with my animal family and friends. I am enjoying spending my mornings training and caring for my companion animals and spending my afternoons developing new resources for those interested in training. 2015 is already shaping up to be an interesting year as well. Can it beat 2014? I can’t wait to find out.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.BarbarasFFAT.com
www.GoodBirdInc.com
www.BunnyTraining.com
Copyright 2014

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provide animal training DVDs, books, webinars and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara also consults on animal training in zoos.

Lessons Learned from the Loss of a Trained Companion Animal

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Sun, 23 Nov 2014 19:31:00 +0000

Are you one of those people deeply affected by another's suffering, especially if it is an animal? Now imagine it is your companion animal. Add on to that, an animal that you have spent hours and hours building trust and training with positive reinforcement. An animal with whom you have made such a deep connection and bond you feel there is a special understanding and communication between the two of you. Imagine if you couldn’t relieve that animal’s suffering? How deep is that pain?

This is the beauty and the tragedy of force free animal training. On the one hand you create such a deep bond of trust, even friendship, that your emotional connection is almost indescribable. On the other hand when that animal is suffering or breathes his or her last breath the pain is that much deeper.

Not too long ago I lost one of my trained guinea pigs, Caledonia, to a tumor behind her heart. When I mentioned to someone that I cried for two days, it was clear they thought it was astonishing that anyone would feel such emotion for a rodent.

Caledonia (and Lucille) were only supposed to be temporary visitors at my house. I was going to film their training process and they were then supposed to become a part of an education program. But after a few months of training them to do a number of behaviors, I found myself dreading the day I would have to give them up. Fortunately the new “owners to be” were understanding and accepted my offer to train two other girls for them. I promised not to get so attached.

My two girls went on to learn a number of fun behaviors that I shared on YouTube. Their big hit was the clip of them playing basketball. I was quite proud when they were mentioned in Dr Marc Bekoff’s blog on the PsychologyToday website. But mostly I hoped showing how intelligent these creatures are would inspire people to take a second look at their guinea pigs. Maybe they would be more inclined to provide enrichment and activities to keep them stimulated, maybe they would be a little more apt to invest in a nice habitat, and maybe they would even get their feet wet with some training.

When Cale didn’t run out for breakfast one morning I knew something was wrong. Based on her symptoms the vet thought the best course of action was to treat for a respitory infection. (We didn;t find out about the tumor until after she passed) This meant giving her oral medication with a syringe. This part was fairly easy. The hard part was that she wasn’t eating and had no appetite. This meant trying to get nourishment into her in the form of thick liquidy concoction designed for sick guinea pigs. This is what hurt the most for me. Several times a day I had to try to get her to eat the goo from a syringe. She wasn’t feeling well, and she didn’t want it.

I found a way to make handling low stress. I placed a soft fleece in front of her and covered it with a hiding place. She voluntarily moved to the fleece. (A sick guinea pig knows it is important to stay hidden.) I lifted the hiding place and replaced it with the flaps of the fleece. Tucked in cozy, it was easy to gently pick her up.

Offering the food proved to be harder. This is the part that broke my heart. While she needed the food to survive, delivering it was not pleasant to her. This meant my last interactions with her were the opposite of what she had known from me all her life. I always meant good things were about to happen. And now I was being associated with something she found unpleasant. I felt as if I betrayed her and her trust. And sadly she didn’t recover. I didn’t get the chance to make up for those last few days. Although my vet assured me it would have also lead to death had she not had the feedings, the experience still stings.

Like many of us who care deeply for animals, I am trying to mostly recall all the wonderful interactions I had with Caledonia. But this experience once again reminded how very important it is for us to train our companion animals to be comfortable with some very basic medical care. Fortunately Cale was a champ at getting on a scale, loading into a crate, being wrapped in a soft towel, and taking oral meds. Taking the food supplement was something we had never practiced, and maybe something to add to my list of behaviors to train. To make the vet visit less stressful, I brought familiar items from home, like the yoga mat upon which the girls practiced their trained behaviors. This was a familiar scent, texture and always had been associated with favorite foods and activities. I also brought Cale’s guinea pig companion Lucille. Thankfully these things seemed to keep her relatively relaxed while at the veterinary hospital, despite not feeling well.

There is a new movement to help make vet exams fear free. I am proud to be a part of a group of professionals asked to facilitate this initiative. Losing a companion animal is painful, knowing you could have done more to reduce stress to care for them when they were sick, can be even more heartbreaking. I hope Caledonia’s story will inspire you to work on training behaviors that will make veterinary care for your animals stress free. There is an animal you love that will one day appreciate it.

Barbara Heidenreich

www.BarbarasFFAT.com

www.GoodBirdInc.com

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provide animal training DVDs, books and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in over twenty countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara also consults on animal training in zoos.

Is What You Heard True?

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 01:19:00 +0000

It was recently brought to my attention, that a few people had some misconceptions about my work and my objectives in the animal world. I realized that those who made the statements are likely not very familiar with what I do or teach. I thought I would take this opportunity to help clarify my position for those people, and any others on the items that were mentioned, as I am happy to address such concerns.

Misconception #1: What Barbara Teaches Doesn’t Work in “Real Life”
This statement caused me to think that perhaps I should explain how I came to work with the companion parrot community. I learned about force free training techniques doing free flight bird shows in zoological parks over 24 years ago now. I also have lived with large and small parrots for almost 30 years now. My inspiration to work with companion parrots came from seeing how what I learned in zoos helped teach any bird I was working with to be well behaved, compliant and a joy to be around, including my own pets. People would chat with me after shows and share the problems they were having with their parrots. I realized the information we were using in zoos was not out there for pet owners. I wrote my first book solely as a way to give people a comprehensive resource to help them with their parrot behavior problems. I had no intentions of turning it into a business. I had a job as a zoo animal trainer already and considered myself primarily a zoo professional.

But things snowballed. People kept asking for more and more help and more resources. I started teaching workshops and making DVDs so that I could help as many people and parrots as I could. I practiced force free training with parrots at rescues, sanctuaries, zoos, veterinary teaching hospitals, etc. Almost every parrot that came to a workshop had behavior problems. And I would demonstrate how to use force free training to address those problems in front of the audience. (I can’t even count the number of birds that feared hands or showed aggressive behavior towards hands that learned to eagerly step up during workshops!) I have now personally worked hands-on with 1000’s of parrots using force free training technology to solve behavior problems and gain compliance. Not only do I have my own experiences that show the information works, but I get countless emails from parrot owners thanking me for providing resources that helped them finally connect with their parrot. (I actually have several of those emails in my inbox now.) Real life successes have been a strong part of my motivation to keep sharing. Knowing birds are being helped by the information has been a very strong reinforcer for me. There is no point to this work for me if it isn’t helping animals. Thankfully the evidence shows that it does.

Misconception #2: Barbara Won’t Help Me!
I certainly understand and appreciate that sometimes applying the information may require more guidance. Getting direct feedback on application can make a big difference in a person’s success with a bird. This is exactly the kind of work I do in my zoo consultations. However at the moment I don’t offer private consultations to the companion parrot community. Let me explain why. As one can imagine I do get thousands of emails asking for advice. They often start with “I have a quick question…” but the answer is not a quick answer if real help is going to be provided. It is a tall order to meet those demands. Many don’t know this, but my company is just me. I am the only employee. So I don’t have staff to answer all those emails. Most of the time, I am on the road teaching workshops or working with zoos. When on the road, time for emails is very limited due to my obligations to those who have hired me to be there, but I do want those who email to get the help they need.

To address this conundrum, several years ago I prepared a page of frequently asked questions about parrot behavior problems. Each question has a brief answer but also a reference to a more comprehensive resource. This may be a free video or article but yes it may also be a product I have created specifically to help with that issue. I dedicated a lot of time, thought, and money to create comprehensive resources to help people. I am proud of these tools and by all means know they have the power to help people. It makes sense that I would want to refer people to them. They are the tool they need! I also know these resources are backed by my many years of experience and study. I really have dedicated my life to this…..just ask my friends back home who would like to see me once in a while or talk about something other than animal training.

Some have expressed concern over the fact that not all of my services, information or products are provided for free, but I believe it is appropriate to expect professionals to earn a living by sharing their expertise. Whether one is a plumber, tax consultant, teacher, lawyer, musician, artist or doctor; we expect to pay for their services/products/skills. And I think people in animal related professions also deserve the same respect for their professional contribution. So while I do offer tons of free videos, free articles, an extensive free blog with lots of information, I do also believe I should be permitted to make a living from my expertise and life’s work just as any other person in this world.

The products and services I offer are limited to DVDS, live workshops, ebooks, webinars and books. As mentioned I don’t offer private consultations (email, phone or in person) to the companion parrot community at this point in time. I have made the decision that for me, spending the time to make a comprehensive resource that can help thousands is a better contribution than meeting with one person at a time. Knowing this, I have provided a list of consultants whose work I know very well on my FAQ page. I always include this in the response people get when they ask for behavior problem help. So when asking for help people get a combo of free resources, references to comprehensive products that address their questions, and recommended behavioral consultants. They are not left without help, but they are not given a free private email consultation either, as that is not a service I offer.

Misconception #3: Barbara Says you Need to Starve Birds!
This was quite interesting to hear as in the professional community I am currently regarded as one of the biggest advocates for moving away from practices that cause animals to be overly concerned about food and have taken quite a bit of flak from some other professionals for taking that position. The ethics of creating motivation for getting behavior is of special interest to me and one that I have researched greatly. I am actually co-hosting a symposium in Sweden to help people understand how to create motivation in a responsible, welfare conscientious way for many species of animals. It is a very deep, complex topic and there is much to discuss. I realize the companion parrot community may not have knowledge of this personal mission of mine as it has been targeted to professional trainers. But even so, my materials I have put out on parrot training certainly reflect this position. In a nutshell what I teach for the parrot community is primarily to save treats for training and leave the less interesting parts of the diet in the bowl. I am also a big advocate of using many types of nonfood reinforcers and have an entire section of my workshop devoted to this. Compromising a bird to get a response to food is definitely not something I teach. And my DVDs and written materials do reflect this. Here are a few of my free resources that have been on the internet for years that explain a bit more.
The Parrot Training Diet?
Tips to Motivate Your Parrot
Expanding Your List of Reinforcers
Training Your Parrot with Toys

Misconception #4: Barbara Thinks “Her” Way is the Only Way
The information I teach is based in the science of behavior analysis. A science with a lot of excellent data that demonstrates force free approaches are the way to go. So while some people refer to “Barbara’s techniques” you will find that I actually tend to refer to the science. I see this information as something that is available to everyone, not “my” special method. What I do well is act as a good facilitator for helping people understand how to use that science to influence animal behavior focusing on the principles that are kind, gentle and have been proven to be successful, while maintaining a great relationship with the animal. When people refer to “other methods” it puzzles me, as there is no method that falls outside of the science of behavior analysis. The science helps us identify what principles are being used to influence behavior in whatever “technique” someone is using. Some principles have been shown by research to have detrimental effects on animals, and others produce cooperative animals that enjoy our company and participating. When I do speak out about a technique it is usually because it falls into the detrimental category. This is because I believe my role is to help animals by sharing my knowledge about the drawbacks of these methods and help people learn they have kinder alternatives. I also openly support other professionals with whom I have had first-hand experience and who demonstrate integrity, are ethical in their business practices and teach a force free approach based in the science of behavior analysis. There is a growing community of force free trainers and I am proud to be one of many out there using science based training technology to do good things for animals.

I hope this answers a few questions that were brought to my attention. I understand that in this age of social media communication it is easy for misunderstandings to occur. Have you heard something that needs clarification? Don’t hesitate to ask. Thanks in advance for your critical thinking, open and honest communication, and inquisitive mind.

Copyright 2014 Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides pet training DVDs, books and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in eighteen countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara also consults on animal training in zoos.

Connecting with a New Parrot

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 18:46:00 +0000

I spend a great deal of time on the road teaching parrot training workshops, meeting new parrots, making a connection with them, and then training behaviors such as step up, take medication from a syringe, interact with towels and so on. Sometimes because I spend so much time talking about and studying these topics I assume many others are familiar with this information as well.

However it became clear this is not the case when reading a thread on a chat group. A woman had inherited a macaw and was very unsure about how to interact with her new charge and was most troubled by how to train the parrot to step up.

Here are some of the misguided tips she received from well-meaning members of the group:

Make him step up by using a stick
Expect to get bit
If he bites, ignore it and just take the bite, so he learns not to bite
Just sit by the cage and talk to him softly
He will grow out of the biting
Don’t show fear
Just put your finger near him and talk to him like he is human
Keep him below eye level
Just be patient and love him
Sing songs to him
Parrots are just bad pets and shouldn’t be in our homes

I think it is wonderful that people want to help and are willing to share information. However the tips listed here are not what this bird or woman needs. And it saddens me that the information that will truly help this person is not reaching enough people.

Here is what will make a difference…straight forward force free training with positive reinforcement. This means identifying something this bird finds of value. Singing and talking to the bird may be of value to some birds, but not all and in reality is usually not the most powerful reinforcer for a bird that has no relationship with the human in question. Fortunately it was mentioned the bird like walnuts. Awesome! Now there is a treat she can use to get started pairing something good with her presence. The nuts can be broken up into small pieces to offer lots of teaching moments throughout the day.

The next step is to identify steps or approximations she can use to train the bird to step up. These are outlined in great detail in my DVD Parrot Behavior and Training, my eBook Train Your Parrot to Step Up and you can see examples on my YouTube page. Each step or approximation is reinforced with the pieces of walnut.

While going at the birds pace is important, it does not necessarily mean you have to wait weeks or years to train this behavior. It literally usually only takes one to two training sessions for me to train this behavior. It is one I repeat over and over again with new birds I have just met at parrot training workshops. There are always birds present at these workshops that show fear responses or aggressive behavior towards hands. This is the result of hands being used in coercive ways. It is not inherent to parrots. It is the result of learning and can be changed with force free approaches. Biting never had to be in these birds’ repertoire and nor does it need to be in the future. “Taking the bite” is not the way to go. Teaching the bird you will respect his or her body language and not push her to the point of biting will make biting irrelevant and not necessary. The result will be a much more trusting relationship between human and bird.

Biting is not a phase to grow out of, nor is it solved by keeping birds low. It is also not the result of parrots being bad pets; it is the result of how people interact with parrots in coercive ways. A pleasant bite free relationship with parrots it completely possible when you use a force free training strategy. I hope by sharing this information here, we can get more people talking about kind, gentle and most importantly, effective ways of building trust with companion parrots.

Barbara Heidenreich
www.BarbarasFFAT.com
www.GoodBirdInc.com
Copyright 2014

5 Myths about Parrot Behavior

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Thu, 11 Sep 2014 15:57:00 +0000

When you are learning about parrots, it is often quite natural to turn to the internet for information. Chat groups in particular often have people who are very happy to talk about parrots and offer advice. Sometimes the advice can be based on old information or even old wives tales. Try to be a critical thinker when obtaining advice from the internet. Check with experts you trust to make sure what you are reading is accurate. Here are a few myths that I often see pop up on the internet frequently.

Myth #1: Your parrot needs to obey you.

This concept has been around for a long time. While it is understandable we would all like a well behaved parrot that does what we ask, the word “obey” seems to imply something a bit more forceful. Most people tend to interpret this to mean that they must make the bird comply, especially when he or she is refusing to cooperate. This often leads to people doing things like forcing birds to step up onto hands or go back into cages. Over time what can happen is the bird learns to be afraid of people or may start to show aggressive behavior. The good news is you can train your parrot using positive reinforcement to do whatever you ask when you want. This approach leads to a bird that eagerly cooperates and is very well-behaved. You don’t have to be his boss, you can be his buddy.

Myth #2: Your parrot thinks he is dominant if he is higher than your shoulder.

This idea probably started because someone could not get a bird to step up or cooperate when the parrot was sitting up on a high perch. Believe or not Myth #1 probably helped cause Myth #2. Parrots like sitting on high perches. If you try to force them down, they often move away or try to bite. This may seem like the bird thinks he is dominant, but in reality he just likes his high perch much better than he likes the hand that is coming at him in a forceful way. If your bird is trained to voluntarily come to your hand for a treat or reward he will step up or fly right down to your hand even when he is on a high perch. That is because he learned many wonderful things happen, like treats, toys and attention when he gets on a hand.

Myth #3: Parrots are competing with you when you talk on the phone or have company over.

Many people know that parrots tend to scream for attention when left alone. But what about the bird that screams when you are on the phone or have friends over? I have heard many people say the bird is seeking attention or competing with the owner when this happens. What happens next? People talk louder….and the bird gets louder! What is actually going on is that the bird is being a good flock mate. The loud talking humans means it is time for the flock to make some noise and the parrot is just joining in on the fun. That is why when people get louder, the bird gets louder. Once everyone gets quiet the bird will too. If you need your parrot to be quiet when people are talking you can offer him a super fun toy right before you intend to have a conversation or spend time training him that quiet activities will get reinforced when people are talking.

Myth #4: A parrot behavior problem is just a phase.

Many people have young parrots that are cuddly and easy to handle. Then around 1 to 2 years old the birds starts to show aggressive behavior. People often label this time as the terrible twos and hope the bird will just grow out of it. Unfortunately that is not the case. Young birds are easy to handle because they are in a phase of development that makes them open and receptive to new experiences. We can often get away with being forceful with young birds. But as they mature and that window of openness goes away and they start objecting to the same type of handling they would allow as youngsters. The best strategy is to never use force to begin with. Even if a parrot will allow it, it doesn’t mean you should. Always let your bird choose to participate and reward with desired goodies when he does. This should be carried on throughout the lifetime of the bird. Do this and you will have good behavior from your parrot for his entire life.

Myth #5: You just have to accept that parrots will be “hormonal” certain times of the year.

Hormonal typically means the parrot is in the mood to breed and have babies. This state means the bird has extra reproductive hormones in its body. Besides wanting to make babies this can cause other problems like aggressive behavior, or egg binding. Unless your want your bird to breed, your parrot does not need to be “hormonal.” Most parrots are not ready to breed all year long. Certain environmental triggers cause them to produce more reproductive hormones. These include extra daylight hours, an over abundant diet rich in fats, sugars and carbohydrates, having a mate like bond with another bird or human, and having access to a nest like cavity. So to avoid an increase in reproductive hormones we can make sure the amount of daylight the bird experiences stays the same throughout the year. We can also monitor the diet and make sure the content and amount is appropriate. We can avoid reinforcing courtship behaviors like regurgitation. Instead we can interact with our parrots in healthier ways, like training fun tricks. And we can take out any toys that look like nest boxes and also block off access to any similar hiding places in the house. These tips will help prevent your bird from going “hormonal.”

These are just a few myths about parrots. If you ever read something about parrots that sounds a bit strange to you, do a little extra research and you’ll discover the truth about our feathered friends.

Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Good Bird Inc (www.GoodBirdInc.com) provides parrot training DVDs, books and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in eighteen countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara also consults on animal training in zoos.

3 Common Training Mistakes People Make that Cause Behavior Problems

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara Heidenreich) — Mon, 18 Aug 2014 19:16:00 +0000

Many people have learned a lot about training. However sometimes it can be hard to apply the information in real life. In this article I will share three common mistakes people make when trying to teach their parrot or other pet to be well behaved.

Mistake #1: Forgetting to reinforce good behavior
It is very easy to fall into the habit of forgetting to tell your parrot, other pet, even your friends and family when they have done something right, especially after they have learned the desired behavior. We usually just expect good behavior to happen and stay that way forever. But the truth is we have to reinforce that good behavior if we want it to keep happening. So when you parrot steps up onto your hand, goes back in his cage, steps off your shoulder and so on, you should always offer him something he likes for being such a good parrot and cooperating. Many people think saying “good boy” is enough. But for some animals the words aren’t really that meaningful to them. You want to make sure whatever you use to reward your pet is something you know he really loves. This will help guarantee your animal will continue to do things when you ask.

Mistake #2: Repeating the cue over and over
I always cringe a little when I hear someone repeating a cue over and over to an animal. The next thing that happens is the cue gets louder! Repeating the cue is a big red flag that the training process needs some attention. That is why my gut reaction is so strong. There is a big problem going on, but fortunately it is easily fixed. When the cue is presented over and over the animal can learn to respond whenever he feels like it. He can also learn the cue is actually “step up, step up, step up” or “sit, sit, sit, sit” instead of just “step up” or “sit.” The key to fixing this is to go back in your training process a little bit. For example if I am training a parrot to fly to me, I may keep the distance short instead of asking for a big flight. I then wait for the bird to look like he is 99.9% ready to fly to me. Then I offer my cue. By doing this I will get a quick response to my cue that I will present one time. When the parrot responds, I will offer lots of goodies. Overtime I will gradually add more distance and difficulty. But my first goal is to teach the animal to respond right away to the cue presented one time. If you ever find yourself repeating the cue a lot, stop and do a little retraining to get things back on track.

Mistake #3: Accidentally reinforcing bad behavior
The most common example of this with parrots is screaming for attention. Most people don’t like it when a parrot vocalizes for our attention. We usually respond with “Be quiet!” or running into the room to shut the door or cover the cage. We think these actions will cause the parrot to see that we are upset and stop the screaming. But instead the parrot learns screaming gets us to call back or come running into the room. In other words screaming results in exactly what the parrot wants. Therefore he will use screaming more often to get attention. Another example is when a dog jumps up on people. Usually people try to push the dog down, or give in and pet the dog while he is jumping up. Both of these actions teach the dog jumping up on people results in desired attention. In both examples it is better to teach the parrot and the dog that a different acceptable behavior will work to get attention. For the parrot it could be talking or singing. For the dog, it could be four paws on the floor or sitting. Once your pet starts getting reinforced for the correct behavior and no longer is rewarded for the bad behavior, you will go back to having a well behaved pet.

Now it is your turn. Try to get in the habit of reinforcing your pet for good behaviors, avoiding reinforcing behaviors you don’t want, and paying attention to how many times you cue for a behavior. Your good training will result in good behavior from your parrot and other pets.

Copyright 2014 Barbara Heidenreich has been a professional animal trainer since 1990. Her company Barbara’s Force Free Animal Training (www.BarbarasFFAT.com) provides pet training DVDs, books and workshops. She has been a featured speaker in eighteen countries and has been published in nine languages. Barbara also consults on animal training in zoos.