Just for Fun: Pics of my first real encounters with force-free training (Patreon)

I don't ever say that I'm a force-free trainer. That's mostly because any equipment we use, whether it's a leash, or gates etc., creates some type of forced situation for the animal (I know, I'm pretty literal). Additionally, most training involves more than just the positive reinforcement quadrant in some minor way. Instead, I simply choose not to intentionally apply the use of punishers. I don't have to consciously think about it in my training. It's just not part of my repertoire. I know how to train in all training quadrants (guide dog training currently uses all quadrants, but is slowly but surely catching up to the science), and I just don't find punishers particularly effective or valuable in changing the way an animal FEELS about a situation, or in teaching complex behavior. 

When I was 20 I backed out of a really good corporate internship to live on an 8000 acre property in Northern Florida with no car, no phone, no computer, and no one I knew for four months. It was the best four months of my life. There, I learned about training animals using clickers, positive reinforcement, and force-free veterinary care. Because you don't MAKE a rhinoceros do a damn thing. 

It was eye opening to watch a 1500 lb animal willingly participate in veterinary procedures (I rhino putting its foot on a pedestal for a nail file, a cheetah sticking its tail out of a pen for a blood draw). From there, I was hooked. I loved listening at the Clicker Expo conference as Ken Ramirez recounted how he taught Beluga Whales to blow "smoke rings" under water, and to practice clicker training my horse to retriever a bottle of soda from a cooler, and a farm pig to come and "touch". My mind was blown with what is possible, and I hope yours is too! 

Talking about that time in my livestream last week, I thought it would be fun to post a few pics of baby-Laura learning how to truly work hard (I mostly shoveled poop and weed-wacked 8 hours a day in the presence of really cool beings) and enjoying every bit of it. 

Thanks for all of the participants in the livestream last week! I had a lot of fun! :)