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Early 20th Century animal trainer and a leopard.
Early 20th Century animal trainer and a leopard. The leopard (lɛpɚd Panthera pardus) is an Old World Mammal of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four roaring

Animal training refers to teaching animals specific responses to specific conditions or stimuli. In Education, a teacher is one who helps Students or pupils often in a School, as well as in a Family, religious or In Physiology, a stimulus is a detectable change in the internal or external environment Training may be for the purpose of companionship, detection, protection, or entertainment. An interpersonal relationship is a relatively long-term association between two or more people In general detection is the extraction of information from any clear or clouded ambient or otherwise accessible stream of information without neither support from the sender nor synchronization See also Entertainment (disambiguation and The Entertainer (disambiguation Entertainment is an activity designed to give people

An animal trainer may use reinforcement or punishment to condition an animal's responses. In Operant conditioning, reinforcement is an immediate increase in the strength of a response following a change in environment Punishment is the practice of imposing something unpleasant or aversive on a person or animal usually in response to disobedient or morally wrong behavior Some animal trainers may have a knowledge of the principles of behavior analysis and operant conditioning, but there are many ways to train animals and no legal requirements or certifications are required. Behaviorism or Behaviourism, also called the learning perspective (where any physical action is a behavior is a philosophy of Psychology based on the

The certification bodies that do exist (in some, not all, countries) do not share consistent goals or requirements so it can be difficult to tell what kind of training a trainer has had to do his or her job. Overview Certifications are earned from a Professional society and in general must be renewed periodically or may be valid for a specific period of time (e The United States does not require animal trainers to have any kind of certification or psychological screening.

The type of training is often determined by the trainer's motivation, background, and psychological make-up. An individual training a seeing eye dog, for example, will have a different approach and end-goal than an individual training a wild animal to do tricks in a circus. "Guide Dogs" redirects here For the British charity see The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association Guide dogs are Assistance Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants animals and other organisms A circus is most commonly a traveling company of performers that may include acrobats, Clowns trained animals trapeze acts Hoopers, tightrope walkers

Ideally, animal trainers will try to use positive reinforcement (follow a desired behavior with something worthwhile to the animal and the behavior will increase) and negative punishment (withdraw something the animal wants when he performs undersireable behaviors). In Operant conditioning, reinforcement is an immediate increase in the strength of a response following a change in environment Traditional trainers often rely on positive punishment (follow an undesirable behavior with a punishment to reduce the rate of the behavior) and negative reinforcement (withdraw an undesirable stimulus when the animal performs the desirable behavior). Punishment is the practice of imposing something unpleasant or aversive on a person or animal usually in response to disobedient or morally wrong behavior In Operant conditioning, reinforcement is an immediate increase in the strength of a response following a change in environment

Contents

Service animals

Service animals, such as assistance dogs, capuchin monkeys and horses, are trained to utilize their sensory and social skills to bond with a human and help that person to offset a disability in daily life. Service animals are animals that have been trained to assist people with various types of disabilities An assistance dog is a Dog trained to help a person with a Disability in daily life The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. The use of service animals, especially dogs, is an ever-growing field, with a wide range of special adaptations.

In the United States, selected inmates in prisons are used to train service dogs. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the In addition to adding to the short-supply of service animals, such programs have produced benefits in improved socialization skills and behavior of inmates.


Film and television

Further information: Wrangler (profession)

Organizations such as the American Humane Association monitor the use of animals such as those used in the entertainment industry, but they do not monitor their training. See also Animal training In North America a wrangler is someone employed to handle Animals professionally especially horses, but also other The American Humane Association is an organization founded in 1877 dedicated to the welfare of animals and children The Patsy Award (Picture Animal Top Star of the Year) was originated by the Hollywood office in 1939. The Patsy Award was originated by the Hollywood office of the American Humane Association in 1939 They decided to honor animal performers after a horse was killed in an on-set accident during the filming of the Tyrone Power film Jesse James. Tyrone Edmund Power Jr (May 5 1914 – November 15 1958 usually credited simply as Tyrone Power and known sometimes as " Ty Power " was an Jesse Woodson James (September 5 1847—April 3 1882 was an American Outlaw in the border state of Missouri and the most famous member of the

The award now covers both film and television and is separated into four categories: canine, equine, wild and special. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic The special category encompasses everything from goats to cats to pigs. One famous animal trainer, Frank Inn, received over 40 Patsy awards. Frank Inn was born as Elias Franklin Freeman, ( May 8, 1916 - July 27, 2002) was an American animal trainer.

Patience and repetition are critical components of successful animal training. Inn's most famous animal was Higgins, who came from the Burbank, California Animal Shelter. Higgins ( 1957 &ndash 1975) was one of the best-known Dog actors of the 1960s &ndash 1970s Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County California, United States. Inn began training animals while incapacitated due to an automobile accident. Higgins starred in the Petticoat Junction sitcom in the 1960s and the first two Benji films in 1974 and 1977. Petticoat Junction is an American Situation comedy produced by Filmways, which originally aired on the CBS network from 1963 Benji is the name of a fictitious Dog who has been the focus of several movies from 1974 through the 2000s and is also the title of the first film in the series

Lifetime bonds are often made between trainers and animals. The ashes of Higgins were buried with trainer Inn when he died in 2002.

Zoological parks

Animals in public display are sometimes trained for educational, entertainment, management, and husbandry behaviors. Educational behaviors may include species-typical behaviors under stimulus control such as vocalizations. Entertainment may include display behaviors to show the animal, or simply arbitrary behaviors. Management includes movement, such as following the trainer, entering crates, or moving from pen to pen, or tank-to-tank through gates. Husbandry behaviors facilitate veterinary care, and can include desensitization to various physical examinations or procedures (such as cleaning, nail clipping, or simply stepping onto a scale voluntarily), or the collection of samples (e. g. biopsy, urine). Such voluntary training is important for minimizing the frequency with which zoo collection animals must be anesthetized or physically restrained.

Marine mammals

Many marine mammals are trained for entertainment such as bottlenose dolphins, killer whales, belugas, sea lions, and others. In a public display situation, the audience's attention is focused on the animal, rather than the trainer; therefore the discriminative stimulus is generally gestural (a hand sign) and sparse in nature. Unobtrusive dog whistles are used as bridges, and positive reinforcers are either primary (food) or tactile (rub downs), and not vocal. However, pinnipeds and mustelids (sea lions, seals, walruses, and otters) can hear in our frequency, so most of the time they will receive vocal reinforcers during shows and performances. Pinnipeds ("fin-feet" lit "winged feet" or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semi-aquatic marine Mammals comprising Mustelidae or Mustelids (from Latin mustela, Weasel) commonly referred to as the weasel family, is a family of carnivorous Mammals For other uses of the term "sea lion" see Sea lion (disambiguation. The true seals or earless seals are one of the three main groups of Mammals within the seal Suborder, Pinnipedia. The walrus ( Odobenus rosmarus) is a large flippered Marine mammal with a discontinuous circumpolar distribution in the Arctic Ocean and Otters are semi- aquatic (or in one case aquatic) fish-eating Mammals The otter subfamily Lutrinae forms part of the family Frequency is a measure of the number of occurrences of a repeating event per unit Time. The shows are turned into more of a play production because of this, instead of just a run through of behaviors like cetaceans generally do in their shows. The Order Cetacea (sɪˈteɪʃiə L cetus, whale includes Whales Dolphins and Porpoises Cetus is Guests can often hear these vocal reinforcers when attending a Sea World show. Sea World is a Marine mammal park on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. During the Clyde and Seamore show, the trainers may say something like: "Good grief, Clyde!" or "Good job, Seamore". The trainers substitute the word "good" in the place of food or rubdowns when teaching a specific behavior to the animals so that the animals no longer need constant feeding as praise for achieving the appropriate behavior.


Companion animals

Dogs

Main article: Dog training

Basic obedience training tasks for dogs include walking on a leash, attention, housebreaking, nonaggression, and socialization with humans or other pets. Dog training: the process of teaching a Dog (Canis lupus familiaris to perform certain actions at the behest of somebody in response to certain commands which the dog is trained Obedience training usually refers to the training of a dog and the term is most commonly used in that context This article is about animal training for the crime of "housebreaking" see Burglary. The term socialization is used by sociologists, social psychologists and Educationalists to refer to the process of learning one’s Culture Dogs are also trained for many other activities, such as dog sports, service dogs, and other working dogs. Dog sports are activities that involve Dogs There is much discussion about what exactly defines a Sport for dogs A service dog is a type of Assistance dog, specifically trained to help people who have disabilities other than visual or Hearing impairment Jobs performed by dogs Although most modern dogs are kept as Pets there are still a tremendous number of ways in which dogs can and do assist humans and more uses are

Positive reinforcement for dogs can include primary reinforcers such as food, or social reinforcers such as vocal ("good boy") or tactile (stroking) ones. Positive punishment, if used at all, can be physical, such as pulling on a leash or spanking, or may be vocal ("bad dog"). Bridges to positive reinforcement include vocal cues, whistling, and dog whistles, as well as clickers used in clicker training, a method popularized by Karen Pryor. For the use of political code words see Dog-whistle politics. A clicker is any device that makes a clicking sound usually when deliberately activated by its user Clicker training is the process of training an animal using a conditioned reinforcer, which indicates to the animal ("marks" the precise Behavior Karen Pryor (born May 14, 1932 in New York City, New York) is an author with an international reputation in the fields of Marine mammal Negative reinforcement may also be used including withholding of food or physical punishment.

Birds

Typical training tasks for companion birds include perching, non-aggression, halting feather-picking, controlling excessive vocalizations, socialization with household members and other pets, and socialization with strangers. The large parrot species frequently have lifespans that exceed that of their human owners, and they are closely bonded to their owners. In general, parrot companions usually have clipped wings, which facilitates socialization and controlling aggression and vocalizations. In China the practice of training Cormorants to catch fish has gone on for over 1,200 years. China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National The Bird family Phalacrocoracidae is represented by some 40 Species of cormorants and shags. [1]

Chickens

Chicken on a skateboard
Chicken on a skateboard

Training chickens has become a way for trainers of other animals (primarily dogs) to perfect their training technique. Bob Bailey, formerly of Animal Behavior Enterprises and the IQ zoo, teaches chicken training seminars where trainers teach poultry to discriminate between shapes, to navigate an obstacle course and to chain behaviors together. Chicken training is done using operant conditioning, using a clicker and chicken feed for reinforcement. The training of chickens has become a popular event for dog trainers. Trained chickens may be confined to a fiberglas box where they play Tic-Tac-Toe against humans for a fee.


Fish

Fish can also be trained. For example, a goldfish may swim toward its owner and follow him as he walks through the room, but will not follow anyone else. The goldfish, Carassius auratus, was one of the earliest Fish to be domesticated, and is still one of the most commonly kept aquarium fish and The fish may swim up and down, signaling the owner to turn on its aquarium light when it is off, and it will skim the surface until its owner feeds it. An aquarium (plural aquariums or aquaria) is a Vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which Water -dwelling Plants

Wild animals

The Ursar, drawing by Theodor Aman
The Ursar, drawing by Theodor Aman

Wild animals may also be trained, such as bears or leopards. The Ursari (generally read as "bear leaders" or "bear handlers" from the Romanian urs, meaning "bear" singular ursar; Theodor Aman ( 20 March 1831, Câmpulung-Muscel &ndash 19 August 1891, Bucharest) was a Romanian painter of Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants animals and other organisms The leopard (lɛpɚd Panthera pardus) is an Old World Mammal of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four roaring The Ursari Roma people were specialized in bear training, although they sometimes also used Old World monkeys. The Ursari (generally read as "bear leaders" or "bear handlers" from the Romanian urs, meaning "bear" singular ursar; The Romani people (singular Rom, plural Roma as a Noun; also known as Romanies or Roma people) are an ethnic group with origins The Old World monkeys or Cercopithecidae are a group of Primates falling in the Superfamily Cercopithecoidea in the Clade Later on, the German merchant Carl Hagenbeck, also one of the initiator of "human zoos", also used brown bears in his shows. Carl Hagenbeck ( June 10, 1844 - April 14, 1913) was a merchant of Wild animals who supplied many European Zoos as well Human zoos (also called "ethnological expositions" or " Negro Villages" were 19th and 20th century public exhibits of human beings usually in a "natural" The Brown Bear ( Ursus arctos) is an Omnivorous Mammal of the family Ursidae, distributed across much of northern Eurasia and

Competition

Dressage is a form of competitive animal training, specifically for horses. Dressage (pronounced dress-ahhzh /ˈdrɛsɑʒ/ (a French term most commonly translated to mean "training" is a path and destination of competitive Horse training The horse ( Equus caballus) is a hoofed ( Ungulate) Mammal, one of eight living species of the family Equidae. However, all equestrian disciplines require the horse to have training in their sport. For the Roman class see Equestrian (Roman Equestrianism refers to the skill of riding or driving Horses This broad description Additionally, all horses used in competittion must go through basic training when they are young, during which time they learn to accept the saddle, bridle, and rider's aids.


Methods

Animal training is generally performed in adherence to the theory of operant conditioning, although modern training methods frequently utilize tools not included in the original Skinnerian conception.

Two primary types of training philosophies are those that emphasize positive reinforcement, and those that use more positive punishment. In Operant conditioning, reinforcement is an immediate increase in the strength of a response following a change in environment Certain subfields of animal training tend to also have certain philosophies and styles, for example fields such as companion bird training, hunting bird training, companion dog training, show dog training, dressage horse training, mahout elephant training, circus elephant training, zoo elephant training, zoo exotic animal training, marine mammal training. The degree of trainer protection from the animal may also vary. The variety of tasks trained may also vary, and can range from entertainment, husbandry (veterinary) behaviors, physical labor or athleticism, habituation to averse stimuli, interaction (or non-interaction) with other humans, or even research (sensory, physiological, cognitive).

Training also may take into consideration the natural social tendencies of the animal species (or even breed), such as predilections for attention span, food-motivation, dominance hierarchies, aggression, or bonding to individuals (conspecifics as well as humans). Consideration must also be given to practical aspects on the human side such as the ratio of the number of trainers to each animal: does one animal have a dozen different trainers, and does one trainer attend simultaneously to many animals in a training session?

Other important issues related to the methods of animal training are: operant conditioning, stimulus control, SD (discriminative stimulus), desensitization, chaining, bridge, and the s-delta.

List of notable animal trainers

Known for their influence on the circus:

Known for scientific research:

Known for work in television and film:

Otherwise:

See also

Further reading

External links

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