Episode - 01 July 2019

Host: Barbara Heidenreich

​Food can be a great reinforcer for training exotic animals. But anything your animal seeks to acquire or engage in, and can be delivered contingently, has the potential to reinforce behavior. Host Barbara Heidenreich has seven examples of different creative non-food reinforcers. And shares lots of real-life applications of how these unique strategies have been used to get results in zoos, companion animals and conservation projects. She wraps it up with some great tips you can try right away to help you start adding non-food reinforcers to your animal Training Toolbox.

Here are some video examples mentioned in this episode:

Check out this video example of orangutans interacting with visual stimuli as a reinforcer

Sirocco the kakapo was definitely not interested in food when he mated with Mark Carwardine’s head. To address this behavior problem, we used sex as a reinforcer when he gave us the desired response. See video below.

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