Animal training

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Animal training is a method to teach animals to perform specific acts in response to conditions or stimuli. Training may be for the purpose of companionship, detection, protection, or entertainment.

An animal trainer will usually use the control of food or other rewards desired by the animal to condition to the animal to respond in a desired way. Generally, animals are selected for training to make maximum advantage of their natural attributes, sometimes far in excess of those of humans. For example, the very sensitive olfactory (sense of smell) abilities make dogs excellent candidates to train for hunting or search and rescue functions.

Service Animals

Service animals, such as assistance dogs, are carefully trained to utilize their sensory and social skills to bond with a human and help that person to offset a disability in daily life. The use of service animals, especially dogs, is an ever-growing field, with a wide range of special adaptations.

In the United States, use of selected inmates in prisons to train service dogs has proved a valuable resource to service animal agencies. In addition to adding to the short-supply of service animals, such programs have produced benefits in improved socialization skills and behavior of inmates.

Film and television

Organizations such as the American Humane Association monitor the training and use of animals such as those used in the entertainment industry. The Patsy Award (Picture Animal Top Star of the Year) was originated by the Hollywood office in 1939. They decided to honor animal performers after a horse was killed in an on-set accident during the filming of the Tyrone Power film Jesse James.

The award now covers both film and television and is separated into four categories: canine, equine, wild and special. The special category encompasses everything from goats to cats to pigs. One famous animal trainer, Frank Inn, was the proud owner of over 40 Patsy awards.

Patience and repetition are critical components of successful animal training. Inn's most famous animal was Higgins, who came from the Burbank, California Animal Shelter. Inn began training animals while incapacitated due to an automobile accident. Higgins starred in the Petticoat Junction sitcom in the 1960s and the first two Benji films in 1974 and 1977.

Lifetime bonds are often made between trainers and animals. The ashes of Higgins were buried with trainer Inn when he died in 2002.

Zoological parks

Animals in public display are typically trained for educational, entertainment, management, and husbandry behaviors. Educational behaviors may include species-typical behaviors under stimulus control such as vocalizations. Entertainment may include display behaviors to show the animal, or simply arbitrary behaviors. Management includes movement, such as following the trainer, entering crates, or moving from pen to pen, or tank-to-tank through gates. Husbandry behaviors facilitate veterinary care, and can include desensitization to various physical examinations or procedures (such as cleaning, nail clipping, or simply stepping onto a scale voluntarily), or the collection of samples (e.g. biopsy, urine). Such voluntary training is particularly important for minimizing the frequency with which zoo collection animals must be anesthetized or physically restrained.

Marine Mammals

In a public display situation, the audience's attention is focused on the animal, rather than the trainer; therefore the discriminative stimulus is generally gestural (a hand sign) and sparse in nature. Unobtrusive dog whistles are used as bridges, and positive reinforcers are either primary (food) or tactile (rub downs), and not vocal. However, pinnipeds and mustelids (sea lions, seals, walruses, and otters) can hear in our frequency, so most of the time they will receive vocal reinforcers during shows and performances. The shows are able to be turned into more of a play production because of this, instead of just a run through of behaviors like cetaceans generally do in their shows. Guests can often hear these vocal reinforcers when attending a Sea World show. During the Clyde and Seamore show, the trainers may say something like: "Good grief, Clyde!" or "Good job, Seamore". The trainers subsitute the word "good" in the place of food or rubdowns when teaching a specific behavior to the animals so that the animals no longer need constant feeding as praise for achieving the appropriate behavior.

Companion animals

Dogs

Main article: Dog training

Basic obedience training tasks for dogs include walking on a leash, attention, housebreaking, nonaggression, and socialization with humans or other pets. Dogs are also trained for many other activities, such as dog sports, service dogs, and other working dogs.

Positive reinforcement for dogs can include primary reinforcers such as food, or social reinforcers such as vocal ("good boy") or tactile (stroking) ones. Positive punishment, if used at all, can be physical, such as pulling on a leash or spanking, or may be vocal ("bad dog"). Bridges to positive reinforcement include vocal cues, whistling, and dog whistles, as well as clickers used in clicker training, a method popularized by Karen Pryor.

Birds

Typical training tasks for companion birds include perching, non-aggression, halting feather-picking, controlling excessive vocalizations, socialization with all household members and other pets, and socialization with strangers. The large parrot species frequently have lifespans that exceed that of their human owners, and they are closely bonded to their owners. In general, parrot companions usually have clipped wings, which facilitates socialization and controlling aggression and vocalizations. A common misconception among new bird owners is that a companion bird with unclipped wings possesses a better quality of life than one with clipped wings, but it is often the case that unclipped birds with novice owners frequently spend relatively much more time confined to their cage than a comparable clipped one that has consequently become better-socialized.


Chickens

Training chickens has become a way for trainers of other animals (primarily dogs) to perfect their training technique. Bob Bailey, formerly of Animal Behavior Enterprises and the IQ zoo, teaches chicken training seminars where trainers teach poultry to discriminate between shapes, to navigate an obstacle course and to chain behaviors together. Chicken training is done using operant conditioning, using a clicker and chicken feed for reinforcement. The training of chickens has become a popular educational event for dog trainers, attracting attendees from around the world.

Fish

Fish, contrary to popular belief, can also be trained. For example, a well-taken-care-of goldfish will swim toward its owner and follow him or her as he or she walks through the room, but will not follow anyone else. The fish may swim up and down, signaling the owner to turn on its aquarium light when it is off, and it will skim the surface until its owner feeds it. But it knows that it is pointless to get anyone else to turn on the light or feed it, and will therefore not display these signals to other people. On the contrary, a fish that is not taken care of regularly will not even treat its owner any different from any other person. This "fish-training" has been observed by some goldfish owners.

Competition

Dressage is a form of competitive animal training, specifically for horses. However, all equestrian disciplines require the horse to have training in their sport should they wish to do well. Additionally, all horses must go through basic training when they are young, during which time they learn to accept the saddle, bridle, and rider's aids.

Methods

Animal training is generally performed in adherence to the theory of operant conditioning, although modern training methods frequently utilize tools not included in the original Skinnerian conception.

Two primary types of training philosophies are those that emphasize positive reinforcement, and those that use more positive punishment. Certain subfields of animal training tend to also have certain philosophies and styles, for example fields such as companion bird training, hunting bird training, companion dog training, show dog training, dressage horse training, mahout elephant training, circus elephant training, zoo elephant training, zoo exotic animal training, marine mammal training. The degree of trainer protection from the animal may also vary. The variety of tasks trained may also vary, and can range from entertainment, husbandry (veterinary) behaviors, physical labor or athleticism, habituation to averse stimuli, interaction (or non-interaction) with other humans, or even research (sensory, physiological, cognitive).

Training also must take into consideration the nautral social tendencies of the animal species (or even breed), such as predilections for attention span, food-motivation, dominance hierarchies, aggression, or bonding to individuals (conspecifics as well as humans). Consideration must also be given to practical aspects on the human side such as the ratio of the number of trainers to each animal: does one animal have a dozen different trainers, and does one trainer attend simultaneously to many animals in a training session?

Other important issues related to the methods of animal training are: operant conditioning, stimulus control, SD (discriminative stimulus), desensitization, chaining, bridge, and the s-delta. In order to understand why your puppy doesn't listen to you at times, you need to understand each stage of development a puppy goes through as it matures.

Let's take a look at the different stages, but before we do, keep in mind that these stages are generalizations; each dog will progress at its own pace.

Stage 1: The Transitional Stage 2-3 Weeks

The Transitional stage generally lasts from age two to three weeks, and it's during this time that your puppy's eyes will open, and he'll slowly start to respond to light and movement and sounds around him. He'll become a little more mobile during this period, trying to get his feet underneath him and crawling around in the box (or wherever home is.) He'll start to recognize mom and his littermates, and any objects you might place in the box.

Stage 2: The Almost Ready To Meet The World Stage 3-4 Weeks

The Almost ready to meet the world stage lasts from 3 to about 4 weeks, and your puppy undergoes rapid sensory development during this time. Fully alert to his environment, he'll begin to recognize you and other family members. It's best to avoid loud noises or sudden changes during this period; negative events can have a serious impact on his personality and development right now. Puppies learn how to be a dog during this time, so it's essential that they stay with mom and littermates.

Stage 3: The Overlap Stage 4-7 Weeks

From 3-4 weeks your puppy begins the most critical social development period of his life - he learns social interaction with his littermates, learns how to play and learns bite inhibition.

He'll also learn discipline at this point. Mom will begin weaning the pups around this time, and will start teaching them basic manners, including accepting her as the leader of the pack. You can begin to introduce food to the pups starting around the 4th week - transition gradually as Mom weans them.

Continue handling the pups daily, but don't separate them from either Mom or litter mates for more than about 10 minutes per day. Puppies that are removed from the nest too early frequently are nervous, more prone to barking and biting and have a more difficult time with socialization and training. Puppies need to be left with Mom and siblings until at least 7 weeks of age - and preferably a little longer - for optimum social development.

Experts say that the best time in a puppy's life to learn social skills is between 3 and 16 weeks of age - that's the window of opportunity you have to make sure your puppy grows up to be a well-adjusted dog. It's extremely important to leave your puppy with Mom and his littermates during as much of this period as possible. Don't discipline for play fighting, housebreaking mistakes or mouthing; that's all normal behavior for a puppy at this stage.

Stage 4: The "I'm Afraid of Everything" Stage 8 Weeks to 3 Months

The "I'm Afraid of Everything" Stage lasts from about 8 weeks to 3 months, and is characterized by rapid learning as well as a 'fearful period' that usually pops up at around 8 to 10 weeks. Not all dogs experience this, but most do, and they'll appear terrified over things that they took in stride before. This is not a good time to engage in harsh discipline (not that you ever should anyway!), loud voices or traumatic events.

At this time your puppy's bladder and bowels are starting to come under much better control, and he's capable of sleeping through the night. (At last, you can get some rest!) You can begin teaching simple commands like: come, sit, stay, down, etc. Leash training can begin. It's important not to isolate your puppy from human contact at this time, as he'll continue to learn behaviors and manners that will affect him in later years.

Stage 5: The Juvenile Stage 3 Months to 4 Months

The Juvenile stage typically lasts from 3 to 4 months of age, and it's during this time your puppy is most like a toddler. He'll be a little more independent - he might start ignoring the commands he's only recently learned - just like a child does when they're trying to exert their new-found independence. As in "I don't have to listen to you!" Firm and gentle reinforcement of commands and training is what's required here.

He might start biting you - play biting or even a real attempt to challenge your authority. A sharp "No!" or "No bite!" command, followed by several minutes of ignoring him, should take care of this problem.

Continue to play with him and handle him on a daily basis, but don't play games like tug of war or wrestling with him. He may perceive tug of war as a game of dominance - especially if he wins. And wrestling is another game that can rapidly get out of hand. As your puppy's strength grows, he's going to want to play-fight to see who's stronger. Even if you win, the message your puppy receives is that it's ok to fight with you. And that's not ok!

Stage 6: The Brat Stage 4-6 Months

The Brat Stage starts at about 4 months and runs until about 6 months, and it's during this time your puppy will demonstrate even more independence and willfulness. You may see a decline in his urge to please you - expect to see more 'testing the limits' type of behaviors. He'll be going through a teething cycle during this time, and will also be looking for things to chew on to relieve the pain and pressure. Frozen doggie bones can help sooth him during this period.

He may try to assert his new 'dominance' over other family members, especially children. Continue his training in obedience and basic commands, but make sure to never let him off his leash during this time unless you're in a confined area. Many times pups at this age will ignore commands to return or come to their owners, which can be a dangerous, even fatal, breakdown in your dog's response to you. If you turn him loose in a public place, and he bolts, the chances of injury or even death can result, so don't take the chance.

He'll now begin to go through the hormonal changes brought about by his growing sexual maturity, and you may see signs of rebelliousness. (Think adolescent teen-age boy!) If you haven't already, you should have him neutered during this time. (Or spayed if you have a female.)

Stage 7: The Young Adult Stage 6-18 Months

The Young Adulthood stage lasts from 6 months to about 18 months, and is usually a great time in your dog�s life - he�s young and exuberant, he's full of beans - and yet he's learning all the things he needs to become a full-fledged adult dog.

Be realistic in your expectations of your dog at this time. Just because he's approaching his full growth and may look like an adult, he's not as seasoned and experienced as you might expect. Gradually increase the scope of activities for your dog, as well as the training. You can start more advanced training during this period, such as herding or agility training, if that's something both of you are interested in. Otherwise, extend his activities to include more people and other animals. Allow him to interact with non-threatening or non-aggressive dogs.

Congratulations! You've raised your puppy through the 7 stages of childhood, er, I mean puppyhood, and now you have a grown-up, adult dog! Almost feels like you've raised a kid, doesn't it?

List of notable animal trainers

See also

  1. APDT: Association of Pet Dog Trainers
  2. IMATA: International Marine Animal Trainers Association
  3. AAZK: American Association of Zookeepers
  4. ABMA: Animal Behavior Management Alliance
  5. Moorpark College EATM Exotic Animal Training and Management Program
  6. American Kennel Club Purebred show dogs
  7. British Dressage
  8. Mahout training Elephant Welfare Association
  9. Changthai National Elephant Institute of Thailand
  10. The Dolphin Insititute Dolphin cognition research laboratory of Louis Herman. Animals trained for the learning of abstract concepts as well as echolocation research.
  11. US Navy Marine Mammal Program
  12. Guide Dogs of America
  13. Moudouken Japan Guide Dog Association (link to English page)
  14. International Guide Dog Federation
  15. British Falconers Club

Further reading

  • Ramirez, K. (1999). Animal training: Successful animal management through positive reinforcement. Shedd Aquarium: Chicago, IL.
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