Leigh Clayton is a resident in avian/exotic animal medicine at Boston's Angell Animal Medical Center, formerly Angell Memorial Animal Hospital, specializing in avian care. Recently we asked her a few questions about why she recommends clicker training for every patient she sees.
clickers
Variety is the Spice of Reinforcement
By Aaron Clayton on 11/13/2009One of the often-overlooked rules of reinforcement is to use a variety of reinforcers. The two key words in that sentence are variety and reinforcers.
We're all creatures of habit, so it’s easy to fall into a routine where the reinforcement is well...routine. I like sushi and reward myself with it at lunch, but offer it to me on the same day for dinner and I don't find that reinforcing at all!
So a key to successful training is to keep it interesting. Vary your reinforcers. You can mix up reinforcers in the same session. You can vary them from session to session.
Gorilla gets his blood pressure taken, thanks to positive reinforcement training!
By KPCT on 11/11/2009Discovery News reports that the Zoo Atlanta has used positive reinforcement training methods to teach their gorilla, Ozzie, to accept the "Gorilla Tough Cuff". The Tough Cuff is a blood pressure cuff that was recently designed through partnership with the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. Cardiac disease is the leading cause of mortality in male gorillas living in captivity, and this invention will help to monitor high blood pressure in older gorillas, which is a frequent precursor to Cardiac disease.
Click here to read the full article!
How to Train a Deaf Cat to Come Inside for Medication
By Jules Nye on 11/01/2009Recently I had a client call about her deaf cat. She wanted to train him to come inside when she called because he needed medication in the morning and evening. Giving the meds in the morning was no sweat, simply because he was in the house and "catchable." Giving the evening meds was an absolute nightmare.
Is Dog Dominance Fact or Fiction?
By Aidan Bindoff on 11/01/2009The answer is...it is a fact.
However, we need not imply that simply because dog dominance is a fact, dogs are constantly trying to "rule the roost," or that we need to eat first, go through doors first, never let our dogs sleep on the bed, etc. That would be circular reasoning.
