Im in love with using targets. We are using them for everything and all the time for shaping a various amount of behaviors. It’s the best tool after a bridge in my belief. Targets come in all shape and sizes. … Read More
Did you know that the exact number of zoos and zoological type exhibits and collections around the world is actually unknown, but estimates have been made anywhere between 10,000 and 16,000 zoos worldwide? Among the larger professional regional zoo and … Read More
From the start of my career I have been exposed to shows with marine mammals with a lot of excitement. It has been a big part in my life to train animals for “show” behaviors. Lots of fun I have … Read More
Over time we all develop our own training style. Seeing other trainers is enriching for me just because you can learn so much about how and why people train their animals a particular way. Nobody is perfect and especially in … Read More
As animal trainers we have to think about many different subjects during our training sessions. I remember this from when I started, its not just “good behaviour, just reinforce” there is much more to it. After 7 years of my … Read More
A couple months ago I went to Israel with one of my friends. We had to do a workshop for Jerusalem Zoo where they invited many other keepers from other parks. The outcome was great 36 people in total from … Read More
Being a zookeeper is a great opportunity for a lifelong learning process. It’s a profession that requires continuing education every day. In general, people think that being a zookeeper is just a job where one gets to hug animals all … Read More
Within my career I’ve developed a different way looking at behaviors animals have. Some behaviors desirable some behaviors undesirable. Regardless of what behaviour it is and in what box we should put it I started to see how these behaviors … Read More
A month or so ago one of the head keepers of the safari department in our zoo came to me and asked me about what the options are for training fallow deer’s. She ultimately wanted the hooves being trimmed. I … Read More
The magical place we call… First of all the conference will be in Europe what means romantic cultures, exotic languages, historical findings and a ton of other cool cultural things. What about if I told you this conference will be … Read More