I often see amazing video of other species being trained using choice and clicker/marker training, so I thought I’d put together a collection of them.
These rats are being trained to search out landmines and tuberculosis! Talk about being important for them to be reliable! And they are trained only with rewards! Article has a video as well: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/19/opinion/sunday/nicholas-kristof-the-giant-rats-that-save-lives.html?_r=0
Alligators! This is an amazing video about how alligators are trained with rewards to accept unrestrained physical exams that include a human lifting them and even semen extraction while UNRESTRAINED! Previous methods required killing the male to be able to get enough semen for artificial insemination of females, which doesn’t make sense when dealing with an endangered species! https://www.facebook.com/netnewsnebraska/videos/1377457566233/?fref=nf
Sharks! These young sharks are being trained to go into a stretcher so that when they get bigger, they will be able to get on the stretcher themselves and transport to a new space will be stress free. They will also be introduced to handling (for exams and routine care) while they are on the stretcher. https://www.facebook.com/OmahaZoo/videos/vb.8816425850/10153934420790851/?type=2&theater
Lions with a “come inside” whistle cue- This pride of lions are trained to come inside from their 5 acre zoo enclosure when they hear a whistle. Even when another trainer is feeding them meat! I couldn’t find this clip on youtube, so I only have the facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/dogtalkwithnickbenger/videos/763047957219648/?hc_ref=ARR6E2llSMU2–VcsEmjDtRCx87Sw6hDJmYc2M6Fwam0nh68hhgAan42q0fK2k-5uvg
Chicken Training! There are chicken training camps intended to teach people to be better trainers. Chickens are NOT forgiving of mistakes and will leave if you are not good with timing and reward delivery mechanics. I attended such a camp and was able to teach the chicken to peck a specific color poker chip and ignore a different colored poker chip in just a few very short sessions. This is a friend of mine who taught some chickens to do agility weave poles, a tunnel and an A-frame (Chicken sized of course): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUahZswnbZE
Dangerous elephants– A rescue for elephants in India is using positive training to perform needed vet care on elephants they have rescued from cruel and abusive handlers. Because of the previous associations with humans, several are quite dangerous, and yet those same bull elephants have learned to willingly offer body parts for routine care and vet procedures. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wildlife-sos/target-training-elephants_b_9576228.html
‘It’s your choice’ training with a pair of abused “Zonkey” (Zebra/donkey mix) that couldn’t be handled. http://connectiontraining.com/zonkey-training-touching-the-un-handleable-equine/ Giving each the choice to approach a person, make contact with strange objects and eventually contact with the human gave them the confidence they needed to work on rehab.
House cat trained to do 30 different tricks including come when called, retrieve and sit up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puYANVYxPys
Another beautiful kitty doing lots of tricks: https://youtu.be/l4LoXG6Ld20
Goldfish training kit and promo video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3JFmrlgWAk
A cow taught to accept being ridden. Will back up on cue and even go over jumps with a rider! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLP0lJOb9l0
Pet rats showing off a wide variety of skills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7g2rxtWu_FM
Equines– My friend has this page with LOTS of videos of adorable mini horses being taught all sorts of behaviors including painting, matching items, identifying colors, recall on cue and even scent discrimination (nosework)! https://www.youtube.com/user/Peggasus09/videos
Polar bear training: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGe0qN6sEvY
Several Llama tricks!: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT8qoVfVXnLfqqGT9OysuBQ
Article with video clips of how many zoos and wild animal parks are not using any punishment based (aversive) training with the animals in their care: http://www.dogpsychologistoncall.com/progressive-zoos-never-use-punishment-should-you/
Training butterflies! Ken Ramirez worked with a large group of butterflies to get them to move from one side of a garden to another on cue using positive reinforcement! https://www.clickertraining.com/the-butterfly-project
Guinea Pig tricks! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgFpQlAGv3A
More to come!
Raising a Genius Puppy 