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

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