ABC'S: ANIMAL BEHAVIOR

CONCERNS & SOLUTIONS

A Question & Answer Forum For Animal Professionals

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Welcome to the ABC's! Animal Behavior Concerns & Solutions is an animal behavior column written by animal behaviorist and animal trainer, Diana L. Guerrero. This section is dedicated to animal training techniques for all animals and pets, and topics related to operant conditioning and reinforcement. The column discusses the technique of bridging and establishing bridging criteria when training in a two part topic.

Understanding Applications of the Bridge and Bridging Criteria in Animal Training Applications
Part 2: Questions & Answers

QUESTION: What is your opinion about multiple trainers working with one animal?

ANSWER: It seems to be less important, for veteran animals to have one specific trainer, but I find it often critical to have only one trainer working on teaching a new behavior and finishing that training. This is important to do before turning the behavior over for others to work. It is also important for that trainer to sign the other trainers off on the behavior in order to maintain the criteria established.

QUESTION: Why does it seem more critical for some animals to have one trainer while it does not seem to matter with others?

ANSWER: Good question! First, there is the need for consistency of approach that training new behaviors (or new animals) require for success. Once a behavior is secure, or a routine is stable, there is more margin for error. Although you don't want to make many mistakes, they can happen at a more advanced stage without causing a total collapse; this is because things are already stable and understood. Because new behaviors and animals take a while to become established, it is more critical to have consistency in the beginning.

QUESTION: Does it matter if there is a difference between training or bridging styles?

ANSWER: When used in training a new behavior or a naive animal, yes, it is more of a necessity. It is important to have clear and consistent communication and guidelines to avoid frustrating or confusing an animal and in order to achieve success. Accountability to each trainer can vary, and care needs to be taken since any lack of consistency can lead to increased frustration, confusion, and aggression because of it. However, higher intellect animals seem to figure out the difference between the trainers and their styles.

QUESTION: Is there a difference between a long and short bridge?

ANSWER: This is a matter of opinion. There can be, it actually depends on the application. It is also a matter of preference with each individual's training style. I have seen more advanced trainers use the bridge to give the animal feedback in a reinforcing manner. Some trainers will use quick bridges during regular training, however if a breakthrough is made, will offer a long bridge quite different from their normal pattern. This will often signal successful completion and is paired with a higher ratio of primary reinforcement. Care should be taken in this type of application. The magnitude of reinforcement can directly affect the response the animal gives to the trainer, for the better. If this method is abused or confused, however, it can become meaningless and have an adverse affect instead.

QUESTION: What do you think of release words or cues?

ANSWER: With terrestrial and domestic animals I have used a short bridge as a reinforcer and another cue for ending the behavior or session. This can allow more control and create less anticipation by an animal. This application is most often used to build longevity into stationary behaviors. It is more common in domestic animal training than some other areas. Again, these type of choices will depend on the individual animals, the species involved, and the skill of the people working with them.

QUESTION: What do you think about variable reinforcement?

ANSWER: In more advanced applications, many trainers will prefer to only give primary reinforcement when the animal has completed the tasks at hand at the desired level. To accomplish this successfully, a fairly extreme variable reinforcement schedule is used by applying the secondary reinforcer (bridge) throughout the session. Care must be taken that excessive use of this does not happen since it could diminish the association between the secondary and primary reinforcer.

My experience is that the animals like the variety, and the challenge of variables; it seems to stimulate more interest and the drive to meet the demand. Animals will often perform better and learn faster if they have that and consistent feedback. Feedback can be either verbiage from the trainer or through bridging itself.

QUESTION: Do you have any suggestions for handling stress situations or new conditions/locations with animals?

ANSWER: This could also be another article! In higher stress level situations (or higher distraction levels) I will increase the primary reinforcement and use easier behaviors to obtain comfort and get successful performance from the animal before moving to more difficult tasks. In these cases I bridge more and sometimes will go back to basics.

Another critical influence to seeing you successful in these situations where you could lose control is the trust factor, or bond, that the animal has with the trainer. Many times when an animal is under stress they will not respond to food rewards or traditional approaches that work well otherwise. This difference is the rapport and trust that takes time to establish with an animal.

Are you a reader with a question? Be sure to submit it--and good luck in all your training endeavors!

About the columnist: Since 1978 Diana L. Guerrero has worked professionally with both wild and domestic animals. Guerrero has been affiliated with, and certified by, a variety of animal programs in the USA and Europe. Based in California, she writes, consults, and speaks. Information on her animal career programs, training courses, and her books {What Animals Can Teach Us about Spirituality (SkyLight Paths, 2003), Blessing of the Animals (Sterling, 2007), Help! My Pet is Driving Me Crazy (Guerrero Ink, 2007), Animal Disaster Preparedness for Pet Owners & Pet Professionals (Guerrero Ink, 2007)} can be found in this web site and in the shop. Questions for Guerrero should be submitted via the blog comments or membership forum.