Part #3
(Read Part #2, Sven’s Training Continues)

To move forward to the next big training step, I took Sven back into the locker room where he would have no outside distractions. I asked him to move his body to take the item from my hand and drop the paper towel holder into the gray tub. Again, with every new, large step, Sven would hesitate, but with verbal encouragement and loads of patience he would eventually figure out what I wanted from him. Once he was moving his body to wherever my hand was with the paper towel holder, he would have to move back to the tub to drop the item inside; sometimes it would bounce off the edge and land outside the tub, so I would clap a little and start again. If he made it inside the tub, I would bridge, clap very loudly, kiss him, and feed him instantly. We stayed at this stage for some time, as I wanted to make sure that he had a complete understanding that the same word “inside” now meant to let go of the item when it would fall into the tub. This meant he had to aim his drops, another huge step for this timid, beautiful, sensitive retriever.

Now, here comes the turning point: I put the item on the ground, let go of it, then asked for the “inside.” He did it! Yep, on the very first try he picked up the paper towel holder from the ground and moved his mouth over to the tub and dropped the item into the tub! I thought I was going to do a back flip for joy, but instead I kept my training cool, bridged, screamed, “Good boy! What a good boy you are, Mr. Sven Olof!!!” and fed out my entire bucket of treats.

The next day we did the same thing and again he completed the behavior. He now had the concept of picking up the paper towel holder from the ground and dropping it into the tub on the verbal cue, “inside.” However, he would only complete this behavior from left to right. I needed to generalize this behavior to anywhere around the tub and introduce the plastic bottle and aluminum can. And I needed to show some of the other trainers what we had been up to for so long. Sven was a little shy when others were watching (are you starting to see a pattern here?). I was still working with him inside the locker room, but with every new audience he was getting braver and more confident, and finally we took it out to the stage. First thing every morning I would start his music and we would recycle on stage.

Maureen O. Duryee is an animal trainer at the San Diego Zoo’s Hunte Amphitheater.

Look for Maureen’s next blog, Sven is a Conservation Star

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