Clicker Training Community Blog

One of the often-overlooked rules of reinforcement is to use a variety of reinforcers. The two key words in that sentence are variety and reinforcers.

We're all creatures of habit, so it’s easy to fall into a routine where the reinforcement is well...routine. I like sushi and reward myself with it at lunch, but offer it to me on the same day for dinner and I don't find that reinforcing at all!

So a key to successful training is to keep it interesting. Vary your reinforcers. You can mix up reinforcers in the same session. You can vary them from session to session.

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Discovery News reports that the Zoo Atlanta has used positive reinforcement training methods to teach their gorilla, Ozzie, to accept the "Gorilla Tough Cuff". The Tough Cuff is a blood pressure cuff that was recently designed through partnership with the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. Cardiac disease is the leading cause of mortality in male gorillas living in captivity, and this invention will help to monitor high blood pressure in older gorillas, which is a frequent precursor to Cardiac disease.

Click here to read the full article!

Are you planning on dressing up your dog, cat, or other pet for Halloween? Have you picked out or made the costume? We already have a good number of submissions for our costume contest, but there isn't one costume showing up more than others. After all your hard work getting your favorite friend ready for the fun festivities, be sure to take a picture and submit it to us. Enter the costume contest and you could win treats for your pet. All you have to do is take a picture of your pet dressed up in costume and then e-mail the picture.

Do you and your dog dress up for Halloween? Ever have a costume so cute you wish you could share with everybody else? Think your outfits are so outrageous they could win a prize? Well, while you’re preparing for Halloween, be sure to enter our Pets in Costume Contest. The winner receives—what else?—free treats! All you have to do is take a picture of your pet dressed up in costume and then costumes [at] clickertraining [dot] com (e-mail the picture). Good luck!