Dolphin-like leadeship

Mythological, adorable, wise and so humanized ...

Dolphins

They've mesmerizes us from the very beginning of human history, already man (and woman) from the ancient history has found them touching and fascinating, mythological and almost equal to us. They've been main character of many believes; Like in Amazon the boto encantado - the enchanted dolphin, not to mention all Creek and Mediterranean stories of dolphin, even today we hear stories of single dolphins being close to beaches or harbours finding friends from people visiting or living close to them. Most of us adore them and their irresistible, almost like out of this world essence.

I've been fortunate to be privileged to work with them for several decades. I can't but adore them of how well they are created to be the very top animal of our seas. As I am referring to sharks as well on this text, I want to mention, I've also had a chance to work with them -  and this text is not intended to ignore or dismiss them in any ways. I do adore them also cause of their dignity.

Mythological beliefs

Dolphins and their "soul landscape" is related to values like; fairness, trust, communication, respect, unity and collaboration, among others. Many of which are quite true and can be interpreted from their behaviour. I wouldn't like to crash anyone's rose-coloured image, if it is like previously described but I'd say they behave in many respects just like any other animal. It doesn't mean they wouldn't communicate and support unity in their pod. They do have their own value system and hierarchy within the family pod. 

Is it fair and respectful? - most likely, in it's own way. It can also be a bit harsh in some areas.

Survival of an individual as well as of the family pod are true values, like with any animal, the energy economy for survival is one of the strongest innate instincts for any species. Dolphins may hunt together in co-operated unity but I wouldn't say they are actually sharing their food. They are playful, which is considered a sign of high intelligence, but if it comes to dominance in the pod - the interaction can be quite rough between each other. Fortunately with animals often times agonistic behaviours are adequate for settling down these kind of matters. 

Like earlier mentioned, even nowadays we can read stories of friendly dolphins helping each other and getting in close friendly contact with humans. Some of these occasions have been known to be evolved because of beneficial aspects to those individuals, interaction which has made survival and foraging easier and favourable to these animals. These stories and true events are giving us perhaps a bit anthropomorphised and fairy tail like image of dolphins in our minds. All in all I still thinks these animals are mesmerizing in many ways.

Comparison to business world?

This bring me to comparison of dolphin essence or their being into business managing today. Times have changes form patriarchal business leadership into more associate or participatory leadership. Still even today we are influenced in expressions by anthropomorphised comparison to animal kingdom; like the TV-reality series; Shark Tank (in Finnish it is called Lion Cave). Also, at least, in the past leadership has been sometimes compared to Shark-like leadership. Or - maybe it's been more about the competition between companies providing similar products or services. In general business world has long been of the strongest being the most successful and prosperous - and that is quite understandable. Money rules the world. Actually quite the same as in animal kingdom - i.e. the energy efficiency of an individual (food & foraging). Could this kind of thinking be compared to sharks? Why not - if we think e.g. of the great white ones!

What is it then that makes one company more successful than the other?

 As we know, there are multiple factor that are effecting it. Management and advertising strategies, innovative aspects and of course the product in itself etc. What I'd like to concentrate now is the dynamics and wellbeing of the company workers. With animals nowadays we talk more and more of animal welfare which is essential for any animal keeper to be aware of. In zoos, or any other "facility" keeping animals, it is also part of the managements plan and a cornerstone for prosperous animal keeping - if it involves visitors it is also a key element in well managed visitor experience and hence a reason to get the number of visitors either raising or staying in a sustainable level. 

So - why not also in any business management with the company employers. Let's give some air under the wings of our imagination and loosen a bit the tight scientific goggles from the exact "soul landscape" of dolphins into a bit more romanticised vison of them: This would bring us into more Dolphin-like leadership.  After all, I believe, the most valued capitol for any company are its employers - they are the "pod" who's survival and glorious well-being any employer should embrace. It is the simple power of  positive reinforcement, which is so well known by any advanced animal trainer who is familiar with the operant conditioning theory and the principles discovered by the team led by B. F. Skinner.

Dolphins are fluent in their swimming

Dolphins have adapted their environment so well that they are fluent in any current. They can flow with the underwater natural currents or better yet, they are even capable of taking advance of the bow wave of ships. So - they are not like a 'shark in a water' but very much like a 'dolphin in a water'. This I'd like to think would prefer to flexible, innovative and visionary business management and plan of any company. A well managed business plan is beneficial to the company but also to any person working for these goals within the company. Further more; being fair, respectful and collaborative with the staff increases the motivation and commitment of the company workers. I believe it's not the status that counts but the respect of an individual. I've had a possibility to be in a leading position of a few small working groups during my career and what I found most rewarding to my colleagues, as well as to me, was when each individual was able to exceed in her or his own special expertise. It is not only respect but also support for professional self-esteem. This also serves the company most as the commitment to common goals is highest when people find the reason behind their labour to be also self-rewarding.

 
Dolphin-like leadership

In a bit unrealistic rose-coloured world we could make a comparison of this into more subtle leadership. If we think of the qualities mentioned at the beginning of this blog; fairness, trust, communication, respect, unity and collaboration. I believe anyone would appreciate those great values to any leader, not to forget committed, vision and supportive but also encouraging characteristics with one's own exemplary work. 

We've seen a lot of 'shark-like' leadership in the past, which is kind of ok - but the downside may manifest as; burnout, brokenness, demanding tasks and eventually lowered or even loss of motivation. In the worst case companies may have lost valuable (silent) knowhow, as some key employees had decided to find other career paths.  A 'dolphin-like' leadership will get similar results as any more harsh way of leadership but it is likely to be more motivating, more sustainable, more considering to employers & collaborative and perhaps it has better resilience in long run.

If you have a friend whose values qualities mentioned above and such characteristics as patience, perseverance, consistency, gentleness - yet firmness, creativity, healthy curiosity, joyfulness and a cheerful attitude. I believe this person would be highly valued by you. Why not value these kind of characteristics in any leadership as well.

Wouldn't it be time, to focus in the future more on Dolphin-like leadership than to the perhaps a bit old-fashioned Shark-like leadership. Shark-like leadership is familiar to many and it sure wins battles and competition. Just to let you know, in the nature, dolphins can beat up sharks by their collaboration and smartness. So, keeping this in mind Dolphin-like leadership surely can beat any competition and I would like to believe that the future of business management also lies in this type of leadership.

Sincerely

Kai Mattsson

Animal behaviourist

"Spend Merry Times with your animals."

                                                                       

Meritime Consulting

www.meritime.net

Meritime in social media;

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Meritime/345171735503394

https://www.instagram.com/elainkoulutusk_mattsson/

Tiktok; @Kaitzoo

"Naughty or nice" - by the eyes of David Premack

 Christmas is closing fast 

As we are living the first of December while I'm writing this blog, Christmas is in the minds of many at this time of the year.

For small kids it is a time of great expectation - a tormenting time of waiting for the Christmas eve or day - depending on which geological culture they are part of. The awaiting is a time for them to wonder how nice they've been .. and eventually how their good behaviour would be rewarded by Santa (or elves etc.)

Twenty four days is a long time !

The actual question is; Does their behaviour affect in any way to the amount of gifts they'd be receiving? Probably not ...

Naughty or nice?

This saying or habit of ours, in order to keep the children kind at least for the time of those 24 days, raises an interesting question in my mind. As an animal behaviour professional it makes me wonder which behaviour management principles are in use to promote good behaviour in children. At least in principle this should work but the practice is probably a completely different matter.

Grandma's rule

Could this be a case of enforcing Grandma's rule? At first glance it looks very much like that. But ..What is then Grandma's rule?

David Premack (1925-2015, USA) studied various reinforcement methods around the turn of the 1960’s. He focused on the reinforcing effects of activities rather than traditional primary reinforcers, for example in his capuchin monkey studies; later he studied the same principles with children.

According to the principle, a stronger and more pleasant activity reinforces a weaker form of behaviour. An activity high in the preference hierarchy reinforces other behaviours perceived as less pleasant. However, the preference hierarchy can change according to different situations or periods, places, and other factors, and it can also be influenced by training or reinforcement techniques. Premack actually stated that eating itself as a physical act or even playing are stronger and more rewarding activities than the food or toy itself.

When simplified I believe it can be understood better; First do X and then you can get Y ! A nice behaviour earns points for special activities. 

Let's think of an example; A classical example is of course; If you eat your veggies with the food you'll get some ice cream after dinner. So the "naughty" behaviour means in this case; not eating veggies and hence losing a preferred privilege - like ice cream. A preferred activities are offered after the desirable behaviour has occurred or executed. Therefore a removal of high-probability behaviour decreases undesirable behaviour (response cost). In this case the removal of the dessert.

Santa's power

Twenty four days being nice is a long time for let's say 4-5 year old tiny tot, just with a possible promise of an unidentified reward of gifts at Christmas. It is a long chain of expected behaviours. Personally I don't think the power of Santa would be enough for such a long wait. On the other hand in some cultures, like in my family, a Christmas calendar with some tiny surprises each morning, may act as an reinforcement for kid while waiting for the Grande finale.

As in any chain behaviours a reinforcement should be given to all states of the behaviour in some extend. Premack's principle can also be used as an excellent reinforcer when training chained behaviours. One could almost say that the reinforcing power of Premack's principle is essential for chain behaviours. Premack's principle is an excellent tool and is essentially a basic skill for every animal trainer. Its effect is strongly rewarding, it is a form of secondary reinforcement, and above all, it also teaches us owners, caregivers and trainers to better understand what is a rewarding activity for the animals under our care. When something new to be learned is added in front of already learned pleasant behaviour, this subsequent activity itself acts as a reinforcer for the behaviour attached in front of the chain. However it is important to remember that at the end of the chain, the reinforcement should be the strongest of all – it rewards the entire chain of activities according to the condition of the preference hierarchy. If the strongest reinforcement would be given at some other point within the chain, the continuation of the chain could be threatened.

Premack to Christmas? 

In above mentioned way the Premack principle could be considered as the reinforcing power for kids to behave kindly during the waiting period for the Christmas. How ever the chain in the situation is very long - just too long. Just to think of the anticipation of the reward and the effect it might have for the production of endorphins like dopamine seems to be too long. Dopamine is a pleasure hormone and studies show that it is indeed a kind of reward that reinforces the anticipation of something rewarding.

Considering all this; The “naughty or nice” idea (e.g., Santa’s list, or parents tracking their kids behaviour) is within behaviour–consequence framework, but to my opinion it isn’t exactly or exclusively the Premack principle. However, there are some overlapping elements; When you engage in the desired (= nice) behaviour, you get access to preferred activities. In other words a "nice" behaviour increases access to preferred activities (or rewards) and "naughty" behaviour reduces access to preferred activities (or rewards).

If you do a nice (an expected) behaviour (the low-probability behaviour), you can then do the fun (the preferred behaviour) activity (the high-probability action). Then it aligns with the Premack principle when implemented like this.

As a conclusion; it is rather hard to say what is the driving force in keeping kids behaving kind meanwhile they are expecting the Christmas. I believe it is partly due to Premack's principle but also positive reinforcement, which happens during the waiting time and at the Grande Finale has a significant role in it. In addition to that I bet there are also elements of negative reinforcement by the parents in appropriate moments while the Christmas is approaching.

Anyhow - for us animal behaviour professionals & hobbyists it is crucial that we are aware of different forces or stimuli's that are affecting our animals daily lives. Knowing this gives us multiple tools
in directing them into a better welfare and to a better everyday life with them.

Happy holidays and pleasant calm awaiting of Christmas times.

Sincerely

Kai    

P.s Here's a great gift to any animal lover who is interested in learning more about animal training - my book;

"Who is training whom?"

(Still only in Finnish - but a translation is on its way to English)

Consultations & book orders from my webpage;

www.meritime.net

Follow me in social media;

"Spend Merry Times with your animals."

                                                                       

Meritime Consulting

www.meritime.net

Meritime in social media;

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Meritime/345171735503394
https://www.instagram.com/elainkoulutusk_mattsson/
http://kaimattsson.blogspot.fi/
https://www.tiktok.com/@kaitzoo

How to learn learning?

 

What is learning?

 

This text is an excerpt from my book "Who's training Whom?", which I'm currently translating into English.

Learning happens all the time in our lives and in the lives of the animals under our care. When learning something new, an animal must also experience something which is previously unexperienced and thus create a history for itself from these experiences. 

Learning is based on memory. In practice, the brain's way of functioning changes and nerve cells react and transmit nerve impulses differently than before. Learning, therefore, not only changes behaviour but also, in the best cases, means the expansion of certain brain areas. In terms of behaviour, learning means some relatively permanent change in an animal's behaviour. Usually learning is beneficial, although an animal can also, of course, learn negative non-acceptable things.

Learning occurs passively, almost imperceptibly and unintentionally. Such learning is quite mechanical and usually does not require any great effort. Active learning on the other hand, sometimes requires quite significant effort; each of us certainly has our own very personal experiences of this, some with a foreign language, some with mathematics, etc. This kind of conscious learning is called cognitive learning.

Every training session with your animal is uniquely valuable.

Create a trustworthy
relationship with your
animals

Every training session, or rather, every interaction we have with our animal, is unique as it creates new history between you and your animal. We must focus on shaping our relationship to be trustworthy and respectful. Every behaviour is shaped by its consequences, so creating a history of our interactions is especially important. Creating something new is how we can influence those positive experiences and reinforcements that lay the groundwork for different behaviours. The next time you start interacting with your animal, remember that your attitude towards that moment is fundamentally up to you. Forget all your bad experiences with the animal for a moment, start fresh with a new attitude. When I say forget, I mean that our own behaviour should not form anticipatory emotional transfers or mindsets based on those experiences when starting a new encounter. The idea behind this is to create good opportunities for the animal to succeed.

In Finnish we have a saying; "Learning and age all", which roughly means that leaning happens while we age and gain wisdom - our learning builds up by our experience. This applies for animals as well. It is an old saying and it holds deep wisdom about learning of our own meta-skills. So, let's learn from the encounters that our shared history has already taught for us, but let's keep our minds open to new, pure interaction experiences.

 

Often, there is not just one right way to achieve goals; the destination can be reached through many different paths.

Development of one's own learning lifecycle.

It is therefore good sometimes to stop and reflect on and review one's own behaviour in a behaviour management or animal care situation. The matter can be examined from many different perspectives, either the entire interior from a distance or in more detail up close.

When seeking distance, it should be done broadly enough, so we can find our illogical ways of interacting with animals. Our influence on the behaviour of the animals under our care is the most significant. We may find explanations for the behaviours or patterns of our animal companions. Some may have been created by the environment or its influences, some we may have unintentionally reinforced ourselves without realizing what we have done.

From the results of the final conclusions of behaviour management or care situations, we can consider whether we have opportunities to modify the environment, or to what extent by changing our behaviour or our ways of operating with the animal we can achieve a desired change in behaviour of the animal being trained.

In short, we are talking about our meta-skills. Meta-skills refer to the analysis of our self-directed learning process, the regulation of our learning, and the development of its life cycle. How do we learn to learn, to think and to objectively observe our own learning and the development of our skills? Where do we seek perspective for the development of our training skills and how do we analyse it ourselves? They are thus skills that help us develop ourselves and enable us to learn to be increasingly better trainers.

Meta-skills refer to the analysis of our own self-directed learning process or working process, the regulation of our learning, and the development of its life cycle, how we learn to learn.

 Good mastery of meta-skills leads to skilful metacognitive activity. Metacognitive activity is the implementation of these learned skills and strategies as trainers in learning, thinking, and problem-solving situations.

How can we in practice develop ourselves and our skills in practice?

Surely many options immediately come to mind. Lectures, literature and the internet are all excellent sources of information, it is worthwhile to acquire valuable knowledge from them to support practical work. It is always constructive if you find a channel to discuss challenges, successes and even failures related to training techniques with your colleagues. Often it is different challenges and the failures which elevates us to achieve goals that boost our creativity, forcing us to seek innovative ways to reach our objectives. Often, there is not just one correct way to achieve goals; the destination can be reached through many different paths.

My animal training related
book was published in 2023, 
in Finnish - now it's under translation
into English.

An excellent way to develop one's expertise is to use external individuals for assistance. Consulting an experienced trainer to evaluate one's own techniques is an excellent way to get constructive feedback on one's training principles and practices. On the other hand, I am also very grateful to all those students or so-called "laypersons" who, out of curiosity, have asked for more detailed explanations of the principles of my animal care or training techniques. In these situations, we are inevitably forced to explain to another person the reasons and foundations of our actions. At the same time, we articulate them out loud to ourselves, which can lead to excellent insights; we just need to be open enough to new ideas for developing our operations. Utilizing modern technology also offers many opportunities, for example, for developing our body language communication. Video recording a training session is, on the one hand, quite merciless and revealing but at the same time so very corrective and developmental.

The purpose of all this is to achieve a way of operation where our communication with the animal is clear, consistent and effective. We ourselves need feelings of success. Similarly, our "behaviour" as a trainer or animal caretaker develops through positive successes. Animal success strengthens our self-image as trainers and develop our body language for calmer, more confident animal handling, care and training. At this point, I also want to remind you of the importance of our breathing technique, which will give strong message of firm existence; it significantly affects our entire body's communication. Good experiences of success also increase our motivation in animal training and encourage us to seek more successes. We also dare to better respond to new challenging goals that arise in the future, even those that might seem overwhelming to us without these experiences.

In my consulting situations I have so many times enjoyed the discussions with my clients of our/their nonverbal expressions to their animal companions.

Being with animals and managing their behaviour is such a challenge but on its best is so very rewarding to us as well as to animals under our care.

If you think you need advise with you animal companions - contact me and I'd be delighted to be of assistance.

P.S.

... if you are a managing business or in such position at work or of a company; you can just change the wording in this text from trainer to director.. and this all is valid for you too.

Sincerely

Kai Mattsson

"Spend Merry Times with your animals."

                                                                       

Meritime Consulting

www.meritime.net

Meritime in social media;

https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Meritime/345171735503394

https://www.instagram.com/elainkoulutusk_mattsson/

Tiktok; @Kaitzoo

Who's training who?

 Have you ever bumped into this thought?

Recently, at the end of last year, I managed to publish my first book on animal behaviour management with the very same title; Who's training who? (Kuka kouluttaa ketä? - in Finnish).

This is a question that raises every now and then when I've been working with my clients. 

..and to be honest I've been trained this way by several animals under my care in my early career as an animal trainer.

In principle we have similar need as our animals; 

We want to be successful and goal oriented and achieve those goals in a reasonable time. Animals have a strong similar driving force. However our goals when training an animal can easily be overruled by the energy centred nature of animals. Most animals still have their dna-written "instinct" of "surviving strategy" with the least amount of energy to be used in order to thrive.

It is very easy to get lost with your goal while animals are behaving this way. It all can start from a very small "different" or "unbalanced" nuance of behaviour which we may easily ignore and unaware of what we are actually doing, reinforce it ... and the story continues. At some point we may wake up and start realizing the outcome!

Untraining this type of behaviour may last quite long; especially if the "unwanted" behavioural twist is within a longer chain of behaviours, not to mention a situation that some superstitious behaviour would be involved.

"It's me who needs this training ...!"

I remember working with one cat owner who had some issues with her cat. We had been working on those matter a few times when again we did some analysing of the situation. Suddenly she straightened herself up and said; "Right - now I got it! It me who needs more of this training than my cat!" 

From there on the progress was surprisingly fast and just with a few training events together we did accomplish a good start to make the everyday life a whole lot easier and less stressful especially for the owner but as well as for the cat under her care.

Another example could be a couple who had quite a bit of difficulties while taking their dog out. In short - it was mostly the dog who decided the pace of the walk, the direction etc etc. There would be several more examples ie. when animal are expressing their natural behaviour but we may consider them as "bad" unwanted behaviours. This reminds me of a situation where zoo animals were protecting their pen while keepers were cleaning or feeding them - agonistic behaviours were present quite a bit. Animal behaviour (protection of their territory) was reinforced in this situation when keepers left the pen; In a way it was a relief for both but reinforced unwanted behaviour patterns. The solution was to start to re-establishing more positive human-animal relationship by reinforcing positive acceptable behaviour via diminishing pressure and trying to enter the pen only when animals were behaving calmly. Sometimes we need to find out in a more overall perspective what are eliciting stimulus behind animal behaviour and then we may find solutions on achieving our behaviour management  goals.

We should be aware of the small changes in animal behaviour or I'd say on any tendencies the animal is expressing. Once we can react on those in the very early stage we are winning the battle a whole lot easier, faster and before the situation escalates into more difficult situation or even into a problematic behaviour patterns. It is also through learning that animals create these unwanted behaviour patterns and once the behaviour gets fixed on certain stage by repetition it's a lot harder for us to untrain or correct the behaviour. 

The key element in avoiding the evolvement of this type of situations is anticipation and a close passionate monitoring of the animals behaviour. Be specific what are the criteria for a correct behaviour and stick to it.

Gee - it just sounds so simple !

Variability

Now what has variability to do with this matter?

A whole lot but maybe in a bit different context. 

This I think is connected to our behaviour and on what we are expressing through it. Remember; animals are excellent in reading body language even across different species, they learn easily our general expressions. If our behaviour is easily predictable the animals under our care will rather quickly pick up presignals in order to take "advantage" of them (remember their energy efficiency). If the consequence of our distinct behaviour is some what unpleasant for the animal in question it will surely start to change its behaviour. It can be avoidance of the situation or not coming back to owner (in recall) or even a slight change in response time to a cue can be a hint for us that everything is not in order.

Mirror mirror on the wall

I've always said that the behaviour or a responsive behaviour of  any animal under our care is all about us. How we response to our animals and how we are reading the animal's behaviour - but also how we behave ourselves while being with them. The animal is reflecting our behaviour or energy level & intensity back to us. In my early career I was taught that if you've got a bad day try not to be too much with your animals; Well, I don't quite underline this type of thinking any more as we do have to be professionals even when we're not having the best day ever. 

So - be alert and follow what your animal is doing, how it's expressing itself and if there are any changes in its behaviour react on them in a proper way to keep the every day life with them a bit easier. Observing animal behaviour is also vitally important in the respect of their health, after all the only common language we have with them lies within their behaviour. Even slightest changes in the behaviour of our beloved animal companion can be a sign of a change in their wellbeing.

Be consistent and unpredictable (in a proper manner) and pay attention on any changes in the animal behavior.

Have some Merry times with your animal!  

Sincerely

-Kai-

www.meritime.net

https://www.instagram.com/elainkoulutusk_mattsson/

https://www.facebook.com/Meritime-345171735503394

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kai-mattsson-36967819/

Kuka kouluttaa ketä? - haastattelu ; Kangasalan Sanomat 30.11.-23

 

HUOM! - Tämä ei ole omakirjoitukseni, vaan Eija Koivun 30.11.2023 Kangasalan Sanomissa kirjoittama haastatteluni esikoiskirjastani; Kuka Kouluttaa ketä?

·        Arjessa mukana

·        Pääuutiset

Kuka kouluttaa ja ketä? Särkänniemen delfiinien kouluttajanakin tunnettu Kai Mattsson tiivisti vuosien varrella omaksumansa kirjaksi, jonka hän sanoo olevan syväsukellus eläinten hyvinvointiin vaikuttaviin asioihin

Eija Koivu

 30.11.2023

0

    

Sähisevästä ja sylkevästä Viiseli-löytökissassa on osaavissa käsissä kehkeytynyt ihmisrakas lemmikki. Kai Mattsson sanoo vierastavansa temppu-sanan käyttöä, kun puhutaan eläinten kouluttamisesta. Hänen mukaansa se ei tee oikeutta sen paremmin eläimelle, kouluttajalle kuin kaikelle työlle, jonka tuloksena haluttu käytös on saatu aikaan. – Voi kestää vuosia, että kokonaisuus saadaan rakennettua vähän kerrassaan.

 

Seepra ei pääse raidoistaan eikä eläinkouluttaja Kai Mattsson pullokuonodelfiineistä, joiden kanssa hän työskenteli Särkänniemen delfinaariossa sen toiminnan lopettamiseen asti.  

– Olen kiitollinen pitkästä yhteistyöstä delfiinien parissa. Iso, antoisa ja etuoikeutettu luku elämässäni on päättynyt. Sain tutustua eläinten käyttäytymistä muokkaaviin voimiin varsin huikealla tavalla, upeiden eläinten opastuksella.  

Mattsson pitää onnenaan sitä, että merinisäkkäiden parissa työskentely on mahdollistanut kansainvälisen yhteistyön paitsi kollegoiden, myös erittäin kokeneiden ja nimekkäiden eläinkouluttajien kanssa.  

Perin ainutlaatuisen työuran tehnyt Mattsson on kysytty kouluttaja ja luennoitsija sekä Suomessa että maamme rajojen ulkopuolella. Euroopan eläintarhaliiton (Eaza) akatemian kouluttajiin kuuluva Mattsson palasi hiljakkoin Serbiasta, jossa hän jakoi eläinten hyvinvointiin ja koulutukseen liittyviä oppejaan sikäläisen eläintarhan henkilöstölle.  

– Kalat ovat ensimmäisiä eläimiä, joita olen tietoisesti kouluttanut. Särkänniemen akvaariolla opetin muun muassa ampujakaloja käyttämään niiden luontaista saalistustapaa paremmin, ja kotiakvaariossa taas Elviira-taistelukalani oppi syömään kämmenelläni.  

Yksilöiden välistä vuorovaikutusta

Vuonna 2004 perustettu Meritime Consulting on Mattsonin oma yritys, jonka kautta hän kertoo laajentaneensa kokemuspohjaansa kotieläinten, hyötyeläinten ja eläintarhaeläinten käyttäytymisen muokkaamisen ja hyvinvoinnin edistämisen saralle.  

– Kärjistetysti väitän, että eläimet delfiineistä koiriin ja eksoottisista eläimistä kaloihin käyttäytyvät samalla tavalla. Koen taitojeni jalkauttamisen uusien lajien koulutukseen ja käyttäytymisen kiintoisana.  

Mattsson korostaa, ettei eläinten koulutukseen liity mitään yliluonnollista tai -inhimillistä. Kyse on kahden yksilön välisestä vuorovaikutuksesta, jossa pätevät tieteellisesti todistetuttujen käyttäytymisteorioiden lainalaisuudet.  

– Kaikki eläimen seurassa vietetty aika on koulutustilannetta – eivät vain ne hetket, jolloin tietoisesti koulutamme. Esimerkiksi lemmikkieläintä kannattaisi kehua ja palkita silloinkin, kun omasta tahdostaan lepäilee rauhassa lähelläsi.  

Samaa viestii Mattssonin esikoisteoksen nimi: Kuka kouluttaa ketä? Alaotsikkonsa mukaisesti teos sisältää eläinten oppimisen teoriaa ja käytäntöä sekä tarjoaa lukijoille opastusta johdonmukaiseen ja positiiviseen tapaan eläimen käyttäytymisen muokkaamiseksi.  

Omia oivalluksia ja lainattuja ajatuksia

Mattsson luonnehtii kirjaansa syväsukellukseksi eläinten hyvinvointiin vaikuttaviin asioihin. Teoksen sivuilla hänen omat oivalluksensa kytkeytyvät vuosien varrella luennoilla ja muissa yhteyksissä muistiin merkittyihin laina-ajatuksiin sekä eläinkoulutuspsykologian ja käyttäytymistieteen tutkimustietoon.  

– Lemmikkiinkin kannattaa suhtautua välillä tieteentekijän asenteella, jolloin on mahdollista löytää eläimelle ja itselle paras tapa saavuttaa haluttu tavoite ympäröivistä ärsykkeistä huolimatta. Kannatan tutkimustiedon hyödyntämistä. Arvailu on turhaa, sillä se menee todennäköisesti pieleen.  

Kai Mattsson on kirjassaan pyrkinyt kertomaan eläinten kouluttamisesta tavalla, jolla asiasta ei ole aiemmin kirjoitettu. Kuva: Kai Mattssonin albumi

KIRJATILAUKSET: QR-koodilla tai täältä         https://www.meritime.net/contact

28,50€ + postitus & käsittelykulut

 

 

 

Mattssonin mukaan keskeisiä tekijöitä eläinten kouluttamisessa ovat myönteinen asenne, luottamus, johdonmukaisuus kärsivällisyys sekä eläintä tekemiseen kannustava, oikea-aikainen palkitseminen. Kouluttajalla tulee tietenkin olla myös selkeä päämäärä, millaista käytöstä hän haluaa eläimeltä.   

Vankan pohjan luottamukselle voi luoda perehtymällä eläimen rodullisiin ja lajityypillisiin ominaisuuksiin ennen kuin saa sen hoidon vastuulleen.  

 

– Edistyminen edellyttää meiltä kykyä lukea eläimen käyttäytymistä ja pieniä vivahteita, joita se käyttäytymisellään viestittää. Samalla opimme itsestämme ja käyttäytymisestämme eläimen seurassa. Suhde vahvistuu, kun kumpikin hyötyy yhteisestä työskentelystä.  

Toisinaan on hyvä eläytyä eläimen osaan. Sitä kautta saattaa löytyä uusia tapoja saada esiin haluttua käytöstä.  

– On erittäin tärkeää, että kaikki eläimen kanssa työskentelevät toimivat keskenään samalla tavalla. Ristiriitaisesta toiminnasta voi seurata ongelmia, joiden ratkaiseminen ottaa aikansa ja hidastaa tavoitteiden saavuttamista. 

Tavoitteena selkeys 

Mattsson sanoo pyrkineensä kirjoittamaan selkeän ja johdonmukaisen kirjan, joka sopii luettavaksi niin ensimmäisen lemmikin hankintaa harkitsevalle kuin eläinten parissa jo pidempään työskennelleillekin.   

Kuka kouluttaa ketä? jakautuu kolmeen osaan, joista ensimmäinen sisältää eläintenkoulutuksen perusasioita ytimekkäässä muodossa. Toisessa osa pureudutaan välineelliseen ehdollistamisesta yksityiskohtaisemmin ja laajemmin esimerkkien ja vertausten avulla.   

Ehkä hieman yllättäenkin Mattsson on poiminut esimerkkejä ihmislasten kanssa toimimisesta.  

– Yksinkertaisesta peruskäyttäytymisestämme löytyy paljon yhtenevyyksiä eläinten käyttäytymismallien kanssa. Meidän tulisi olla mahdollistajia sekä eläimillemme että lapsillemme.  

Myönteisyyden voima

Voimakeinojen välttäminen kaikessa kanssakäymisessä on aina ollut Mattssonin tapa toimia.  

– Eläinten koulutuksessa se on osoittautunut ehdottomasti eduksi. Se on myös hyvin tukenut nykyisin vallitsevaa positiiviseen kokemukseen ja vahvistamiseen perustuvaa koulutusmetodia.   

Kirjan kolmas osa koostuu englannin- ja suomenkielisestä termisanastosta.  

– Halusin raivata termiviidakkoa yhtenäisemmäksi. Osan termeistä olen itse kääntänyt englannista suomeksi, koska niille ei ollut vakiintunutta, käyttökelpoista vastinetta aikaisemmin. Kansainvälisten tehtävieni vuoksi käytän itse usein englanninkielistä termistöä. 

Tällä hetkellä Mattsonien kodissa Liuksialassa asustaa kaksi naurukyyhkyä, kolme riikinkukkokyyhkyä, kaksi marsua, yksi kissa, akvaariollinen kaloja ja kani. Ne ovat Kai Mattssonille työkavereita, joiden kanssa hän on vieraillut muun muassa päiväkodeissa, kouluissa ja ikäihmisten parissa kertomassa eläin edellä toimimisesta.

 

Vaikka liki 250-sivuinen kirja tarjoaa paljon asiaa, Mattsson harkitsee jatkavansa tietokirjailijan uraansa.  

– Olen erittäin kiinnostunut eläinten osallistavasta terveydenhuollosta. Sillä tarkoitetaan eläinten terveydentilan ylläpitämistä ja seuraamista vuorovaikutteisen, eläintä mahdollisimman vähän stressaavan kanssakäymisen kautta.  

Eläintarhamaailmasta lähtöisin olevasta menetelmästä on hyötyä myös lemmikki- ja hyötyeläimille. Eläimet voidaan kouluttamisen ja osallistamisen kautta saada tottumaan tutkimus- ja hoitotoimiin niin, ettei rauhoittavaa lääkitystä tarvita.  

– Valasta tai tiikeriä on vaikea napata kainaloon ja alkaa hoitaa sen enempää kyselemättä. Jos joudutaan käyttämään lääkeaineita, ne saattavat esimerkiksi muuntaa verikoetuloksia.  

Kai Mattsson: Kuka kouluttaa ketä? Eläinten oppimisen teoriaa ja käytäntöä. Momentum-kirjat, 2023  

·        AIHEET

·        DELFIINI

·        EAZA

·        ELÄINTEN KOULUTTAMINEN

·        ELÄINTEN KÄYTTÄTYMINEN

·        ELÄINTENKOULUTTAJA

·        EUROOPAN ELÄINTARHALIITTO

·        KAI MATTSSON

·        KANGASALA

·        KUKA KOULUTTAA KETÄ?

·        MERITIME CONSULTING

·        SÄRKÄNNIEMEN DELFIINIT

 

A spoonful of target training (vs luring)

 Using target in animal training is often times more commonly understood

 than luring as a training technique.

The title of this blog formed in my mind because of a puffer fish training I started recently and the first target I used with it and still am using is a spoon.

It got me thinking of luring in a wider perspective;

A spoonful of some yummy food surely is more tempting than just an empty spoon. .. but what if you could turn that setting up side down? What if eventually the empty spoon would do the magic twice if not three time more effective than a full spoon?

Sounds confusing? .. or does it? Well, let me open the set up a bit more.

A few decades with animals ...

I feel very prosperous as during my animal care & training career (which got started in early 80's)  I've had possibilities to work with so many different species belonging in such many different orders of animals. Thirty years with dolphins was the grand school of operant conditioning.

In 2004 I also started gradually my own consulting work ( www.meritime.net), it has opened doors to many other opportunities with other species. I find it fascinating that what ever species I've been working with the behaviour modification laws apply in each and every one in such similar way. In recent years I've been again more involved with aquatic species, namely fishes. They definitely are another challenge & extension in implementing my training skills. This is an exploration into less well-known area of animal behaviour modification. Training buffer fish, shark, sterlet and cleaning scrimps etc. just to name some - Who wouldn't be mesmerized ?

A classic example of luring is a picture of donkey following a carrot

Luring - good or bad?

It is very easy to fall into using luring during the time we spend with our animals, temptation to use it  i.e to get the animal into a specific direction; into a pen, stable, trailer etc. is some times quite compelling. It is easy to get some treaty out of your pocket and present it to the animal in question or even toss it into a pen where we'd like to have the animal to move in. Often times it works and is quite harmless. 

However there are a few traps we should try to avoid when using luring as 

a animal behaviour modification technique.

Pre-cue's / precursors

The luring term is often rather discredited and given a bit bad reputation and there is a reason for it. What happens easily is that the animal will pick up even our subtle pre-behaviours which will turn into a (new) cue for it to react upon. An easy example of this is opening the fridge door or a food can lid. They are very strongly telling to the animal that some food is about to be served.

I remember from my early days of animal care when we had two seal (a grey seal & an harbour seal) at the aquarium I was working in, no training was done with them, at least not consciously. They were fed twice a day in a very regular schedule at eleven and four o'clock. Both seals were very conscious about their  feeding times and they were jumping half way of their body out of water just prior to feedings. 

Can animals learn timetables? 

Most likely if it happens in such regular schedule as what we had. Often prior to these occasions we were also checking how they are from a window facing to the pool, also most of the times there were some public around the pen to see the feeding of those seals. So there were many other quite out standing cues for the seals to notice just before feeding.

Animals are super-creatures and just brilliant in reading body gestures & -language even of other species. This is something we should be always aware of. Even slightest nuances in our own behaviour can become a precursor to the animal. This means that if we are using luring as a behaviour modification technique we should be very cautious of not making any continuous pre-cues before we are giving them treats.

Fading the use of lure

I guess one reason for the discredited reputation is that often times luring method is not faded away or transferred into some other more advanced way of behaviour reinforcement. If we'd fade out luring and change it into ie. following or touching a target. We would most likely avoid most of the above mentioned traps. The behaviour would be rather reliable and there wouldn't be such a possibility for the animal to respond to any other cue than the one we've trained it to react upon. All in all my opinion is that target serves better our aims and common purposes when working with animals.

I do use luring as a tool in animal behaviour modification 

but only as long as it seems reasonable. 

I do use luring as one type of training with animals; Quite recently I started to train my guinea pigs, in a very similar way; The plan is to first lure them to reach my fingers and later change it into following a target.  However - I wouldn't use luring too much (or too long) on getting animals from one space (exhibit / stable etc.) to another or in the a case we'd need to separate one individual from some others. This type of luring is quite commonly done and I can confess that I've done it too - but I would try to get this type of behaviour modification rather soon under a cue and use training tools like target or stationing to establish it properly. The relationship with our animals to my opinion is based on trust. If we use luring too much in ie. separation of individuals we will eventually run into difficulties. Let's be fair with them and let them know what our aims are, by using differential reinforcement and positive surprises we can work  these situations into a reliable behaviour responses.

Fahaka puffer fish

It has been interesting to get to know this species (Tetraodon lineatus). According to some sources it is considered to be the most aggressive (terrritorial) fresh water puffer fish species but at the same time it is said to be an enigmatic species. In other words; it gets easily interactive with its owner, even in such amount it can develop into a pet like relationship. So I hope this gives me a good start in getting into a relationship with this little fellow. How ever it is not the first puffer fish I am training, as earlier I did train a Mbu puffer (Tetrodon Mbu) to follow a target and swim through a small hoop. This was one of the first training experiences I had with fishes just out of pure curiosity and interest to see how cognitive they can be.

Working with fishes is a bit challenging. Often times the only way of getting started is via luring and that's how I got started this time as well. I did introduce a target in a very early state and used a piece of shrimp to lure our Fahaka next to the spoon to get the treat. 

In my youtube-channel you can see one of the first target training session of this Fahaka. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uobJ5O8tcw

A wrong direction
in eyesight - past the spoon.

Before this I had trained it to eat from a tweezers. One training task at a time is a so important rule in training animals. So, once I got that into a reliable stage the next step in training was to present the target; wait for the puffer's reactions and then reinforce correct behaviour or a correct direction of behaviour (approximation). I still use luring every now and then to strengthen the new meaning for the spoon-target. 

On this level I am not only following the direction where the puffer is swimming but also where it is looking. 

Reinforce already the direction animal is looking.

 Puffer fishes are cute and one reason for that is their ability to move their eyes.  It enables them to look better forward. Many times this fellow is swimming in  right direction but it is following me through the water surface, not the target. Once it's eyes sight is changes into spoon (or to another target I'm using) I can reinforce it. So with this puffer I can easily reinforce it directionally even before it reaches  the target or lure.

This time the direction and focus of eyesight is correct

Animals tend to go where their eyesight is focusing.

Where are we now?

As much as I would like to say and tell how far I've proceeded in this training and how excellent this still little puffer fish is ... I just cannot. 

Any animal trainer knows that behaviour modification doesn't always proceed progressively or at least not linearly. With fahaka I had to get back to easier state in training. So, we're back in luring - luring this puffer fish to eat next to the spoon, as the spoon lost it's "magic".  So I'm reinforcing the spoon - to make it again more meaningful for the puffer fish. 

However I am very optimistic on my task and I do believe that eventually the empty spoon will have a strong meaning to this puffer fish, hopefully stronger meaning than just a piece of food.

Thank you for reading this blog and remember to enjoy every bit of the time spend 

with you training & companion 'mates'.

Sincerely

- Kai -                                                                      (The training is being done @ Särkänniemi Aquarium, FIN)

ps. check out my renewed webpages

www.meritime.net

https://www.instagram.com/elainkoulutusk_mattsson/

https://www.facebook.com/Meritime-345171735503394

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kai-mattsson-36967819/