Zoomility By Grey Stafford

[corvus]

I just finished reading Zoomility by Grey Stafford. I don't often get all the way through a training book, but this one was really good. He quite effortlessly tied his work training captive wild animals to training a domestic pet like a dog. He told some good stories about training wild animals that illustrated broader training concepts and the book even has a section with what he calls "behaviour recipes", explaining how to teach important, basic stuff like walking on a loose leash, moving from point A to point B, crating, toilet training, and how to train bridges, which is the word he uses for things like clickers and verbal markers. He advocates training more than one bridge.

He also spent some time explaining least rewarding scenarios and how they help extinguish unwanted behaviour or shape away from unwanted behaviour without resorting to punishment. There was an interesting story about how they worked with a dolphin in the habit of aggressively biting people that came close too him and brought him around to accepting veterinary procedures as well as the tricks they taught most of their dolphins.

I highly recommend it for anyone interested in some of the finer points of using positive reinforcement, and anyone with questions about how to handle behaviour that would traditionally be punished without using punishment. I think it fell down a little in adequately explaining why punishments should be so rigorously avoided and kind of skirted the issue of what you do if you cocked up and let your animal find its own rewards without you. The emphasis was on avoiding a lot of problems in the first place. I think that's good, but given that it's a book mostly about broad training concepts, it didn't really go into much detail. Like for example, what do you do if you have a skittish hare who doesn't often feel like training, and who you periodically terrify accidentally. However it did offer some cool insights from working with truly dangerous animals, such as a particular walrus who was naturally very touchy and would try to stab people with his tusks if he got slightly frustrated. The only reason he could be worked with was that he was very reliable with things he did know, so as soon as he got cross the spotter could call for his attention or you could tell him to drop and hold still and he'd do it in an instant.

[Guest Willow]

I got this book after I saw it advertised in the APDT newsletter.....I've only read the first couple of chapters but it seems good so far!!!!

[Cosmolo]

Sounds very interesting- can you buy it online?

[corvus]

I think I got it from Dogwise. It took me ages to get around to reading it, but then I finished it in a couple of days. Glad I read it just before getting another puppy. There is some good practical advice in there and some things I'm keen to try. The least rewarding scenario was a new concept to me and the way it's set out as a "this is what you do when you don't get what you want" thing answers a bunch of questions I had about training with minimal punishment.

[Guest Willow]

I got mine from Amazon.

I like all the little zoo anecdotes at the beginning of each chapter, and I love how he writes about his failures & the times the animals have made him look stupid too

It's nice to read a training manual from someone who appears all too human!!!!

[Jigsaw]

I think I got it from Dogwise. It took me ages to get around to reading it, but then I finished it in a couple of days. Glad I read it just before getting another puppy. There is some good practical advice in there and some things I'm keen to try. The least rewarding scenario was a new concept to me and the way it's set out as a "this is what you do when you don't get what you want" thing answers a bunch of questions I had about training with minimal punishment.

I find this is where some people get frustrated, the "what happens if the dog doesn't do what I asked". Sounds like I might just have to order another book!! Have you read any of Kayce Cover's stuff? SATS

[corvus]

I think I got it from Dogwise. It took me ages to get around to reading it, but then I finished it in a couple of days. Glad I read it just before getting another puppy. There is some good practical advice in there and some things I'm keen to try. The least rewarding scenario was a new concept to me and the way it's set out as a "this is what you do when you don't get what you want" thing answers a bunch of questions I had about training with minimal punishment.

I find this is where some people get frustrated, the "what happens if the dog doesn't do what I asked". Sounds like I might just have to order another book!! Have you read any of Kayce Cover's stuff? SATS

I think with people who train wild animals, the answer to that question is very obvious. They can't do anything. They just have to wait for their animal to decide to listen to them again. My mum told me a story about seeing a perfoming seal at Taronga. Halfway through the show the seal got distracted by a fish she was given as a reward and just totally zoned out and played with the fish for ages instead. The presenter couldn't do a thing about it. They tried to get her attention again, but she was off in la-la land and there was nothing for it but to wait patiently for her to eat the damn thing and remember that someone was on the other side of the enclosure with more for her. All you've got with a seal is the power of a strong history of positive reinforcement. They achieve an awful lot with that, but they can still use the least rewarding scenario to tell their seal thanks for working with me, but that wasn't exactly what I wanted. With pet owners who have their animal on a leash and are working with animals that are very forgiving, the desire is to tell their animal when the animal has done something they didn't approve of and they do it the way that comes naturally - with punishment. I question whether the average pet owner can effectively use the methods animal trainers use. It depends a bit on anticipating what your animal might find very rewarding and controlling the environment, which is difficult if you're walking a dog in public for example.

I have heard about Kayce Cover, but haven't read any of it.