Training Progress!

Diary entry, 10.04.2010, guest

Pictures of the day (9 images)   

Paul and I (Andrea) have been training the wolves through protected contact and some of them in full contact with the other trainers. They are all learning to go stand on a mark and each wolf has their own individual mark to stand on. Each mark is a different shape and color to make it easy for the wolves to distinguish. They are also learning to put their nose to a target follow the target stick which is a great tool to teach many other behaviors as you can guide them with the stick.

We have also started training a recall for safety reasons. A recall is a signal that means "stop whatever you are doing and come to the fence!" As a signal we chose a big bell that can be easily rung by anyone in an emergency. This is a safety precaution just in case one of the wolves ever displays aggression towards a human in the enclosure. If this were to happen we can ring the bell and the wolves will hopefully stop what they are doing (including being aggressive) and run towards the fence to get a great big jackpot reward. This gives the human a chance to leave the enclosure safely.

The reason we use an extra signal for this instead of the normal “come” is because the signal “come” is used on a daily basis and it is acceptable for them not to come if they do not want to leave the enclosure. So this signal is not as strong as the recall that is only used 1-2 times a week and where every time the bell rings a huge reward comes flying into the enclosure. This reward includes toys and lots of different foods so that it is not only a huge reward but also a surprise what they will receive. This combination of big reward+ big surprise makes the recall so positive that in an emergency situation they will always choose to come to the fence over any other behavior including aggression. As you can see in the pictures, the wolves already love the sound of the bell so much that they try to ring it themselves!