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An animal trainer will usually use the control of food or other rewards desired by the animal to condition to the animal to respond in a desired way. Generally, animals are selected for training to make maximum advantage of their natural attributes, sometimes far in excess of those of humans. For example, the very sensitive Olfactory (sense of smell) abilities make dogs excellent candidates to train for hunting or search and rescue functions. SERVICE ANIMALS Service Animal s, including Service Dog s such as Guide Dog s, are carefully trained to utilize both their sensory skills and their relationships with humans to bond with a human and help that person to offset a disability in daily life. The use of service animals, especially dogs, is an every-growing field, with a wide range of special adaptations. FILM AND TELEVISION Organizations such as the American Humane Association monitor the training and use of animals such as those used in the entertainment industry. The Patsy Award (Picture Animal Top Star of the Year) was originated by the Hollywood office 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 ''. The award now covers both film and , was the proud owner of over 40 Patsy awards. 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. 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. In the United States , use of selected inmates in prisons to train service dogs has proved a valuable resource to service animal agencies. In addition to adding to the short-supply of service animals, such programs have produced benefits in improved socialization skills and behavior of inmates. 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 typically 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 particularly important for minimizing the frequency with which zoo collection animals must be anesthetized or physically restrained. Marine Mammals In a public display situation, one emphasis is often on focusing the audience's attention on the animal, rather than the trainer. Therefore the discriminative stimulus is generally gestural (and hand sign) and sparse in nature, bridges are the unobtrusive dog whistles, and positive reinforcers are either primary (food) or tactile, and not vocal. COMPANION ANIMALS Dogs See Also: Dog training Basic Obedience Training tasks for dogs include walking on a leash, attention, Housebreaking , nonaggression, and Socialization with humans or other pets. Dogs are also trained for many other activities, such as Dog Sports , Service Dog s, and other Working Dog s. 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 Whistle s, as well as Clicker s used in Clicker Training , a method popularized by Karen Pryor . Birds Typical training tasks for companion birds include perching, non-aggression, halting feather-picking, controlling excessive vocalizations, socialization with all 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. A common misconception among new bird owners is that a companion bird with unclipped wings possesses a better quality of life than one with clipped wings, but it is often the case that unclipped birds with novice owners frequently spend relatively much more time confined to their cage than a comparable clipped one that has consequently become better-socialized. Competition 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''. 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 must take into consideration the nautral 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
SEE ALSO
External links # APDT: Association of Pet Dog Trainers # IMATA: International Marine Animal Trainers Association # AAZK: American Association of Zookeepers # ABMA: Animal Behavior Management Alliance # Moorpark College EATM Exotic Animal Training and Management Program # Herding dog links # American Kennel Club Purebred show dogs # British Dressage # Mahout training Elephant Welfare Association # Changthai National Elephant Institute of Thailand # The Dolphin Insititute Dolphin Cognition research laboratory of Louis Herman . Animals trained for the learning of abstract concepts as well as echolocation research. # US Navy Marine Mammal Program # Guide Dogs of America # Moudouken Japan Guide Dog Association (link to english page) # International Guide Dog Federation # British Falconers Club FURTHER READING
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