Animal Training Academy

High Quality Animal Training Content

  • Login
  • About
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Members
    • Forums
    • LIVE web-class replays
    • Training toolbox
      • Getting started with behavior
      • Shaping and teaching new behavior
      • Advanced concepts and tools
      • Extra content & Case studies
      • Problem solving tools & assistance
    • FaceBook group
    • Members only deals
  • Pricing
  • Free Course
  • Register For Your Free Animal Training Course – Click Here – To Start Learning Now

5 top takeaways from Steve White workshops – 🥳

November 22, 2019 by ryan cartlidge Leave a Comment


Steve White was recently in New Zealand doing a three day workshop on tracking and nose/scent work! So as per normal I’ve prepared for you a list of the five biggest things I learned/enjoyed/took away (see below).

Haven’t heard of Steve White before? … Out of 100+ ATA podcast episodes – the episode with him, has definitely been one of my favourites! Listen here >>> http://bit.ly/ATA_Steve_White



1) We learned about Steve White’s HITT (Hydration Intensified Tracking training) system and I even got to help practice with an amazing little Border Terrier! EEEEE! 



The activity we did had us spray a line of water along the ground and then line it with little pieces of high valued food. Our little terrier would then go along with its nose low to the ground, eating all of these little pieces of food accompanied by the odour of the water. In the activity we did each piece of food was only a couple of centimeters apart but over time you would increase the distance between the food whilst maintaining the sprayed line of water on the ground! – I can’t wait to do more of this in the future!

2) Continual reinforcement learning about the absolute sensational sense that is a dog’s olfactory ability! Steve offered new thoughts, science and insights into their sense of smell – an ability I don’t think we can even begin to fully comprehend.

Having worked in Zoos for most of my career I loved watching Snakes stick their forked tongues out to scent the air. Pulling the particles back into their Jacobson’s organ! I didn’t actually know dogs had one in their mouths as well! ARRRRGH! They are so cool!

3) DATA collection! WOOOO! Earlier this year Steve White joined us at ATA for a live web-class where he reviewed  MacKenzie’s eight scent-work indicators (with video examples for all 8);

  1. Pull
  2. Nose Height
  3. Tail Carriage
  4. Breathing
  5. Cadence 
  6. Circling
  7. Crabbing
  8. * Head swing (Nose anchor)

— — — — —

Want to watch this web-class from Steve Whtie on this exact topic you can do so with your ten day $1 trial here >>> https://www.animaltrainingacademy.com/2019-membership-trial/

— — — — —

At the Workshops we got to practice this in real time. As a group we sat down and watched a video we had literally just filmed of some dogs doing nose work activities. Together we then filled out data sheets so that we could all learn to read the dog’s body language better! My god was this fun!

4) A recurring take away from attending any workshop is a greater appreciation of the awesomeness of the ATA tribe! I had so much fun hanging out with the attending members. (Note I had to photoshop Karen Drummond in as I was silly and forgot to collect her for this photo!)



5) And finally I gained a greater appreciation for the work that the police dogs and their humans do! We were so lucky to watch videos of both police dogs in training and doing real live searches! The skill of both dog and handler blew my mind.

I hope you have enjoyed this and am excited to let you know that last weekend I attended a dog training business seminar with DogBiz founder Veronica Boutelle! Look forward for more workshop updates coming your way soon 🙂

Best Regards
Ryan Cartlidge
Animal Training Academy

P.s Want EVEN more from Steve – earlier this year he joined us AGAIN at ATA for a 6 person panel discussion with himself, hannah branigan, Eva, Bertilsson, Agnieszka Janarek, Carrie Kish and myself… this was for ATA premium members only however you can see a full replay via your exclusive $1 ten day ATA trial here >>>  https://www.animaltrainingacademy.com/2019-membership-trial/



 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

When our human learners aren’t on the same page … 🤔

November 9, 2019 by ryan cartlidge Leave a Comment


My first home consult (circa 2016) was terrible.

I met someone out on a walk with my dog and they expressed some challenges they were having at home. I actually offered to go for free to their house because I wasn’t in the game of doing home consults and I wanted to get some experience.

To cut a long story short it went awfully! 😂I knew I could help the people and their dog, but I didn’t know how to meet them where they were!

They were an elderly couple, no idea about using technology (the reason I add this will become important soon) and zero cares about how behavior worked other than wanting to stop their dog from doing the “annoying” thing without having to do any work! Ha, I’m joking they weren’t that bad …

So anyway, I go in trying to sell them on my model of helping people online and the virtues of positive reinforcement training and how/why it works. The old man literally fell asleep in his chair (in all seriousness though – I think this was due to factors outside of me i.e. health). And his wife was not resonating with what I was saying at all! But ON I went … blah blah blah!

She offered to pay me at the end of this visit, but I didn’t accept any money and really just wanted to help her and her dog! Next time I saw her though was out walking the dogs not doing another consult!

Over the last three years I’ve worked hard at learning to meet our human learners where they’re at, and recently, this was really put to the test.

This time I went to a local dog groomer to observe how things were being done for a current paying client of mine (of whom I am working with them and their dog!)

Unfortunately I feel this particular experience was quite unpleasant for the dog involved. If I had done this a few years ago I don’t think I could have even sat through that two hour session. Back then I lacked compassion for the human. Now, I am convinced they were doing the absolute best they could with the information & experience they had.

So I could meet them where they were at, I worked really hard to identify a number of things that they did that I really liked! And here are two of them!

  1. At one point, non contingent high value food was offered to the dog! Boom LOVE it! The dog readily ate it and I commented on the value I thought this brought to this particular grooming session
  2. The groomer consistently told me about how they thought the animals learning history played a big role in the behaviors that they saw in their business! I commended them on this insight and agreed on the importance of this.

Other then that I just sat silently and watched …

That is UNTIL the groomer asked me a question about their horse’s behaviour! And boy did I do my absolute best to reinforce that curiosity! This lead to me having an opportunity to offer some thoughts and send links to free resources where they could learn more.

Part of my approach here was greatly influenced by what Ken Ramirez taught me in a recent podcast episode we did together where Ken shared five things people can do when working with others to move them toward better use of positive reinforcement tools in order to make their training more effective. You can listen to the podcast episode here >>> http://bit.ly/ATA_Ken_Ramirez

And watch a video link of the specific part of the podcast where Ken talks about this below;



Want more Ken … ?!? Register for your $1 ten day trial ATA membership today to gain access to more exclusive premium members content form Ken Ramirez & other industry leading experts ACCESS HERE

See the full list of ATA premium members only live training replays here >>> https://www.animaltrainingacademy.com/members-only/

Will the human learner mentioned above check out the resources I sent them? I don’t know! I have not been able to get this experience out of my head though! The biggest question I have is how could I have done more. How can I train myself to focus even more on reinforceable behaviors from others and meet them where they are (rather than where my expectations might be). Who knows, maybe in three years I will be sending you an email about how silly I was in this situation – much like my original experience with the home consult.

What about you? How do you develop compassion for your learners? How can we better meet our learners where they are? I look forward to you hearing your thoughts and can you let me know by leaving them in the comments section below.

Best Regards
Ryan Cartlidge
Animal Training Academy

P.s This is also something I am also really taking away from a current endeavour doing my KPA (Karen Pryor Academy) professional dog training certification. We have to do written assignments tailoring our messages to different audiences and I am learning a lot! It’s been an amazing one month journey so far and I am looking forward to the next five months!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Top 10 animal training videos 2019 – 🎥

October 27, 2019 by ryan cartlidge Leave a Comment


Animal Training Academy premium members are super heroes! I am constantly inspired by the videos that get shared in the ATA membership Community areas and so this week I thought I would share my top ten from 2019! (Offered in no particular order);

Video # 10

The first video is a favourite from my time doing nose work with my dog Fibi – working on stimulus control.



Video # 9

As animal training geeks I think it’s fair to say we want to train pretty much any animal/species we can get our hands on lol … ATA member Lisa Tuthill had only had these chickens for 4 days at the point of sharing this video. In her words; “Just wanted to share because my my heart is bursting with joy and excitement of what we can do together!!”



Video #8

It will be easy to see why I like this next video so much! ATA member Josefine Linderström decided to see if this horse would prompt more scratches. Read her own words below:

Josefin: ‘For me this was such a lovely experience. It continues to blow my mind, that I can meet an individual for the first time and within minutes I can ask questions (would you like more scratches?) and get answers (yes, I would!) in such a simple, straight forward way … The best thing is I don’t need to have mind reading skills, or some super advanced technology, or make guesses. I just need to observe behavior. ♥️’



Video #7

Anything from Swedish trainer Eva Bertilsson is set to be pure gold for us animal training nerds! This next video takes a snippet out of a previous podcast episode we did together talking about flowcharts! Enjoy …



Video #6

And then what’s possibly even more fun is when you get to see ATA members put all of this amazing knowledge shared by podcast guests into action! Check out this from ATA premium member Emma Almquist who continually spoils us with her training videos/flowchart combinations!



Video #5

Within the ATA membership I find myself consistently surrounded by people with different knowledge, experience and training know how then myself (more often then not at a much higher lever then me!) It’s this constant inspiration that pushes me to continue to learn! For this reason I am extremely grateful for trainers like Vidhyalakshmi Karthikeyan who are always pushing the boundaries and demonstrating skilful application of advanced concepts. For example this training on the concept of size, with her dog Beanie:



Video #4

Chin rests behaviours are super common as the ‘go to behavior’ for doing cooperative care with dogs! So I just get really excited to see this done, with such a high level of skill, with felines! Check out Elvis the cat & ATA premium member Ayoe Hoff – showing us all how it’s done 🙂



Video #3

And more cats! I love Vidhyalakshmi’s training so much I just had to include a second video from her! Training our animals to voluntarily enter their crates (& giving them as much control as possible) is a fundamental behavior we should ideally train with all animals.

Here’s Vidhyalakshmi handing back control with one cool cat – closing it’s own crate door!



Video #2

It is with great Joy that I get to call Peggy Hogan a friend & ATA tribe member! In the ATA community areas we get constant updates of her and McKee. There were many Mckee videos to choose from but this was definitely one of my favourites – demonstrating some fun liberty training. We love how much of an ambassador McKee is for positive reinforcement training!



Video #1

This last video was shared by ATA premium member Aileen Stevenson. It is one of my favourites and I will let you read why in Aileen’s own words below

Aileen: “This video is super simple but it captures what I love about this job.

This wee dog, Roxy, had had no training at all and some of her family thought she was ‘too daft’ to be trained. But her mum called me and we introduced her to clicker training and Roxy just got it immediately. This clip is from our third session and is about 2 mins into her first ever attempt at targeting with Cody (age 8 ) doing the marking (first time for him too). A pair of wee superstars!

The dog is now empowered, enriched & engaged. The family see their dog in a completely different light. And a wee boy is learning about R+ and how to engage with his dog with kindness. And hopefully the seeds planted today will continue to grow into other aspects of his life. Nothing fancy but this session made my day.”



Well there you have it – ten of my favourite videos shared from within the ATA premium members community areas in 2019! And this is really only the tip of the ice berg with regards to the world changing work the ATA tribe is doing! If you would like to see more subscribe for your ATA trial membership today >>> https://www.animaltrainingacademy.com/2019-membership-trial/

Best Regards
Ryan Cartlidge
Animal Training Academy

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Careful! This will give you goosebumps & teary-eyes!

October 10, 2019 by ryan cartlidge 1 Comment


Ripples = Small things that make big changes in spreading the message of positive reinforcement animal training. ​

Every week Animal Training Academy premium members share remarkable things within the membership community areas. These members are superheroes/Rockstars, I’m so so proud of them and the following posts are two of my favourites from the last month! (beware you might get goosebumps and a bit teary eyed when reading these).

Both of the following posts are ripples involving challenging but important conversations in a way that spreads the message of positive reinforcement animal training.



And then ATA premium member Anna Bartosik shared the following piece of amazingness.



You would have seen the book Crucial Conversations (Authors – Kerry Patterson, Joseph Greeny, Ron McMillan & Al Switzler) mentioned in both of these posts! It is something we discuss and utilise a lot within Animal Training Academy and I highly encourage you to check it out if you haven’t already done so! 

You can listen to an ATA podcasts episode on Crucial conversations here >>> http://bit.ly/Crucial_conversations

Have you read the book? Do you have some experiences of how this has helped you out in challenging conversations. If so I would love to hear your story, you can leave a comment below.

Best Regards
Ryan Cartlidge
Animal Training Academy

P.s want to get access to the exclusive ATA premium members community areas? (FaceBook group and ATA website forums). Register for your trial membership today! >>> https://www.animaltrainingacademy.com/2019-membership-trial/

Filed Under: Uncategorized

For Miko

August 16, 2019 by ryan cartlidge Leave a Comment

Filed Under: Uncategorized

What is your – Animal Training Why?

August 14, 2019 by ryan cartlidge Leave a Comment


Have you ever been asked – What is your WHY? 

If so – what did you say? If not – what do you think you might say?

Recently, I was interviewed for an event here in New Zealand organised by a colleague of mine & NZ based Positive Reinforcement Horse trainer – Bex Tasker! In this interview, I was asked what is the WHY of Animal Training Academy?

I didn’t articulate it so well in the interview but here is an offering (prepared when I have much more time to carefully choose my words lol) about the why of ATA.

* The WHY of Animal Training Academy

ATA exists to help improve the lives of animals and their human companions through ethical animal training and behavior management principles (with the main focus being on Applied Behavior Analysis). World leading professionals share their knowledge through our podcasts, blog, web-classes and the ATA membership.And then we build a tribe around that knowledge to help develop trainers competencies, orientation & growth. Our online communities help support and encourage our members as they put this knowledge into practise.

You can see my ACTUAL answer (basically the same thing just not as succinct lol) and the entire rest of the interview in the following video …



Once again I’m curious what your WHY is? Leave your comments below & let me know.

Best Regards
Ryan Cartlidge
Animal Training Academy

P.s a MASSIVE thank you to Lisa Whiteman who recorded the actual interview and whose voice you can hear asking the questions.


Filed Under: Uncategorized

5 take aways from Susan Friedman/Peta Carke workshops 💚- 🤓- 🐕

May 12, 2019 by ryan cartlidge Leave a Comment


Last week I got to spend an amazing 4 days hanging out with Dr. Susan Friedman, Peta Clarke and 200+ behavior nerds (& dogs) deep within the beautiful Barrington Tops in New South Wales Australia!



Not only did we get to see Wild Platypus on a Daily basis but we got to geek out on both scientific and practical aspects of what we do!

So as I sat at Sydney Airport nearing the final leg of my journey home I thought I would start to write this email and share – whilst still fresh in my memory – 5 amazing takeaways for me from that sensational week! Here they are

1. I was reminded of how little I know! OMG was I ever! I got to experience Susan’s Emotions inside out presentation and consequently there is going to be some latent learning as I process all of this over the coming weeks/days/months! I was left with the words “emotions track contingencies” and I’m currently working on fully digesting what this means and how it works

2. The ATA tribe is AMAZING! – This was four days of meeting so many individuals from ATA’s audience in the flesh and getting hugs that in some instances have been years in the making!



3. Some offerings on definitions of choice & control. I realise how much I use these words interchangeably and I really had to stop and think about the different definitions. At the moment I am left with the these two thoughts – control is all about giving the learner the ability to manage/control outcomes with their behavior, and choice is about settings up contingencies in ways that offer the animal many different outcome options – including the option/control to say no. What do you think?

4. The use of reinforcement placement – it was an absolute joy to watch Peta Clarke in action coaching numerous trainer/dog teams! One topic that came up time and time again was reinforcement placement. This is definitely something I am going to be thinking about more and more in my training over the coming while and how I can improve my skill in this area.

5. High rates of reinforcement. Seeing the contrast in rates of reinforcement when Peta Clarke demonstrated some live training for us in relation to some of the other dog/trainer teams working at the event really allowed me to see how much Peta skilfully moved behavior. This was so beneficial for me to see live and was one of the biggest take aways for me!

To be honest I could go on and on and on… lol and I’m sure as the events of the last week marinate in my mind over the coming whilst latent learning will provide me with so much value from the richness of spending time with individuals at the cutting edge of what we do! #feelingblessed! 

If you want to find out more about these two wonderful human beings check out some previous ATA podcast episodes where we were very privileged to have them as guests!

ATA podcast episode with Susan Friedman here >>> http://bit.ly/Friedmanpodcast

ATA podcast episode with Peta Clarke here >>> bit.ly/ATA_Peta_Clarke

Best Regards
Ryan Cartlidge
Animal Training Academy

P.s Want access to over 6 hours of exclusive interview time with Susan Friedman?

You can access two (3 hour long) web-class replays with Dr. Susan Friedman inside the ATA members only area right now! These are for premium members only but we are giving you the change to view them for just $1 – CLICK HERE for your trial membership and get started now!

Filed Under: Uncategorized

[Episode 36] Dr. Susan Friedman – Behavior works/Psychology professor at Utah State University

July 23, 2017 by ryan cartlidge Leave a Comment



CLICK HERE for the podcast outline

BW imageDr. Susan Friedman – Bio

Dr. Susan Friedman is a psychology professor at Utah State University who has pioneered the application of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to captive and companion animals. ABA, with its roots in human learning, offers a scientifically sound teaching technology and ethical standard that can improve the lives of all learners. Students from 22 different countries have participated in Susan’s online courses, Living and Learning with Animals for Professionals and Living and Learning with Parrots for Caregivers. She has written chapters on learning and behavior for three veterinary texts and is a frequent contributor to popular magazines. Her articles appear around the world in eleven languages. Susan has presented seminars internationally for a wide variety of professional organizations such as the Association of Avian Veterinarians, the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria, Moorpark College Exotic Animal Training and Management program, and NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. She has been nominated for the Media Award given by the International Association of Behavior Analysis for her efforts to disseminate to pet owners, veterinarians, animal trainers, and zookeepers the essential tools they need to empower and enrich the lives of the animals in their care.

CLICK HERE to learn about Susan’s next LLA online/distant learning course


indian rhino cincin zooLinks mentioned in this podcast

Dr, Susan Friedmans’ behavior works website

Dr. Susan Friedman’s behavior works FB page

Dr. Susan Friedman’s FAID document (Functional Assessment and intervention design) 

Article about the FAID document mentioned above

Terminology Tumult article mentioned in the podcast

The roadmap behavior change hierarchy diagram

The behavioral hierarchy change document – Effectiveness is not enough

Article written by Susan’s daughter about Veda the Alexandrine parrot


 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

[Episode 35] Dr. Kate Mornement – Pets behaving badly

July 23, 2017 by ryan cartlidge 1 Comment



CLICK HERE for the podcast outline

18222705_1470578562964296_5197910784756187948_nDr. Kate Mornement – Bio

Dr. Kate Mornement is a Ph.D. qualified Applied Animal Behaviourist based in Melbourne. In 2004 Kate established her animal behavior consultancy practice; Pets Behaving Badly and has consulted pet owners experiencing behavioral difficulties with their pets ever since. Kate also works as an expert witness in dangerous and menacing dog matters, assessing the behavior and temperament of the dogs involved. She is an Associate Editor of Pet  Science; a new open access journal which publishes the latest research on pet behavior. Kate is an invited speaker at conferences and pet-related events write for several magazines and is regularly sought by media for comment and interviews regarding animal behavior.  A strong advocate of science-based positive reinforcement training and ongoing education, Kate has been fortunate to learn from some of the world’s most respected animal trainers including Steve Martin, Ken Ramirez, Barbara Heidenreich, Terry Ryan and Dr. Susan Friedman.

CLICK HERE for a link to Kate’s website – Pets behaving badly.

CLICK HERE for Dr. Kate’s Pets behaving badly Facebook page.

CLICK HERE to read Kate’s Blog

An episode of Hound TV that Kate featured on in 2010



 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

[Episode 34] Stephanie Edlund – “Because … SCIENCE! Trust the process”

June 16, 2017 by ryan cartlidge Leave a Comment


CLICK HERE to see the podcast outline

18679086_10154665526192916_1940573945_nStephanie Edlund Bio

Stephanie has spent most of her life learning about animal welfare, behavior, training, and enrichment. Growing up in Sweden, she has been surrounded by animals her whole life and has always been fascinated by birds especially. Since getting her first ones, two rehoused Parakeets named Blue and sixteen when she was eight years old, she hasn’t lived a day without birds in her life.

After getting her zoo keeping degree she studied Biology at the University of Stockholm. The last 4 years she has been working as a zookeeper and made a few stand-ins as a teacher while learning all she can about, force-free animal training and welfare. Today she runs her own small business in Sweden where she offers presentations and workshops for bird clubs, veterinarians, pet shops and zoos. She also offers consultations and private training lessons, predominantly with parrots but sometimes with other animals as well. Her Swedish website provides articles and online classes on enrichment, force-free animal training and other useful topics for pet owners. She is the head trainer for Korpdalen, an educational zoo facility in Björkvik, Sweden, where she works with free-flighted parrots as well as other birds. Stephanie is a Certified Parrot Behavior Consultant (CPBC) with the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC) and is the chairperson of the Parrot Division since November 2016. She is also a professional member of IAATE (The International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators).

CLICK HERE for the understanding parrots website

CLICK HERE for the IAABC  (International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants) Website

CLICK HERE for the IAATE (International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators) Website

CLICK HERE to follow understanding parrots on Facebook

CLICK HERE to see Stephanie’s Swedish Animal training website 

VIDEO OF THE RAM TRAINING MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE



 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Animal Training Academy

  • Login
  • About
  • Blog
  • Podcasts
  • Web-class replays
  • Pricing
  • Free course
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Manage your Profile/Account here

Contact

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

© 2019 Animal Training Academy - Privacy Policy - Cookie Policy