IN THIS LESSON

Set your animal up for success

Antecedents are the stimuli that prompt an animal to perform a certain behavior. In order to help your animal learner perform the desired behavior, there are a few strategies to help them succeed. To maintain safety if working with dangerous animals and reduce stress when working with any animal, it is best to remain hands-off as much as possible. You should not force your animal into any behavior.

How to arrange the antecedents:

  • The cue: You can’t just say “sit” and hope your dog sits. In fact, the cue is the very last thing you will introduce in the training process. You need to stimulate, shape, or capture a behavior first and add in the cue as they begin to perform it reliably. Eventually they will associate the cue with the behavior.

    Cues can be verbal, visual, tactile, or even scented. Many trainers use hand gestures because they are more consistent than verbal cues. Animals that have poor eyesight or hearing may need a tactile cue. For example, snakes respond well to heat rather than other sensory cues.

  • Stimulus: are there already objects or events that prompt a behavior for an animal? Take advantage of those as you begin to capture or shape the behavior and eventually get it on a unique cue.

    E.g. The smell of elephant poop might prompt a lion to scent rub on an object. Try smearing elephant poop on an object if you want to elicit that behavior. Make sure to reinforce them when they do!

  • Shaping a behavior: It may be difficult to get to a final behavior from the start. Shaping is the action of breaking down a behavior into small approximations so the animal gets closer to the desired behavior over time.

    E.g. You may not be able to immediately get your dog to move to a mat when the doorbell rings. You’ll likely need to break this behavior down into smaller steps, such as teaching them to target, teaching them to target to the mat, fading the target into a cue, increasing the distance of the mat, and then transferring the cue to the doorbell. You will often find that your animals learn at different rates. Some will need smaller steps while others will need larger ones.

  • Capturing a behavior: Sometimes there are behaviors that the animal performs on their own every once in a while. You will need to consistently reinforce the animal for performing that behavior when you notice it. Eventually, they will start performing it readily.

    E.g. A grizzly bear will naturally choose to scratch its back on a tree. You can’t control the “itchy” prompt. Instead, you will capture the moment the bear performs that behavior as often as you can by reinforcing him immediately. Eventually, the bear will learn to try scratching its back for the reinforcement and you can eventually put it on a cue.

Patience and practice: Arranging the antecedents takes patience and practice. It’s a skill you develop over time as you get to know your animals and predict what will work for them.