Animal Training and Applied Behavior Basics for Pet Sitters

Understanding the basics of animal training can be incredibly helpful and not just as a pet sitter. You may not be training your clients’ pets to do tricks or to be better behaved for their owners, but understanding how to use these basic techniques will help you manage day-to-day interactions. For example, if you have dogs that you walk daily, you may discover that understanding what initiates and rewards a behavior might help with undesirable behaviors such as pulling. You will also build stronger relationships with your canine clients and have an easier work day. In order to understand where to start though, it is a good idea to look at the beginnings of today’s philosophies on animal training.

The History of also demonstrated that behavior could be shaped stimulus,” which refers to using a clicker to mark Animal Training using operant conditioning and by breaking any a requested behavior before handing over a treat. Animal training given behavior into small steps and rewarding This technique proved to be immensely effective has been around for those steps. Skinner proved how important and greatly reduced the amount of time it took perhaps as long as consequences are to creating behavior. to train a behavior. The duo hoped that clickers people have interacted Skinner’s students Keller Breland and would take off with people training their pets at with animals. Although the psychology and Marian Breland took these theories further to home in the 1940s and 1950s, but perhaps they techniques of training animals have evolved, investigate how behavior analysis and operant were before their time. especially in the last century, there is nothing new conditioning could be applied to animal training The company contracted with many marine about humans wanting to teach animals to work outside the lab. They founded Animal Behavior mammal and bird shows and was ultimately with them. Humans may have begun training dogs Enterprises (ABE) in 1947, which was the first responsible for spreading the use of operant as long as 15,000 years ago. Modern ideas of commercial business to take these techniques and conditioning in animal shows during the 1950s training, however, only came into existence in the apply them to real-world animals. and 1960s. If you have ever watched a show last century. The Brelands’ clients were varied and featuring Shamu at Sea World, you have seen B.F. Skinner, who is known for “Project included the military, theme parks, and even animals that were trained using the techniques Pigeon”, is responsible for the beginnings of large companies like General Mills. When Keller employed by ABE. modern animal training. Funded by the military, Breland passed away, Marian kept the business he worked to train pigeons to guide bombs going and eventually hired Bob Bailey, who was Today’s Professional Animal Trainers and torpedoes during World War II. Skinner previously Director of Animal Training for the U.S. Today, well-known animal trainers and proved that animal behavior could be shaped if Navy. Over the life of the company, ABE trained behaviorists continue to teach and find new the animal operator was in control, modifying over 15,000 animals and more than 150 species. applications for operant conditioning and the animal subject’s behavior based on the The impact of ABE on the animal training world applied behavior analysis. Trainers of this school consequence. For example, if given the choice was immense. of thinking avoid negative reinforcement and to get corn for pecking a button or to do nothing Keller and Marian were the inventors of punishment as much as possible. Building on and get nothing, a chicken will choose to peck the clicker, which started its life as a little tin what was learned from Skinner and the Brelands, the button. This is operant conditioning. Skinner “cricket.” They also coined the term “bridging trainers have discovered positive ways to train

Whether or not a behavior occurs depends on whether it is triggered and how it is or is not rewarded. If a behavior repeats itself, it has been rewarded.

Professional Pet Sitter · Summer 2013 16 www.petsitters.org Animal Training and Applied Behavior Basics for Pet Sitters

animals to do an incredible variety of things that something I did wrong. I’m willing to try harder By Rebecca K. O’Connor improve their quality of life. For example, rather to get flowers, but I’ll only do the bare minimum than capturing or sedating animals at zoos, needed to avoid being yelled at. I’m not any much as training as a way to clearly communicate trainers have used operant conditioning and different than most animals. with an animal. By being mindful of what you are positive reinforcement to teach them to present In technical terminology, positive triggering, or how you are telling the animal to body parts for the veterinarian to inspect. It is reinforcement is the presentation of a stimulus interact with you, you are having a conversation. becoming apparent that with time, patience, and following a behavior that serves to maintain or There is something specific that triggers every positive reinforcement you can train animals to do increase the frequency of that behavior. Simply repeated action, and if it happens repeatedly, then just about anything. put, it is training through rewards. Giving the there is a way it is being rewarded. Likely, you reward increases the likelihood the subject will are a part of this equation. Are you accidentally What is Applied Behavior Science? perform the desired behavior. Positive reinforcers giving a dog encouragement for jumping on you Applied behavior science is the technology (rewards) are usually something the learner finds by talking sweetly to it instead of turning your of behavioral change. Essentially, it is breaking enjoyable and pleasant. This is often a treat, but it back? Is standing in the kitchen waiting for the cat down behavior into small pieces that we can can also be praise and a scratch behind the ears. to come eat a trigger for the feline to hide under comprehend, digest, and manage. While behavior Perhaps the best thing about positive the bed? How can you change the way you create and its theories are complicated, there is no reinforcement is that the learner tends to exceed and reward behavior? What are you actually saying need to get bogged down in the terminology and the effort necessary to obtain the reward. with your actions? If you understand the basics science. The important thing is to understand that The best way to train is often through positive of applied behavior analysis, you will be saying every behavior breaks down into an antecedent, reinforcement. Certainly all means of training, exactly what you mean. n which is the trigger that precedes a behavior, the even punishment, can work. They just don’t work behavior itself, and the consequence. Whether as well and are not as much fun. In her landmark Rebecca K. O’Connor has been training animals at or not a behavior occurs depends on whether it book Don’t Shoot the Dog, Karen Pryor notes zoos and private facilities for over twenty years. She is is triggered and how it is or is not rewarded. If a that an interesting thing happened when trainers the author of several parrot training books including behavior repeats itself, it has been rewarded. across continents, training different species, A Parrot for Life and the soon to be released Perfectly You can solve any behavior problem by began to use positive reinforcement as a sole Trained Parrot. She is also the Executive Editor of either changing the trigger or changing the means of shaping behavior. Everything from bears Professional Pet Sitter. consequence. In its simplest breakdown, it is a to horses to fish have way to positively communicate with a species that demonstrated intelligence, Everything from bears to doesn’t quite speak your language. Understanding enthusiasm, and the building blocks of applied behavior analysis curiosity in their training horses to fish have can also help you understand why an animal sessions when positive demonstrated repeats certain appealing or annoying behaviors. reinforcement was used. It intelligence, Coming back to these basics will help you turned out dolphins, which whenever you are dealing with problem behaviors, had been trained with enthusiasm, and and more importantly, it can help you keep the positive reinforcement for curiosity in their good behavior repeating. decades, weren’t the only The most basic training is maintaining and playful intelligent animals. training sessions shaping everyday behaviors, even if you only see All animals exhibit more when positive an animal occasionally. As a pet sitter you can creativity and interest when make your job easier by rewarding behaviors you they have the opportunity reinforcement like and not rewarding the ones that you do not to puzzle out what they was used. appreciate. Whether you believe in correction are being asked to do, and and punishment or not (and certainly they can be when they are anticipating effective when used correctly), as a pet sitter, it something good at the is a great idea to stick to positive reinforcement finish line. when interacting with clients’ animals. Now What? Using Positive Reinforcement Hopefully, you are Positive reinforcement is an effective way to now starting to think about train all kinds of animals, including the people in why the animals that you your life. Personally, my significant other is more care for present certain effective in training me by bringing me flowers for behaviors. Think of applied something he appreciated than yelling at me for behavior analysis not so

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