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.

In a recent Live from The Ranch broadcast, Ken Ramirez demonstrated an initial step of teaching this behavior by working on target (shape) discrimination with 3-year-old mini-donkey Sparkle.

To hear a longer discussion with Dr. Patricia McConnell about this training session and more, check out the free, full episode!