Is Animal Training Really All About Relationships?

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.

Memorable Moments with and for Animals in 2014

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.