When we see a bird lunge, bite, or shut down, it’s tempting to label them: moody, stubborn, bossy. It’s a habit most of us have fallen into at some point. But those labels stop us from asking the right questions. Frustration isn’t a personality trait. It’s...
Coercion. It’s a tough word. It can bring up ideas of force or even harm — and it’s not always easy to look at directly. But the truth is, most of us have used coercion in our training without even realizing it. It shows up...
If you’ve been working with birds for a while, chances are you’ve picked up your fair share of training advice — some of it helpful, some of it… maybe not so much. “Don’t let the bird win.” “Hold on ‘til they give up.” “He just needs to know...
At our recent AvOCET conference, attendees were treated to an enlightening presentation by Sean Will and Maasa Nishimuta, founders of the Constructional Approach to Animal Training. Their talk focused on incorporating function-based training and degrees of freedom into modern animal training practices. What is function-based training...