Dolphin training for your pet
A trainer giving a ‘high 5’ fin to a dolphin as a reward for coming to the dock
It’s been almost two months since my visit to the Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key, and I’m still chewing on what I observed. If these things can be accomplished with dolphins, what is possible with our own pets?
Here’s a few thoughts to kick around when considering your relationship with your pet, based on observations of the dolphins and their trainers:
If you couldn’t physically manipulate your pet, how would you accomplish the task at hand? It’s so easy to touch our pet during training to help achieve our goal… what if you couldn’t? How would you accomplish the task at hand?
Intention still trumps almost everything. If your intention is clear, then you are 100% more likely to get the result you are looking for. Being able to visualize what you are asking for and keep that focus regardless of what your pet does can make or break success.
Using a combination of hand signals and voice commands coupled with body language makes it easier for requests to be understood. Every “ask” of the dolphins contained both a hand signal and a verbal key word. This gave the dolphins every chance to get it right, and helped keep the communication coming from the trainer crystal clear.
Praise for the ‘right’ answer, or even the ‘wrong’ answer that was still a ‘try’, will reinforce and encourage more exploration and engagement. You probably can’t praise too much. Having cues for your pet to know exactly when they did the “right” thing is important. The trainers use whistles, but a clicker, or a specific sound works. Then reward with treats, scratches or touches that let your pet know they got it right.
When the ‘wrong’ answer is offered, redirect back to the original request. If it persists, explore another option that is more likely to get success and reassess the question being asked, and make adjustments to try again. Many times the “wrong” answer is due to a lack of understanding or trust. It’s up to the human to figure out which one and adjust accordingly.
Success is more important than speed: some of the ‘tasks’ have taken over 10 years to train, and they are in no rush to “complete” the training. There is no end. It’s all part of the journey. Knowing that, how can tasks and requests be broken down even smaller in order to build more trust and success?
Trust in the relationship is paramount. Without trust, there can be no training and no relationship. Put trust first, and everything else will continue to fall into place.
I hope these observations have given you some food for thought for you and your pet relationship. What’s one thing you can change that will help you find more success with your training goals together?
