Animal Training Fundamentals with Barbara Heidenreich artwork

Animal Training Fundamentals with Barbara Heidenreich

42 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 days ago - ★★★★★ - 29 ratings

From rabbits to rhinos! Have fun with practical application and get "mental" with behavior science. Animal training expert Barbara Heidenreich helps you solve your behavior problems and reach your training goals.

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Episodes

42-Reaching Our Potential with Proper Attribution Pt 2

March 25, 2024 11:00 - 21 minutes - 34.8 MB

Welcome to Part 2 of our podcast series, “Freeing the Crabs from the Bucket. Reaching Our Potential by Recognizing Others,” from the Global Online Animal Training Series. In Part 1, we explored the concept of plagiarism and its benefits to the animal training industry. Part 2 delves into the repercussions of plagiarism on the industry and the challenges of providing proper attribution. This episode is a bit more personal and sensitive, but I believe it will resonate with many of our listener...

41-Reaching Our Potential with Proper Attribution Pt 1

March 18, 2024 11:00 - 16 minutes - 12.8 MB

Are you a fan of multitasking? I certainly am, and that's why I love audiobooks. They allow me to absorb knowledge while walking my dog or preparing animal diets. In this podcast series, I'm your guide through “Freeing the Crabs from the Bucket. Reaching Our Potential by Recognizing Others.” This 24-page article, which I've been working on for nearly two years, has been a source of enlightenment for me. I believe we can foster industry collaboration and advance our practices by sharing this ...

40 - The Role of Assent in Animal Training with Anna Linnehan and Awab Abdel-Jalil

February 19, 2024 15:22 - 52 minutes - 83.7 MB

Assent is a new buzzword in animal training. But what does it really mean? My special guests, Anna Linnehan and Awab Abdel-Jalil, help us understand. These experts in nonlinear contingency analysis and the constructional approach have collaborated, along with others, to publish two articles on assent. They share an overview of their articles. They explain how to evaluate assent to participate and how you can monitor assent throughout a training session. They dissect the difference between ge...

39 - Maximizing the Conference Experience

October 22, 2023 13:27 - 27 minutes - 44 MB

In this episode we explore how conferences help you unlock the power of connection. We discover how to maximize the conference experience by delving into networking strategies, hidden learning opportunities, staying healthy to go the distance, and the importance of professionalism. From navigating over stimulation to starting meaningful conversations, we explore the pivotal strategies and insider tips that transform the conference experience into an opportunity for personal and professional ...

38 - The History of Giraffe Training with Amy Phelps

August 30, 2023 16:06 - 57 minutes - 92.4 MB

Amy Phelps is truly a pioneer in giraffe training. In this episode she shares the inspiring history of training giraffes. This is a rare opportunity to hear directly from someone who was there from the beginning, training behaviors for the very first time that have now become standard in the industry, such as training voluntary hoof care. You will get to hear the origin story of the firehose barrier so commonly used today, and its pros and cons. What is also significant is that Amy’s journey...

37 - The Details are in the Data

August 20, 2023 23:13 - 27 minutes - 43.9 MB

The information I share is frequently inspired by the work done in real life creating behavior change. This episode is no exception.  During a recent zoo consultation data collection was essential to address a behavior challenge. Our observations revealed some very interesting results which led to refinements in our intervention. So much so, that we reached our goal in two minutes in our second training session! In this episode I cover reasons to consider collecting data for animal training...

36 This is Uncomfortable.....

August 12, 2023 16:35 - 27 minutes - 44.7 MB

This episode was inspired by my own personal journey addressing some discomfort over a much-anticipated upcoming event. While helping myself become more relaxed, I was reminded of some parallels in my work with animals. The word uncomfortable can mean different things to different trainers. Therefore, I cover some common scenarios that trainers may describe as uncomfortable for animals. This might be cooperating in certain medical behaviors, or holding positions for duration, or doing behavi...

35 - Reinforcement Tactics. Different Types, What They Look Like, and How You Can Use Them

July 30, 2023 17:45 - 26 minutes - 43.2 MB

The recently published article Increasing Socially Significant Behaviors for Children with Autism Using Synchronous Reinforcement by Stordahl et al. (2023) has inspired this episode. Synchronous reinforcement, episodic reinforcement, conjugate reinforcement, and demand functions can all play a role in animal training. I explore these different reinforcement options and how they are applied, how they are different, and when one strategy or combination might be better than another. Listen to ...

34 - Animal Trainer Growing Pains

July 23, 2023 15:30 - 36 minutes - 58.2 MB

When innovative ideas emerge in the animal training world it can spark conversation. For some it evokes behavior change, for others not just yet, and maybe not ever. When there is resistance to emerging ideas, it can be frustrating for those who have been reinforced by changing their behavior. But as we will examine, resistance can be a very rational response. In this episode we look at some of those barriers to new information in animal training. I also share various ways to address those c...

33 - Pros and Cons about Talking While Training

July 08, 2023 20:31 - 29 minutes - 46.5 MB

Are you convinced your animals love it when you talk to them? Or perhaps it is the opposite, maybe it seems like your words mean absolutely nothing. In some cases, it may feel like your voice is helpful and in other cases it may seem like talking to them only made things worse. How can this be? In this podcast I cover a variety of scenarios and explain how talking can impact training in desired and undesired ways. I explore the behavior science behind what we observe so you can decide what w...

32 - 7 Myths About Negative Reinforcement

July 03, 2023 16:00 - 48 minutes - 77.7 MB

Do you have doubts about negative reinforcement? I understand! I sure did. That was until someone took the time to clear up some misunderstandings I had because of what I had been previously taught. That moment changed my life and how I am now able to help improve animal welfare. Many animals are unable to contact positive reinforcement due to competing negative reinforcement contingencies. Often these must be addressed first for positive reinforcement to be effective. Teaching trainers to r...

31-Is The Future of Animal Training Constructional? With Sean Will and Maasa Nishimuta

January 11, 2022 02:02 - 1 hour - 119 MB

Have you been hearing the word “constructional” a lot lately? There is a reason for that! The animal training community is evolving, and it is extremely exciting. It has a lot to do with a different way of looking at behavior change that is known as "the constructional approach". My special guests this episode are Sean Will and Maasa Nishimuta from the Constructional Approach to Animal Welfare and Training, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing free services to individuals and orga...

30 - Effective Reinforcement with Jesus Rosales-Ruiz and Mary Hunter

July 05, 2021 21:43 - 1 hour - 40.1 MB

My special guests this episode are Dr Jesus Rosales-Ruiz and Mary Hunter. As hosts of the Art and Science of Animal Training Conference, they bring together behavior scientists and animal trainers to inspire both communities and elevate the conversation. The theme of the most recent conference was negative reinforcement. In this podcast we revisit this topic and so much more. Our discussion of negative reinforcement meant more exploration of Constructional Aggression Treatment (C.A.T). Jesus...

29 - CAT with Kellie Snider

June 12, 2021 14:20 - 53 minutes - 73.1 MB

Constructional Aggression Treatment, also known as CAT, first debuted in the animal training community in 2007 when Kellie Snider made the procedure the focus of her thesis. Since then it has been fine tuned, practiced, applied and successfully replicated countless of times with a wide variety of species. Kellie and I discuss what inspired her studies and why it is such an important procedure for improving animal welfare. We also get into the mechanics of practical application and some point...

28 - Improving Animal Welfare with Science with Eddie Fernandez and Rickey Kinley

May 10, 2021 22:29 - 1 hour - 120 MB

Do you have a feeling something you are doing or would like to do could improve animal welfare? Have you thought about collecting data, evaluating your results, and publishing it so others can benefit? My guests in this episode are Dr Eddie Fernandez and Rickey Kinley. They share how zoos can participate in scientific studies to improve animal welfare. They give great tips on how to establish crucial relationships, what is required to conduct a study, how studies can be accomplished with one...

27 - Training Marine Mammals with Andy Ferris and Maggie Gonio

April 21, 2021 20:21 - 57 minutes - 91.4 MB

Working with marine mammals is often identified as the dream job for many pursuing a career in animal training. Although I personally went a different direction to learn about training, I have had a number of good friends gain their training chops working with marine mammals. My guests in this episode are colleagues from my early days in the zoological field who became seasoned pros working with a variety of marine mammal species as well as many other animals. Andy Ferris and Maggie Gonio gi...

26 - Training Orangutans for Cardiac Care

February 26, 2021 22:14 - 33 minutes - 54.2 MB

Whether you work with great apes or not you have to listen to this episode! Here is why. This episode is all about making a difference. It is also a great reminder that everyone has the power to make changes that can have a tremendous impact on animal welfare. As you listen to this episode, I encourage you to think about the similarities to training a new behavior. It all starts with what you can do now and how you can build upon that beginning. My special guests Emily Ellison of Cameron Par...

25 - How Trained Birds are Advancing Technology with Dr David Lentink

February 01, 2021 20:29 - 1 hour - 141 MB

I am often reminded of all the incredible things animals and training brings to the world. My guest this episode is the perfect example. You are going to love this fascinating interview with zoologist and engineer Dr David Lentink. David has merged his passion for nature and technology to study flight. He runs the Bio-Inspired Research and Design (BIRD) Lab at Stanford University. We discussed training various species of birds, training in wind tunnels, examining exquisite details of how bir...

24 - Veterinary Behavior with Dr Valli Parthasarathy

January 18, 2021 19:57 - 49 minutes - 90.9 MB

Many animal caregivers seek veterinary advice when their animal is showing undesired behavior. In some cases underlying health issues can be contributing to behavior problems that need to be addressed. However there may be other factors to consider that require the services of a veterinarian who specializes in behavior. Veterinary behaviorists are board certified and specially trained to advance behavioral health in many different ways. My special guest this episode is Dr. Valli Parthasarath...

23 - Improving Training with Evidence with Dr Erica Feuerbacher

January 04, 2021 02:42 - 57 minutes - 105 MB

Are you absolutely convinced your dog loves it when you talk to him? My special guest is behavior analyst Dr Erica Feuerbacher. She explores questions like this and more. Her research has looked at whether dogs prefer petting over praise and what consequences function best as reinforcers. In this fun interview we discuss the many things that have been learned from studying dog behavior. We also discuss the questions that remain to be answered. We touch on belief systems that can cloud our th...

22 - Zoo Design with Behavior in Mind with Douglas Richardson

December 17, 2020 16:38 - 1 hour - 141 MB

No matter what your role is when it comes to animal care, at some point you will likely encounter a situation that will cause you to examine the space in which the animal lives. It may be a behavior problem. It may be the opportunity to redesign an enclosure. It may be changes to your animal collection. It may be that your space is not addressing your needs or goals. Or you may have the opportunity to design something completely new! What would you want to know to be successful? I had the pr...

21- Elevating Elephant Programs with Gerry Creighton

December 06, 2020 18:06 - 44 minutes - 81 MB

Elephants have captured the hearts of mankind for centuries, including the heart of Gerry Creighton, Operations Manager for Dublin Zoo and Elephant Care Consultant. As a consultant, Gerry has traveled the world bringing innovation, backed by science to create elephant programs that thrive. Gerry looks to the ethology of the species for inspiration and creating opportunities for elephants to learn from elephants. However implementing this requires a different approach to day-to-day care, herd...

20 - Make Medical Care Fear Free for Your Birds

September 25, 2020 21:17 - 58 minutes - 93.8 MB

Discover how veterinary professionals, trainers and animal caregivers are working together to make fear free medicine a reality for avian patients. Every detail from what you can do at home, to how the patient is welcomed into the clinic, as well as what happens in the exam room is taken into consideration. While training in advance is certainly recommended, you will discover training is just one part of the strategy. Exotic animal veterinarian Dr Alicia McLaughlin and parrot behavior consul...

19 - Manage the Environment to Get Behavior

August 29, 2020 21:40 - 29 minutes - 47.5 MB

In this episode I get into one of my favorite subjects. It's not so much about knowing scientific terminology, but it does require some specialized skill sets. I do think every trainer needs to be a little bit of an engineer, a physicist, an artist and most definitely an ethologist. All these skills combine to help trainers see ways in which we can manipulate the environment to make it more likely animals will easily give us behavior that we can reinforce. The environment can include objects...

18 Critical Thinking Skills with Dr Suzanne Hetts and Dr Dan Estep

July 17, 2020 19:17 - 46 minutes - 75.1 MB

Are you one of those trainers who gobbles up as much information about training as you possibly can? Do you ever question that information, or do you immediately accept it as valid? It can be challenging to know how to evaluate resources, especially if you are new to the field or when the information is presented in a manner that can make it appear to be supported by science. Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists Dr Suzanne Hetts and Dr Dan Estep give listeners insights into what it takes to...

17 Gary Wilson: EATM The College for Animal Trainers

June 02, 2020 15:12 - 54 minutes - 86.7 MB

Have you ever asked the question………”How can I become a professional animal trainer?” My special guest Gary Wilson is here to help. Not only is Gary a professor at the Exotic Animal Training and Management (EATM) Program at Moorpark College, he is a graduate of the program and has been deeply involved in its growth and development over the years. For those of you already in the field, you are going to enjoy getting to know the history on how the training industry has evolved, especially in so...

16 Henrik Futtrup: Training Individual Flocks to Recall in a Aviary

May 19, 2020 18:15 - 42 minutes - 68.4 MB

What is your dream behavior to train? I have a feeling for many bird keepers it just might be this one! Imagine having a mixed species aviary in which each flock of birds recalls to a different sound and shifts into their own holding area. This dream is reality for Henrik Futtrup a keeper and trainer at the Copenhagen Zoo. In this podcast he not only shares the steps he took to train the behavior but also important details about antecedent arrangement, species specific considerations and how...

15 When R+ is Coercive and R- is Not. Forget Hierarchies! Behavioral Procedures are Non Linear

April 30, 2020 14:18 - 1 hour - 148 MB

​​This is an episode you will want to bookmark, reference and listen to several times over. Dr Joe Layng gives insights that might surprise you into how behavior analytic principles influence behavior. Learn how degrees of freedom and critical consequences can cause positive reinforcement to be coercive. Explore the super fascinating non-linear approach to better understand behavior processes. Also discover what is really happening when we use systematic desensitization and counter condition...

14 Progressive Bird Training with Hillary Hankey

March 30, 2020 19:50 - 54 minutes - 87.4 MB

My favorite kind of animal trainers are those who break the rules!! What I mean by that is that they are the ones who question everything in the name of doing it better. That is why this episode is entitled “Progressive Bird Training.” My special guest Hillary Hankey is one of those trainers who spends every day analyzing, studying and practicing the art and science of animal training with a diverse collection of birds in southern California. And her results have demonstrated that indeed we ...

13 Extreme Falconry: Free Flight with Harris's Hawks Part 2

March 18, 2020 16:12 - 1 hour - 143 MB

Join me for Part 2 of my fascinating interview with animal training pioneer Al Kordowski. Although the basis of our conversation is falconry with Harris’s hawks, Al’s background brings us to some of the early days of marine mammal training. He shares his experiences from working with a wide variety of species, including killer whales, when the animal training industry was rapidly evolving. Learn how cross species experience translates into free flight and how it can level up one’s skills. We...

12 Extreme Free Flight: Falconry with Harris's Hawks

February 21, 2020 05:34 - 1 hour - 98.2 MB

My special guest this episode is master falconer Al Kordowski. ​Imagine spending your entire day doing what you love....flying birds! ​Not many trainers are accustomed to having free-flighted birds hang and partner with you for eight hours out in the field. Al shares how these relationships are developed ​by building thoughtful reinforcement histories that allows him to work cooperatively with a group of birds to achieve a common goal. This leads to reinforcement for all parties involved as ...

11-Every Animal Counts! Training Education and Children’s Zoo Animals

January 18, 2020 21:24 - 47 minutes - 76.1 MB

Education animals, animal ambassadors, domestic animals and lab animals are often the ones who get the short end of the stick so to speak, meaning traditionally, participation was often up to the handler and not the animal. Progressive training flips the script. Animals have the choice to participate and when they do, desired consequences happen. As expected, the results are amazing behaviors. However, we are making other discoveries as well. We are seeing the impact it can have on our messa...

10 Let's Talk about Sex...and Animal Training

January 11, 2020 03:39 - 31 minutes - 50.7 MB

What does sex have to do with animal training? Sometimes, everything! Animals with reproductive hormones in overdrive can present challenges with motivation for participation in training sessions. They can also present undesired behaviors such as territorial aggression. Some will direct sexual and/or courtship behaviors towards humans. Barbara has some great examples of ways to get past motivation issues with a wide variety of species as well as address behavior challenges. She also discuss...

09 New Year's Resolutions for Animal Trainers 2020

January 01, 2020 11:00 - 17 minutes - 28.7 MB

Happy New Year! It's time for resolutions relevant to animal trainers. Barbara has made these for several years running now. This is the  first time she is sharing them in a podcast! Barbara gives you some great ideas to inspire you and launch your 2020 animal training adventures. Visit the episode webpage for links to previous resolution lists and some awesome resources mentioned in the podcast.

08 How Do You Know if Behavior is Fluent?

December 20, 2019 11:00 - 18 minutes - 29.9 MB

​Fluency may seem intuitive ….on the surface. In behavior terms it is currently defined as the fluid combination of accuracy and speed that characterizes competent performance, in other words doing the right thing without hesitation. However doing the right thing in real life application can involve many different measures. In this podcast Barbara Heidenreich discusses what criteria to measure to evaluate whether a behavior is being presented with accuracy. The benefit of measuring is that i...

07 Repetitive Behavior- Stop the Madness!

December 08, 2019 01:31 - 18 minutes - 29.7 MB

Not all repetitive behavior is stereotypic. Many times it is the result of reinforcement. Determining why an animal is presenting repetitive behavior requires asking our selves a series of questions that can reveal triggers and consequences that maintain the undesired behavior. This can then help us develop a strategy to address the problem. In this podcast Barbara Heidenreich goes over these questions as well as defines stereotypic behavior and some practices to avoid when dealing with a tr...

06-The Benefits of Horse Agility

October 05, 2019 08:40 - 23 minutes - 37.4 MB

Special guest Animal Training Coordinator of the Copenhagen Zoo, Annette Pedersen shares how transitioning from riding horses using traditional training techniques to training for agility with positive reinforcement has made a tremendous difference in animal welfare. Learn about the easy to make apparatus the zoo uses to give horses the opportunity to use different muscles and practice balance. Behaviors have been trained specifically to maintain excellent physical condition. The horse train...

05 - Target Training: A Complex “Basic” Behavior

September 03, 2019 16:30 - 38 minutes - 61.9 MB

People often think of target training as a basic behavior. But a deeper dive often helps us see this basic behavior has many details to consider that take it from basic to complex very quickly. This podcast will help you fine tune your target training skills. Get ideas on how to get targeting started with an animal showing a fear response. Learn what ​to do when animals interact in a way that is in appropriate such as grabbing or biting the target. Find out if you are making some common targ...

01 - Creative Uses of Non Food Reinforcers

July 13, 2019 21:40 - 31 minutes - 51.2 MB

Food can be a great reinforcer for training exotic animals. But anything your animal seeks to acquire or engage in, and can be delivered contingently, has the potential to reinforce behavior. Host Barbara Heidenreich has seven examples of different creative non-food reinforcers. And shares lots of real-life applications of how these unique strategies have been used to get results in zoos, companion animals and conservation projects. She wraps it up with some great tips you can try right awa...

03 - Open Mouth Behavior – Success Strategies!

July 13, 2019 21:33 - 23 minutes - 37.9 MB

​Open mouth can sometimes be tough to train! Often the most difficult challenge is getting the action started. Barbara goes over her favorite ways to start this behavior with wide variety of species. She also covers the methods she finds less successful and why. Also covered is the pesky problem of getting duration. And how the heck should you use a bridging stimulus for this behavior? To top it off, inserting a cue is also not straight forward, depending on how you built the behavior. It ca...

04 - Tiger Training Gone Viral

July 13, 2019 21:29 - 25 minutes - 41 MB

Where did all those cool ideas for training tigers to cooperate in medical care come from? I know a lot of my inspiration came from some fantastic training I saw years ago at Copenhagen Zoo. Since then, their training has gone viral with video clips of urination on cue, using sleeves for injection training and tail blood draws. Training coordinator Annette Pedersen shares how it all started and details of the shaping plans to groundbreaking behaviors that are now inspiring trainers around th...

02 - The Unthinkable: Guest in the Enclosure

July 13, 2019 21:23 - 23 minutes - 37.7 MB

In this episode special guest Annette Pedersen shares ​a story zoo professionals hope never to experience. What would you do if a guest climbed into an enclosure with a dangerous animal? If your team has not prepared for this type of emergency, two lives are at stake, human and animal. Listen to how the Copenhagen Zoo ​handled the situation when they received the call "This is not a drill. There is a man in the polar bear exhibit."