This is a great article, and sooooo true!
Dear Clicker Friends,
It's the theory, not the tool
Newcomers to operant training may place superstitious value on the
specific tools they see others using, not realizing that it's the
process, not the equipment, that counts.
llama
Many zookeepers are now using clicker training to help their animals
accept medical care, move back and forth from one cage to another,
and generally fit into and enjoy their zoo lives more. While
different trainers prefer different tools (or sounds, like whistles
or clicks), what's important to remember is that these cues are used
only as connections to the animal's actions in real time. Cues
provide information to the animal; with that information, the animal
learns how to make "good stuff" happen. It's the timing and the use
of information that's crucial, not one particular cue or ano! ther.
What do hippos want to hear?
I remember getting a frantic e-mail a while ago from a zookeeper who
was responsible for three hippopotamuses. She needed to
knowâ~@~Tright nowâ~@~Twhere to get the kind of metal whistle that
makes three sounds at once: a chord, a sort of hum, and a whistle.
She wanted to train her hippos to come when called, go in their cages
when told, and so on, and she knew hippos would only work for that
unique sound! She knew that because she'd watched a hippo keeper at
another zoo do wonders with his peculiar whistle (which he had
probably bought at a garage sale, for all I know.)
Hippos, of course, will work for any bridge they can perceive. I
think stamping on the floor or flashing a strobe light would work
pretty well, too, whether the hippos were in or out of the water.
Strange cues
Remember that it's the process, not the equipment, that counts.
Still, everywhere in the agi! lity competition world the target for
teaching dogs to stop a t the end of an obstacle and put a foot in
the contact zone is: the plastic lid from a margarine container.
Someone, somewhere, needing a visual cue, grabbed one of those, and
the rest is history.
In the dolphin world, the "jump" cue is a sideways sweep of your arm
from low to high. It could be a clap or a bow, the dolphins don't
care, but no, it's that sweep. In the zoo world, as operant training
wends its way from keeper to keeper, there's a standard cue now for
"open your mouth." What you do is put your thumb and fingers
together, and then spread them wide: a mime of the lion's jaw, the
hippo's maw, the gorilla's gape. And this cue has spread. All over
the world, exotic animals and birds oblige by opening wide and giving
the keeper a good look at the oral cavity. Any decaying teeth? Any
signs of infection? Vets LOVE to get that glimpse. Open wide, guys!
In the zoo world, as operant training wend! s its way from keeper to
keeper, there's a standard cue now for "open your mouth."
Llamas need cues, too
I discovered that I myself had triggered one of these contagious
superstitions. When I lived in Seattle, Ellen Leach, a behaviorist
and keeper at the Woodland Park Zoo, called me looking for help with
the zoo's South American exhibit. There were several llamas in this
exhibit, as well as tapirs and birds. The llamas had not been handled
and the keeper wondered if clicker training could make it easier to
handle them, specifically to get them in and out of the barn when
necessary, not just when they felt like coming in. I was glad to
help, if I could.
I went to the zoo and visited the llama barn. The llamas were quite
friendly, and promptly came in from outdoors to see me out of
curiosity. But they were wary, too, since they had never been tamed
or trained. Targeting would help, first to get them into the barn on
cue and later to ! station them so one could proceed to touching,
haltering, foot trimmin g, medicating, and so on.
One adult female was very receptive to clicks and treats, so I
decided to demonstrate targeting with her. I looked around the barn
for some harmless but unfamiliar object to use as a target (I didn't
want to use a bucket or a lead rope or something with which she might
already have a bad association). I saw an empty, used brown mailing
envelope lying among some other papers on the keepers' desk. I picked
that up and held it out to the llama. She looked at it: click, treat.
She smelled it: click, treat. After a few more clicks, she was
following the target, that envelope, through the door to the outside
and back inside again. Point proven.
Ellen Leach applied targeting, shaping, and the other principles of
operant training to her llamas. Soon, I presume, the herd was
manageable and the problems were overâ~@~Tat least they weren't
asking me for more help.
My own claim to fame
A year or so later, there was a cou! nty fair near my house which
included a llama festival, and I went for some fun. I fell into
conversation with a man who'd brought some harness-trained llamas
pulling two-wheeled carts, and he let me drive one around a pasture.
It was just like driving one of my ponies, except there was no bit in
its mouth. A light hand on the noseband was all that was required,
and I have very light hands.
I hope that the manila envelope fad passed quickly, and that before
they took their llamas out in public, trainers learned to replace
targets with voice cues for loading or unloading.
Later, I happened to see a substantial horse trailer arrive and start
unloading more llamas. Guess what? Instead of leading them off with
lead lines, the handlers were leading them off with...manila
envelopes. Oh my goodness. What had I done?
I hope that the manila envelope fad passed quickly, and that before
they took their llamas out in public, trainers learn! ed to replace
targets with voice cues for loading or unloading. Meanwh ile, if you
should happen to own or be responsible for a llama or alpaca, or for
that matter, a camel, you need Jim and Amy Logan's excellent series
of videos on clicker training llamas. The videos offer wise and witty
advice. Manila envelopes are not mentioned at all!
Visit ClickFlicks for a full selection of llama videos. You can also
read more about Jim and Amy by reading our article Polish, No Spit:
Learning from Llamas.
Happy clicking,
Karen Pryor
Happy Clicking!
Karen Pryor
Sunshine Books, Inc.
49 River St., Suite 3
Waltham, MA 02453
1-800-47-CLICK(2-5425)
© 2006, Karen Pryor Clickertraining (KPCT)TM
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