3 things I learnt watching tigers and hyenas training sessions
1. There are zoos that have the welfare of their animals at heart and they go above and beyond to make sure their animals are in the best conditions possible.
2. You don’t have to tell your animal that they’ve done something “wrong” when you are using behaviour science principles effectively.
3. We can all strive to achieve more with our companion animals.
Why do I consider myself being an animal trainer, not just a dog trainer?
Zoo animal trainers do extraordinary things with animals they care for. They are able to train voluntary blood draws, coming back to enclosure after being freed and many other husbandry behaviours. If they can do that with wild animals, I’m sure we can do that with companion animals too.
Many times we don’t even bother trying to learn a new skill. We convince ourselves that it’s not for us. When what we could do is to find the first successive approximation and start learning through a fun and successful process.