In the past years of coaching animal care professionals about how to train their animals in zoological settings I get asked very often, Where do you even start? Many keepers are stuck because of this question. Overwhelmed might be the right word to use. Even for me it is not Read more…
Many zoological facilities are continuously looking better the care of their animals. As animal caretakers we want to make sure that the species we look after thrive in their ca-give environments. This is not just about giving them large enclosures, it goes much further than this. Animal group make ups, Read more…
After listening to all the fantastic presentations at the Cooperative Care Conference 2021 a lot of new ideas came through which I thought I should focus on in my training. CER is one of them. CER stands for Conditioned Emotional Response. There are 2 important parts when we train our Read more…
The time when an animal is not trained is as important as when we train our animals. Maybe it is even more important to give the animal a chance to practice behaviours which fit in their species appropriate repertoire. Animal training is enriching I think we can al agree to Read more…
Within my marine mammal career I slowly started to understand that relationships are more than giving a fish to an animal. Especially when I started my work with these magnificent killer whales. I came in and had the chance to do what I always wanted. But before this really started Read more…
Only half way through my career I learned a valuable lesson about behaviour. Which actually came from on trainer I met during my career in Spain. She told me whenever I find a moment to observe the animals outside a training session. Observe what they do and who they do Read more…
Dogs as well as humans need a certain amount of activity. But it’s important to find a balance of activity and inactivity, so the dog does not get stressed by under- or over activity. Walking is a great activity, but dogs also need mental stimulation. All dogs need to use Read more…
One of the biggest challenges I faced in my career regarding medical training wasn’t necessarily a blood sample, or putting urination on cue it was conditioning an animal to eat presented medicine. It would be so easy if the animals we take care of would just accept a little pill Read more…
This specific behaviour is a concerning behaviour for us keepers when we see our animals preforming Self Mutilation. But it isn’t a newly found concern, Self Mutilation is happening with animals for a very long time. There are stories known from 1759 where a male opossum was brought to the Read more…
It is very interesting to see how some trainers take actions to behaviour that solves the problem at the moment. What works now works. This means that at that moment in time the problem is solved. The question is will this actually be a solution for the future? Short Term Read more…
