We are hoping that you, the reader of this post, are doing great and that the content we are putting out from Animal Training Academy is assisting you with your personal Animal Training & Behavior skills.
In this blow – I am going to share insights about the power of creating clean loops—a fundamental concept that can significantly enhance your training sessions. [This concept was one I first learned from the fantastic Alexandra Kurland].
But what exactly are behavior loops? Imagine a sequence where you;
This seamless sequence is what we refer to as a clean behavior loop {video examples below}
The beauty of clean loops lies in the absence of what we call ‘junk behavior’—those unnecessary behaviors that can occur between different parts of the loop. By streamlining the process, you can achieve smoother training sessions and more efficient learning for both you and your animal.
To better illustrate this concept, let’s take a look at recent training sessions with my cat, T-lo. We’re aiming for a ‘Novice Trick Training Title’ by mastering a six-second eye contact behavior. During these sessions, I observed that junk behavior was hindering our progress. In response, I strategically adjusted the training environment to foster clean loops and enhance our efficiency.
In the following videos, you’ll see our progress from our first session to some nice clean loops and ultimately success with a six-second eye contact behavior.
Video one – where we started;
Next, we added a plastic tub for me to place the food in, aiming to streamline the delivery process by having it all in one place. However, it turned out to be too light and easily moved around by T-lo. So, we transitioned to using a heavy bowl, which significantly improved the stability and efficiency of the delivery process.
Despite our efforts, achieving clean loops proved challenging because T-lo was still adjusting to this new setup. When I attempted to put the food in the bowl, she would push quite hard into my hand, making it difficult to deliver the food smoothly. While ideally, we might have worked on teaching T-lo to keep her head up until my hand was out of the way, I opted for a shortcut solution in this situation. I decided to incorporate a tube for feeding and remove my hand from the bowl altogether. Of course, it’s important to note that there was plenty of practice beforehand, without T-lo present, to ensure I could execute this maneuver as best as possible.
We were nearly there, but T-lo’s positioning next to the bowl presented some final hurdles. She had to turn her body to access the food, and at times her eating behaviour still resulted in pushing the bowl dangerously close to the edge of the yellow footstool. To address this, we strategically placed containers to encourage her to sit behind the bowl, and we moved the training setup against the wall to prevent any further bowl mishaps. While there was still a tiny bit of junk behavior to contend with, we managed to achieve some nice clean loops and successfully attained our 6-second eye contact goal. This accomplishment has been submitted towards our novice trick title and has passed with flying colors!
In wrapping up, I hope this journey with T-lo has provided valuable insights into the power of clean behavior loops in training. By identifying and removing ‘junk behavior’, we were able to streamline our sessions and achieve our training goals more effectively. Whether you’re working with a feline friend like T-lo or any other animal, mastering clean loops can make a world of difference in your training endeavors.
If you found this blog helpful or have any thoughts to share, I’d love to hear from you! Please feel free to leave a comment below and share how you incorporate clean loops into your training routines. Together, we can continue to learn and grow as compassionate and effective animal trainers.
Via the Animal Training Academy membership we want to help grow your animal training skills, knowledge and confidence in all areas of your training! Ready to get started? Click here to become a FULL ATA member here >>> https://atamember.com
Or not quite ready to join but interested in learning more about ‘Loopy Training’? Listen to this previous ATA podcast episode with Alexandar Kurland, where we discuss this topic and many others. Click here to tune in.