Communication

Let's talk communication! Specifically, between team members when there are multiple animals/behaviours being trained at any one time.

The first thing you want to establish is your primary and secondary trainer. You will have much faster success having one person teach a new behaviour, then rolling it out to the rest of the team once it’s established.

The main person training is called the primary. Of course, we don’t work 24/7 and are sometimes on holiday/sick/moved to another section. That’s where your secondary comes in. Your secondary is always 1-2 approximations behind you and is there to keep the behaviour trained regularly for the times you aren’t there to do it yourself.

Once a behaviour is established, they’re the first person after you to attempt the full behaviour with the animal. Then, once you’re both happy, you can begin to bring in the rest of your team and add the behaviour to the animal’s regular repertoire.

How should you document your training sessions? Why should you document your training sessions?

How: The easiest way is to set up your phone and record yourself and your animal during a session. That way you can be fully focused and assess the session later.

Why: Sometimes it’s hard to know where we need to improve without looking at it from a different point of view. It also enables other people to be able to watch a session without the animal having to tolerate a second person/potential stranger at a session.

It’s also beneficial to have records of progress, especially if you’re feeling down/hitting a tough spot. You can look back on how far you’ve come!

When multiple keepers are on in a week, it’s helpful to record what behaviour’s were done in a session so one or two aren’t being over worked while others are being potentially forgotten.

There are many options for how you might record this. It could be a part of your regular handover notes. It could be a monthly calendar at the enclosure. It could be a list of behaviours and the day they’re trained they are marked off and dated. Ask a lemur keeper to show you Peanut and Gomez's training whiteboard for a magnet and chart system. 

Don’t forget, training sessions are often an important part of our enrichment programme, so doing the same thing all the time can quickly go from exciting to boring. Feel free to email us for examples and templates for recording training!

Okay, I lied a little bit, now we're talking training outside of your team. That’s because a different point of view is often beneficial. It’s easy to quickly end up in a ‘this won’t work and that won’t happen’ mindset with our animal we know so well. Having someone who doesn’t know the individual as well as you, allows for a different point of view for you to consider. If they work with a different taxa completely, they may do the same behaviour in a different way that could work for your individual or have some different approximations that you may find useful.

When it comes to medical procedures, having a stranger present at a training session also helps begin to simulate unfamiliar vet nurses/vets/other staff that may be involved.

So talk to other people. Ones who have lots of training experience and people who may have less. You never know where a good idea will come from. Use your training buddy if you’re unsure where to start, or email the training team and we’re happy to help!