Hello Chatty Trainer!

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.

Touched by an Orangutan

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

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. 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.)

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

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.

 

What Trainers Really Do

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 

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.