Animal Training Fundamentals with Barbara Heidenreich

In this episode I get into one of my favorite subjects. It's not so much about knowing scientific terminology, but it does require some specialized skill sets. I do think every trainer needs to be a little bit of an engineer, a physicist, an artist and most definitely an ethologist. All these skills combine to help trainers see ways in which we can manipulate the environment to make it more likely...

Are you one of those trainers who gobbles up as much information about training as you possibly can? Do you ever question that information, or do you immediately accept it as valid? It can be challenging to know how to evaluate resources, especially if you are new to the field or when the information is presented in a manner that can make it appear to be supported by science. Certified Applied Ani...

Have you ever asked the question………"How can I become a professional animal trainer?" My special guest Gary Wilson is here to help. Not only is Gary a professor at the Exotic Animal Training and Management (EATM) Program at Moorpark College, he is a graduate of the program and has been deeply involved in its growth and development over the years. For those of you already in the field, you are going...

What is your dream behavior to train? I have a feeling for many bird keepers it just might be this one! Imagine having a mixed species aviary in which each flock of birds recalls to a different sound and shifts into their own holding area. This dream is reality for Henrik Futtrup a keeper and trainer at the Copenhagen Zoo. In this podcast he not only shares the steps he took to train the behavior...

​​This is an episode you will want to bookmark, reference and listen to several times over. Dr Joe Layng gives insights that might surprise you into how behavior analytic principles influence behavior. Learn how degrees of freedom and critical consequences can cause positive reinforcement to be coercive. Explore the super fascinating non-linear approach to better understand behavior processes. Als...

My favorite kind of animal trainers are those who break the rules!! What I mean by that is that they are the ones who question everything in the name of doing it better. That is why this episode is entitled "Progressive Bird Training." My special guest Hillary Hankey is one of those trainers who spends every day analyzing, studying and practicing the art and science of animal training with a diver...

Join me for Part 2 of my fascinating interview with animal training pioneer Al Kordowski. Although the basis of our conversation is falconry with Harris's hawks, Al's background brings us to some of the early days of marine mammal training. He shares his experiences from working with a wide variety of species, including killer whales, when the animal training industry was rapidly evolving. Learn h...

My special guest this episode is master falconer Al Kordowski. ​Imagine spending your entire day doing what you love....flying birds! ​Not many trainers are accustomed to having free-flighted birds hang and partner with you for eight hours out in the field. Al shares how these relationships are developed ​by building thoughtful reinforcement histories that allows him to work cooperatively with a g...

Education animals, animal ambassadors, domestic animals and lab animals are often the ones who get the short end of the stick so to speak, meaning traditionally, participation was often up to the handler and not the animal. Progressive training flips the script. Animals have the choice to participate and when they do, desired consequences happen. As expected, the results are amazing behaviors. How...

What does sex have to do with animal training? Sometimes, everything! Animals with reproductive hormones in overdrive can present challenges with motivation for participation in training sessions. They can also present undesired behaviors such as territorial aggression. Some will direct sexual and/or courtship behaviors towards humans. Barbara has some great examples of ways to get past motivation...

Happy New Year! It's time for resolutions relevant to animal trainers. Barbara has made these for several years running now. This is the  first time she is sharing them in a podcast! Barbara gives you some great ideas to inspire you and launch your 2020 animal training adventures. Visit the episode webpage for links to previous resolution lists and some awesome resources mentioned in the podcast.

​Fluency may seem intuitive ….on the surface. In behavior terms it is currently defined as the fluid combination of accuracy and speed that characterizes competent performance, in other words doing the right thing without hesitation. However doing the right thing in real life application can involve many different measures. In this podcast Barbara Heidenreich discusses what criteria to measure to...

Not all repetitive behavior is stereotypic. Many times it is the result of reinforcement. Determining why an animal is presenting repetitive behavior requires asking our selves a series of questions that can reveal triggers and consequences that maintain the undesired behavior. This can then help us develop a strategy to address the problem. In this podcast Barbara Heidenreich goes over these ques...

Special guest Animal Training Coordinator of the Copenhagen Zoo, Annette Pedersen shares how transitioning from riding horses using traditional training techniques to training for agility with positive reinforcement has made a tremendous difference in animal welfare. Learn about the easy to make apparatus the zoo uses to give horses the opportunity to use different muscles and practice balance. Be...

People often think of target training as a basic behavior. But a deeper dive often helps us see this basic behavior has many details to consider that take it from basic to complex very quickly. This podcast will help you fine tune your target training skills. Get ideas on how to get targeting started with an animal showing a fear response. Learn what ​to do when animals interact in a way that is i...

Food can be a great reinforcer for training exotic animals. But anything your animal seeks to acquire or engage in, and can be delivered contingently, has the potential to reinforce behavior. Host Barbara Heidenreich has seven examples of different creative non-food reinforcers. And shares lots of real-life applications of how these unique strategies have been used to get results in zoos, companio...

​Open mouth can sometimes be tough to train! Often the most difficult challenge is getting the action started. Barbara goes over her favorite ways to start this behavior with wide variety of species. She also covers the methods she finds less successful and why. Also covered is the pesky problem of getting duration. And how the heck should you use a bridging stimulus for this behavior? To top it o...

Where did all those cool ideas for training tigers to cooperate in medical care come from? I know a lot of my inspiration came from some fantastic training I saw years ago at Copenhagen Zoo. Since then, their training has gone viral with video clips of urination on cue, using sleeves for injection training and tail blood draws. Training coordinator Annette Pedersen shares how it all started and de...

In this episode special guest Annette Pedersen shares ​a story zoo professionals hope never to experience. What would you do if a guest climbed into an enclosure with a dangerous animal? If your team has not prepared for this type of emergency, two lives are at stake, human and animal. Listen to how the Copenhagen Zoo ​handled the situation when they received the call "This is not a drill. There i...