A Great Example of How Positive Reinforcement Works

This is Steve Martin of Orlando based Natural Encounters. Steve is an incredible trainer and teacher. Here you can see how quickly the African Grey learns the foot scratching behavior because she is so eager for the treat, which is positive reinforcement.

When Your Puppy Has Something In His Mouth That Shouldn't Be There...

Through my studies, I’ve had the fortune to study from some well respected trainers and behaviorists who use positive reinforcement strategies to affect behavior modification in animals. Barbara Heidenreich is one of them. She is an animal trainer who consults with zoos and other animal related facilities around the world. She is also past president of the International Association of Avian Trainers and Educators (IAATE).



(When Barbara was in town for the IAATE
conference, I brought her in to Dr. Gary
Clemons 55KRC program to answer questions
from listeners.)
In her Fall 2008 Good Bird Magazine, Barbara shared with readers how she solved an age old dilemma for people with animals – what do you do when your dog or bird or cat has something in his mouth that he shouldn’t have?

Here is an excerpt from her article:
Puppies are notorious for chewing up all sorts of contraband. Despite my best efforts to keep all items I did not want chewed up from the floor, I knew there would be moments when my favorite shoes might end up in my puppy’s mouth. I decided to teach a strong ‘drop’ behavior.

To do this, I armed myself with Waylon’s absolute favorite treats hidden in my fist. I offered Waylon an acceptable chew toy such as a stuffed animal. As he was chewing, I place my closed fist full of treats next to the toy, when he would stop chewing and smell my closed fist, I bridged (said the word ‘good’) and opened my fist so that he could get a treat. This was repeated several times, until the presentation of my fist would quickly cause him to drop what was in his mouth. I then added a verbal cue as well. I chose the oh, so clever, word ‘drop’.

My next step was to raise the bar a bit. I offered Waylon something he enjoys more than a stuffed toy, his squeaky ball. This was followed by even more enticing items, including a bone. Every time Waylon dropped the item he received a treat, or in some cases I simply offered back the item he had dropped, or another fun chewable item. When the day came when he found a shoe, I walked up to Waylon as I would under any circumstances. This meant no chasing, yelling or shrieks that my shoe was in his mouth. I calmly gave him the drop cue and the shoe left his mouth unscathed and hit the floor. I also did not have a treat in my hand, which was not a problem. My goal had always been that the treat would be phased out from being hidden in the hand. This time I gave him lots of praise and attention, which worked fine as a reinforcer. Now I regularly reinforce with all sorts of things…a treat, giving back the item he dropped, attention, another acceptable chew toy, etc. I so enjoy that he will drop even the smallest item when cued. And he does it eagerly knowing something else he enjoys is sure to follow.

For more about Barbara, please visit her web site at: www.goodbirdinc.com

Is Your Garden Pet Safe?

I don’t know about you but I love gardening. I’ve got a huge one in my backyard and all the wild animals love to romp and rest there. But if I had an outdoor pet like a dog or cat, I’d have to be real careful. A number of my favorite plants made it to the toxic list.

So, I thought I’d post a list I found online of plants you should be cautious of around your pet.

Toxic Plants
The springtime plants that can result in gastrointestinal upset in dogs and cats include:
Amaryllis Caladium Tulip
Ferns Calla lily
Hyacinth Iris
Iris
Plants that are considered very toxic and can result in severe illness or even death:
Crocus Azalea Rhododendrom
Easter lily Tiger Lily Bittersweet
Clematis Daffodil Day lily
Foxglove Lily of the valley Narcissus
Morning Glory Death Camas

If you suspect your pet may have chomped on one of your plants, try to determine how much he actually ingested, and from what part of the plan. (The entire plant isn’t always toxic.) Then make sure to take a sample with you to the veterinarian. Of course prevention is always the best solution.

Absolutely Adorable

Patient-Cat
Originally uploaded by goodthingslisa

No, these aren't my pets. My cousin shared the video with me. It was shared with her and she doesn't know where it originated. But it's definitely not photoshop, and it's way to cute to not pass on.

Solving A Screaming Problem Can Be Accomplished Using Positive Reinforcement

(This was originally written for my Pet Pals column and published in Hyde Park Living. It is being posted with permission from the magazine.)

Barnaby is my little grey talking teddy bear. I always tell people he’s 1/3 child, 1/3 puppy, and 1/3 bird. Probably actually less than 1/3 bird but the fact remains that he IS a bird, his grey and maroon feathers give him away.

He has the innocence of a child and the playfulness of a puppy. Whether he’s swinging from one foot, twisting his body around, batting his bell, or chasing after a wiffle ball I just threw in his cage, he adds so much entertainment to this household. Barnaby willingly gives kisses the minute he’s picked up, and you probably guessed, that happens often. When he wants me to come, he calls “mommy here.” Whatever he wants, Barnaby begins with “mommy?” then states his need – “water” or “mommy got your beak” (meaning a game we play) for example. I just love that little grey guy.

But, there was a time in our relationship that I was beside myself in angst. Barnaby is a Timneh African Grey, and being an African Grey, his nature is to learn sounds that have value to him. The first sounds he decided to learn since coming here were the rare screams he heard coming from my other two birds. And Barnaby’s version was always at ear piercing decibels for very long periods at a time.

Just like so many other bird owners, I tried everything I had heard to try. I tried putting him in his cage, talking to him in quiet words, telling him “no”, ignoring him. All to no avail. I was at the end of my rope when I stumbled upon a bird behavior list on the internet.

I was one of the fortunate ones. I say that because finding Susan Friedman, Ph.D., and her bird behavior teachings were the best things that ever could have happened to my relationship with my birds. Susan is a professor at the Utah State University in the Department of Psychology (and bird owner) who very generously volunteers her time to help people like me become better “parronts” using the principles of psychology. She teaches an online bird behavior course that I took several months ago, and began a behavior analysis solution list serve where graduates of the class help other bird owners learn to change or prevent bird behavior problems. It has been the single greatest resource for me as a bird owner.

We are taught to stop looking for answers by labeling behaviors or birds, or generalizing species. It serves no purpose in helping to get at the root of the problem. The bottom line, Susan teaches, is that ALL behavior has function. No matter what the behavior is – whether it’s biting, not stepping up, chewing on furniture, or screaming – something occurred immediately prior to the act (antecedent) that may serve to set the occasion for it to happen, and something occurred immediately after the act (consequence) that impacts whether or not the behavior will be repeated in the future.

We, as teachers, can influence behaviors by changing the environment including antecedents and consequences.

All of my earlier attempts, I was taught were actually reinforcing his screams – definitely why he had never stopped screaming. There’s a scientific word for what I had been doing. It’s called “intermittent reinforcement”, meaning, sometimes I gave him attention for screaming without even realizing it. Intermittent reinforcement makes a behavior more resistant to change (think of the addiction of the slot machine in a casino).

My challenge as Barnaby’s teacher, was to provide him with a more stimulating and satisfying alternative to his screaming while at the same time ignoring the screaming. This strategy is called differential reinforcement of an alternative behavior (DRA). It is reinforcing an alternative to screaming that makes it different than just plain ignoring it. In summary, it boiled down to three basic steps –

1)Each and every time Barnaby would make a chosen sound (at first it was a whistle, then changed to “mommy here”), I was immediately there with reinforcement. The contingency I wanted Barnaby to learn with this was “When” I make this sound “Then” mom gives me attention. Eventually I got to where I don’t come each time, sometimes I’ll tell him I’m busy.

2)Ignore all screaming. Period. No attention at all, if I’m in the room, I calmly walked out with the other birds. With this step, I had to be prepared for an “extinction burst” where he screamed even louder to try to get my attention. Under no circumstances could I give in and go to him during this, or his problem would only worsen. The contingency I wanted Barnaby to learn was, “When” I scream “Then” the room is evacuated.

3)Thoughtful arrangement of the environment. I needed to make sure Barnaby had enough activities that HE was interested in to keep him busy. When I left his room, in the beginning, I would give him something to keep his mind occupied until I was out of sight. If he wasn’t interested in what I had given him, it meant that his gift wasn’t as stimulating to him as calling out to me, and so I had to find something else that was.

Of course there are still moments when the birds scream, they are, after all birds. But it is more the exception than the rule now.

So often bird owners don’t even realize that they’ve played a role in developing their birds’ behavior “problem” or that they have the power to change the behavior. But they do have the power.

One of the list serve members, who also trains dogs, once wrote, “Here in this house, my assumption is that if the animal knew what I wanted, they would do it. If they don’t do what I want, then they don’t know the skill.”

It's Time To Eat!

April 12, 2009
Originally uploaded by goodthingslisa

Taken on April 12, 2009. The little guys are starved and mom is making sure they don't stay that way.

Nature's Wonder Right Outside My Back Door

So, they're not really my pets, but I've been having fun watching this miracle of nature happen before my eyes. The babies are so cute. I'm going to miss them when they leave.

This series of pictures takes you from when the mother was sitting on her eggs until one of her babies first day of flight. (at least that I knew of) The little guy in the bottom picture was just resting on my driveway, not a care in the world til I tried to pick him up and move him. He wandered into my neighbor's yard and into my neighbor's window well. Hours later, the little guy was back in his nest safe and sound with his mom and sibling. Amazing!

Chester is a good boy

Chester is a good boy
Originally uploaded by goodthingslisa

Why you shouldn't teach a bird in the presence of another. :) As soon as I get the seeds out, Chester gets so excited he goes through all his behaviors until we get started. The voice you hear praising Chester for the wrong behavior is Barnaby, my Timneh African Grey. I just happened to get it on tape.

(Make sure to have your speakers turned up for the video. It recorded softly.)

I'm a Proud Parront

That’s right, I’m a parront. I have three beautifully feathered, well mannered (most of the time), intelligent fids.

You may be asking yourself, what exactly are fids? Well, fids, quite simply, are kids in every sense of the word, they just happen to have feathers. They play, they bicker, they laugh (really, they do), they talk, they’re sensitive, they’re not fancy to cleaning up their room, and they LOVE when their parront is silly. The sillier the better. They also never grow up. Fids will always remain fids.

My oldest is Chester, an Alexandrine ringneck parakeet. It’s hard to believe I’ve had him about 16 years. He’s stunning to look at. Measuring in at about 25 inches, about half of his length is his tail. His light green feathers are almost velvety, and his oversized, vivid red beak always looks to me like it’s bearing a smile. Chester is one of the happiest, carefree fids I’ve ever met; but, when I have a down day, he somehow instinctively wants to be close.

Dreyfuss, a maximillian pionus, is my middle fid. At around 15, she and Chester grew up as siblings. And, just like siblings, they may squabble one minute and want to be close the next. Dreyfuss is shy around strangers but not like she was thanks to strangers (to her) learning to respond to her body language. She also loves her head rubs and is one of the few living beings that actually likes when I sing to her. Sometimes she’ll raise her head and sing right along with me.

My youngest is Barnaby, an eight plus old Timneh African Grey, who LOVES his cream cheese, and his kisses. His very first words were “I love you.” Barnaby came to me on a Delta jet and I always think about him when I’m at the airport. His breeders are Nannyroo and Rooster, given their nicknames because Nannyroo – otherwise known as Eva – from infancy carried the babies around in pockets of her apron. It’s one of the ways they socialized their babies. (Due to health issues, she’s not hand raising them any longer.)

In my opinion, having fids is very much like having kids. Granted, I’ve never had children but I have a niece.

If Dreyfuss should wander on Chester’s cage, he’ll usually find mom to be rescued. (Barnaby, however, will fly to his play cage instead. Then call out ‘Mommy here!) They love attention, and know exactly how to get it. Unlike kids, however, I don’t read them stories before putting them to bed. I do however, need to plan ahead. Barnaby would much rather stay up and talk about his day than sleep.

On a serious note, adopting birds isn’t a decision anyone should take carelessly – never should it be a whim decision. I have heard one too many sad stories of birds who have lost homes because of chronic and destructive behaviors brought about by owners who simply weren’t fully prepared for the complexities of owning a parrot.

In addition to needing healthy foods, plenty of toys, and a non-toxic environment, parrots have other needs. Like all animals, they respond much better to positive reinforcement. Their “bad” behaviors (like biting and screaming) are often misunderstood, and often unintentionally reinforced or inappropriately punished. Learning about applied behavioral analysis and positive reinforcement was the best thing I could have done for our relationship – and their success. For me, becoming a better parront is a continual learning curve.

I get asked a lot why I became so fascinated with birds. Truth is, I’ve been an animal lover my entire life. My family has always had dogs. And, growing up, I’ve come home with gerbils, turtles, frogs, lizards, a cat, a rabbit, a guinea pig, a crawfish, and even a raccoon.

Pets are truly wonderful companions. If you’ve ever owned a pet, you know what I mean. This blog is going to be about all kinds of topics relating to pets. You’ll find anecdotal stories and information about behavior, photos, events and organizations related to pets and more. I hope you enjoy it!