After 10 days at The Ranch, we introduced 4-month-old Kinder goats, Rhodie and Dobie, to the alpacas for the first time. Here you’ll see their initial reactions, followed by a structured training session, and finally all of the animals eating together.Â
Eating is a Behavior
Recently 3.5-month-old Kinder goats, Rhodie and Dobie, joined the Ranch family. The first step Ken Ramirez took is to teach them how to approach and eat.
Training for Novelty
What’s another key to successful medical training? Teach the animal to expect the unexpected. In this video, Ken and Lisa work with Sparkle on training for novelty and variety.
Training Goats for Success with Oral Medication
Don’t wait until your animals need medication, train it as a learned behavior!
Teaching Name Targets – Part II
Ken began teaching a name target (yellow star) to 3-year-old mini-donkey Sparkle about a month ago. Since then she’s made great progress – she’s learned her shape and is getting better at discriminating between other shapes. In this session Ken adjusts distance and distractor targets to determine how well she has learned the concept.
Benefits of Consent Behaviors
There are many benefits to teaching an animal to indicate consent for participation in medical behaviors. By teaching the animal to choose if they are ready to continue, or just as important that they are not, you gain a better relationship with your animal.
Teaching Name Targets
There are so many benefits to teaching an animal a name target. It helps an animal know where to go at the start of a session with multiple animals, it can help guide an animal to a specific location when needed with no specific previous training, or it can be the start for various cognitive projects.
Corgi and Beagle Sparring
They may be small, but they’ve got big personalities! Little Corgi is on the playground getting sparring lessons from Beagle, as the alpacas and other goats watch from a distance. Notice the enthusiasm and frequent repeated attempts by Corgi, meanwhile Beagle takes it easy on him.
Training Session with Skittish Goats
Dane and Neo, our skittish one-year old Nigerian Dwarf goats, are still getting used to life at the Ranch. They recently got vaccinations while in the barn, so Ken Ramirez wanted to work with them on building comfort being in that environment. In this training session his goals were to get to the goats on the platforms, get them to eat, and potentially touch a target. Watch as he adjusts his plan as the session progresses.
The 6 Most Overlooked Fundamentals of Successful Training
As a consultant, Ken Ramirez is asked to critique training sessions, evaluate program designs, and help problem-solve. Each client presents unique challenges, whether he’s helping a private client, a working dog organization, or a zoo training program, but his suggestions for improvement tend to be the same.Â
What does Ken think are some of the most overlooked fundamentals of successful training? Enjoy this excerpt from the virtual book discussion of The Eye of the Trainer.Â