One of the biggest goals we try to reach in any park we consult or work at is to increase the animals skill set. We like to train our animals to be part in their own care. After working with so many species we discovered that the technique we apply Read more…
Back in the Netherlands after 2 years of working at a restaurant I decided to get a job in a Zoo again. After some applications I got lucky again and found a Zoo who gave me the job as Animal Training Coordinator. I had explained that I had some wolf Read more…
They call them the dinosaurs of this day and age. They are portrayed as the wise characters in cartoons. Of course I’m talking about Turtles and Tortoises I have the privilege to work with a couple different species so far. Many people ask me about the amount of species I’ve Read more…
As animal trainers we respond to behaviour. We create situations where specific behaviour is most likely to happen. In practice training session often look different. We think we need a clicker and a target to do our sessions. We need preparation time and work thought a proper plan. Which is Read more…
We have worked with many species. Many lived in the water but we have never created a program for sharks and rays till we started our consulting project at Sea World Australia. Our first question was are the principles we use with other animals applicable to these animals? The answer Read more…
Training our animals to better their welfare is all about empowering their choices. Looking for behaviour we like to reinforce and other behaviours to ignore. We want to create a simple and clear communication strategy to be able to communicate with our animals. All because we cant forget that at Read more…
Anaesthesia is a medical treatment that prevents patients from feeling pain during procedures like surgery, certain screening and diagnostic tests, tissue sample removal (e.g., skin biopsies), and dental work (Source: https://www.nigms.nih.gov/education/fact-sheets/Pages/anesthesia.aspx) What often happens with animals that aren’t trained to come to the zoo staff for further examinations they are Read more…
Our focus Currently the focus of many animal care professionals working with behaviour is to train our animals for medical care. This has been called pro active care. The question arrises if we are actually applying pro active care when we train our animals for behaviours such as hoof trims, Read more…
Panel members at CCC 2022 At the Cooperative Care Conference This year in November 2022 we had a great panel discussion about “it might hurt but you will be ok”. This panel was conducted by Eva Bertilsson and had some great panelists sharing their thoughts regarding this topic. Hannah Branigan, Read more…
Often trainers are telling me that when you train with positive reinforcement you give animals a choice. While at first I would say yes definitely but it is actually not the case. Teaching choices is a complicated task especially the yes and no answer. Why is this? Yes or No? Read more…
