In this lesson we will discuss some Animal Training Basics. You will learn about an aspect of the environment that could be important when training your animals. In the video for this lesson the movement of the trainers hand communicates to Devey, the Australian Brushtail Possum, that food is on its way. The trainers hand plays the same role as the sound of the click in clicker training. Start the lesson off by watching the video below.
Your animals behaviour will be affected by a variety of factors in any one training session. Additionally, most of us can only effectively focus on one thing at a time. Consequently, I suggest videoing your training sessions. This can help identify nuances of behaviour that are sometimes missed. Watching back your training allows you to identify whats important for your animal. It can also help you develop elements of your training, such as your timing. Whenever I am training an animal I always have a Go Pro Camera attached to my head. The great thing about having a go pro is the many accessories that come with it. Wearing the camera on my head frees up my hands and lets me watch my training back from my own point of view. However you don’t need an expensive Go Pro to film your training. The video in this lesson was filmed on my mobile phone!
In this lessons video being able to slow the content down allowed us to analyse Devey’s focus. We utilised this information in future training endeavours, where we used our hand movement as a bridge. It played the same role as the click sound in clicker training.
Thank you for participating in this lesson, I look forward to seeing you again soon. Ryan Cartlidge, Animal Training Academy.