Animal Training

Assessing and enhancing the welfare of animals with equivocal and reliable cues

The actions of human caretakers strongly influence animals living under human care. Here, we consider how intentional and unintentional signals provided by caretakers can inform our assessment of animals' well-being as well as help to support it. Our aim is...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Animal Training, Human-Animal Interaction, Welfare AssessmentAnimal Type: All/General

Citation: Watters, J. V., Krebs, B. L. 2019. Assessing and enhancing the welfare of animals with equivocal and reliable cues. Animals 9(9), 680.

Relationships between captive chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) welfare and voluntary participation in behavioural studies

Voluntary participation in behavioural studies offers several scientific, management, and welfare benefits to non-human primates (NHPs). Aside from the scientific benefit of increased understanding of NHP cognition, sociality, and behaviour derived from noninvasive behavioural studies, participation itself has the potential...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Animal TrainingAnimal Type: Chimpanzee, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Neal Webb, S. J., Hau, J., Schapiro, S. J. et al. 2019. Relationships between captive chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes) welfare and voluntary participation in behavioural studies. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 214, 102-109.

Reinforcer effectiveness in dogs—The influence of quantity and quality

Reinforcer effectiveness refers to the reinforcer's ability to control the subject's target behaviour and is therefore critical to training success. Yet animals' preferences, and the effectiveness of different rewards to function as reinforcers, are often assumed without scientific investigation. Here...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Animal TrainingAnimal Type: Dog

Citation: Riemer, S., Ellis, S. L. H., Thompson, H. et al. 2018. Reinforcer effectiveness in dogs—The influence of quantity and quality. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 206, 87-93.

Training non-lactating rhesus macaques to act as foster mothers

There can be psychological and physiological consequences resulting from nursery rearing rhesus macaques. To reduce the need for nursery rearing, orphaned infants are often placed with lactating foster mothers. Unfortunately, a supply of these lactating females is not readily available...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Animal Training, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Coleman, K., Robertson, N. D. 2018. Training non-lactating rhesus macaques to act as foster mothers. American Journal of Primatology 80(S1), 34-35 (40th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #94).

Mymou: A low-cost, wireless touchscreen system for automated training of nonhuman primates

Training nonhuman primates (NHPs) to perform cognitive tasks is essential for many neuroscientific investigations, yet laboratory training is a time-consuming process with inherent limitations. Habituating NHPs to the laboratory staff and experimental equipment can take months before NHPs are ready...

Year Published: 2019Topics: Animal TrainingAnimal Type: Baboon, Capuchin, Chimpanzee, Lemur, Macaque, Marmoset, Nonhuman Primate, Other Nonhuman Primate, Owl Monkey, Squirrel Monkey, Vervet (African Green Monkey)

Citation: Butler, J. L., Kennerley, S. W. 2019. Mymou: A low-cost, wireless touchscreen system for automated training of nonhuman primates. Behaviour Research Methods 51, 2559–2572.

A comparison of desensitization techniques to train rhesus macaques to take food from a human

Some primates express fear of or avoid interaction with humans, including accepting food. Counter‐conditioning training designed to reduce fear and increase the acceptance of food from a person's hand can reduce the stress an animal experiences and serve as a...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Animal TrainingAnimal Type: Macaque, Nonhuman Primate

Citation: Franklin, A. N., Martin, A. L., Brennan, C. R. et al. 2018. A comparison of desensitization techniques to train rhesus macaques to take food from a human. American Journal of Primatology 80(S1), 13 (40th Meeting of the American Society of Primatologists Scientific Program, Abstract #5).

Food motivation in horses appears stable across different test situations

Food motivation may influence an animal's performance in food-rewarded learning tasks. Nevertheless, food is often used as a positive reinforcer in learning tasks to investigate cognitive abilities of farm animals, and to test effects of various treatments, such as environmental...

Year Published: 2018Topics: Animal TrainingAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Olczak, K., Christensen, J. W., Klocek, C. 2018. Food motivation in horses appears stable across different test situations. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 204, 60-65.

Applied neurophysiology of the horse; implications for training, husbandry and welfare

Understanding the neural circuits underlying equine behaviour has the potential to help optimise strategies of husbandry and training. This review discusses two areas of neurophysiological research in a range of species and relates this information to the horse. The first...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Animal Training, Husbandry & ManagementAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: McBride, S. D., Parker, M. O., Roberts, K. et al. 2017. Applied neurophysiology of the horse; implications for training, husbandry and welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 190, 90-101.

Evaluation of operant learning in young foals using target training

The primary purpose of this study was to characterize operant learning performance of young foals. For each of 26 foals, aged 6–20 weeks, learning performance was quantitatively evaluated in a single brief training trial using a standard operant conditioning task...

Year Published: 2017Topics: Animal TrainingAnimal Type: Equine

Citation: Martinez de Andino, E. V., McDonnell, S. M. 2017. Evaluation of operant learning in young foals using target training. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 193, 67-72.

Can clicker training facilitate conditioning in dogs?

In the attempt to verify clicker training efficacy in shaping dogs' novel behaviours, we studied 51 domestic dogs. Learning was evaluated in three different conditions: when the primary reinforcer (food) was presented in association with (a) a clicker; (b) a...

Year Published: 2016Topics: Animal TrainingAnimal Type: Dog

Citation: Chiandetti, C., Avella, S., Fongaro, E. et al. 2016. Can clicker training facilitate conditioning in dogs? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 184, 109-116.