Yesterday afternoon we did two exercises. The first was free work. I put out a variety of different surfaces, some smooth and others more rough and a tray with a few plastic balls, and placed pieces of cheese on them. Salma did not have a clue at first but Mimi, who in the past would [...]
The Pause with a capital P is a simple but highly effective "tool" in all learning processes. When we pause, we give the animal the chance to process and assimilate the recent experience in order to learn from it. Sometimes we will find that after the pause a task which previously seemed impossible will simply [...]
Our aim is that the animals we work with should be present throughout the activity. Only when the animal is aware of what is going on can he assimilate the experience and learn from it. We must always offer them that crucial "pause" so that they can process the information. For the very same reasons [...]
For the most part we are impatient. In our world of instant gratification we want all difficulties to be resolved with a wave of a magic wand, but that is not how life is. When we are working with animals, it pays to celebrate each tiny step forward. Each tiny advancement takes us just that [...]