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 Tips Details |
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The content of our website is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment. Always seek the advice of your veterinarian relating to any medical or behavioral condition affecting your pet. For more information see Dog Law #1 in our Terms of Use. |
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Self-training statistic snake for image segmentation and tracking
In this work we propose a new supervised deformable model that generalizes the classical contour-based snake. This model is defined to deform in a feature space generated by a set of Gaussian derivative filter responses. The snake selects and classifies image features by a parametric vector that gives the direction in the feature space minimizing the dissimilarity between the learned and found image features and maximizing the distance between different contour configurations. Each snake curve patch is devoted to searching for a special contour configuration. The classes corresponding to different contour configurations are obtained by means of a statistical supervised learning technique using samples of different contours and no contour points. The snake starts with a large set of Gaussian filters that is reduced by means of principal component analysis in a supervised way to optimize it in the feature search |
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Clicker Training
You’ve never heard of “Clicker Training?” You’re not alone!
Although this method of training has been around since the 1940s, it has only been used to train our companion dogs for a couple of decades. At first, clicker training was used primarily as a scientific study into the use of operant conditioning and for use in performing animals. In the 1980s, scientist and dolphin trainer Karen Pryor, introduced the general public to the psychology of operant conditioning for dogs with her book "Don’t Shoot the Dog". With her next book, “A Dog and a Dolphin,” Pryor introduced the dog-training world to the world of clicker training.
*How does it work?
Clicker Training is a form of operant conditioning. You utilize the click sound to indicate to your dog which behavior is desirable and is worthy of a reward. Once your dog realizes which behavior is being clicked and rewarded, he is likely to repeat that behavior. The click sound acts as the secondary reinforcer and the food reward is the primary reinforcer. |
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Walking a dog - Eight Great Tips
1. Always use a leash or you may discover Rover following the glorious world of smell from one interesting place to another and by the time he raises his head to check his bearings, he is clueless.
2. Use ID tags with your current phone number on your dog’s collar or a high-tech chip ID that is implanted under the skin. That’s the quickest way to get your buddy back if he gets off the leash and makes a run for it.
3. Try to remember that dogs are like kids. If they get off the lease and run for it and you chase them, they’ll think it’s a game. So don’t chase and he will probably return on his own. If he doesn’t, try this: Tie a 15 foot nylon line to your dog’s collar. Securely fasten the other end to yourself or something nearby that will not give. Just before your pup reaches the end of the line, say “Whoa” or “Stop.” When the line brings him to an abrupt stop tell him to sit and praise him for being such a good dog. I’ve been told this technique is useful on toddlers too.
4. Your dog understands whistles, voice patterns, intonations and body language much better than specific words. If you want to train your dog to respond reliably, be consistent and firm in how you command him, and don’t be abusive.
5. Carry “poop bags.” Cleaning up after your dog will ensure you don’t step in it on your next trip around the block and your neighbors will appreciate your common courtesy.
6. Know that your dog is territorial and every tree, bush and post needs a sprinkle.
- When I go out, I just have to see
- If another dog has been at my tree
- I sniff it up and I sniff it down
- Gotta get a read on the dogs around |
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Dogs and Digging
You’ve just spent the morning planting tulips and daydreaming about how splendid they’ll look next spring. Digger, your beloved canine companion, was at your side watching attentively as one bulb after another disappeared beneath the cool, moist soil.
At noon you abandon the trowel and tulips for lunch, leaving Digger outside asleep under the apple tree. When you return you discover your beloved pet has painstakingly rooted through the entire garden, dug up every bulb, and placed them in a neat pile beside your garden gloves.
Naturally, your first reaction will be to scream at Digger, telling him he’s BAD! But before you do, think about this scenario from a canine perspective.
From a Dog’s Point-of-View
Consider your dog’s breed. Certain species are more inclined to dig because that’s what they’ve been born to do. All Terriers and Dachshunds, for example, were originally bred to dig into underground rabbit warrens or fox dens. Digging comes naturally for them, and it is an extremely pleasurable experience. Siberian Huskies and other sled dog breeds dig because of their instinct to burrow in snow. Pregnant females dig to make a nest in preparation for whelping. Bearing this in mind, how can we expect our dogs to know that this is not a desirable behavior? |
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Why Cats Mark
Cats in the wild use marking as a way to communicate with one another. The actual process of marking can take a few different forms from scratching to spraying. A common marking behavior is spraying. Spray is actually created when the cat mixes a small amount of urine with glandular secretions called pheromones. These are the components that make cat spray have its distinctive and potent odor. Other common marking behaviors are leaving pheromone and/or visual markers through scratching and rubbing against objects. Marking with feces can also occur, although this is seen less frequently.
Pheromones play a very large role in a marking and a feline's life. Cats use these pheromones to mark their territory in many ways. Cats have glands that produce pheromones on their mouths, chin, face, cheeks, ears, paw pads, anal area, and upper surface of the tail. When your cat rubs up against you, or rubs up against your furniture he is actually leaving a little trace of pheromones that say, 'this is mine', in a friendly way. When a cat scratches he is not only leaving a mark through pheromones, but he is also leaving a visual marker that says, 'this is mine!'. Spraying is another way for cats to release pheromone, however, this way usually meant to say, 'stay out', in a more defensive tone.
Cats of both sexes (although males tend to mark more than females) mark as a sign to other cats that a certain territory is theirs and/or that they are the dominant cat in the area. Cats in heat and males responding to a cat in heat will do a lot of marking as they go on their quest to find a mate. |
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Why you Should Play with your Cat
In America, the feline has officially replaced the canine as the most popular pet and the beloved pet of choice. More families in the USA have cats now than dogs - and the majority of families with cats have more than one feline sharing their home. As more and more people are realizing the high risks in these modern times of letting their cat roam outdoors - (the current statistics are very grim in that outdoor only and indoor/outdoor cats without human supervision now live an average of only 2 to 3 years, versus an average of 16 to 17 years for indoor only cats), in order to keep our cats healthy and safe, we are keeping them confined indoors. It is not a coincidence, however, that as this change has taken place, the incidence of feline behavior problems such as self-mutilation, excessive self-licking, marking with urine or feces, and loud, compulsive vocalization, has been on the rise - all with no apparent physical or medical cause.
This phenomenon is not limited to house cats, but is also happening in zoos, and other areas and parks where felines are confined. Behaviorists at the San Diego Zoo, however, have discovered that simply by adding some safe, creative challenges each day within the enclosures of their Indo-Chinese Tigers, for example, keep these felines stimulated, both physically and mentally, and they are happier and live longer, without displaying some of the same compulsive behaviors as their indoor domestic feline relatives. |
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Cat Jumping and Aversion Techniques
We all know that cats are amazing jumpers, but sometimes they jump in places that we aren't so happy about like our dining room table. Contrary to popular belief cats are very trainable and you can train your cats as to which places in the house are off-limits. Try some of the tips below and with some time and patience you may have cat-free counters forever!
-Address the question, 'Does my cat have enough high space?'. Cats need high places to sit from. If your cat is jumping on counters and tables he/she may just not have any other place to go. If you don't have a cat tower or high scratching post, purchase one now and see if you can teach your cat to use that as his/her jumping area.
Use a spray bottle to spritz your cat every time he/she jumps to the unwanted area. The down side of this approach is that your cat may link you to the nasty squirt he/she receives as well.
· Give your cat a firm 'no' when he or she does the unwanted behavior. Never 'punish' your cat or overly scream or scare your cat. This can make your cat learn that you are a very scary being whom he/she should stay away from and dislike. If you are not home very often this method may not work very well as you won't catch your cat in the act very often and thus your cat won't get a constant aversion message.
· Place double-sided sticky tape on the area. Your cat will hate how this feels on his/her paws and soon stop going there.
· Place aluminum foil on the area. Again cats hate this feeling on their feet.
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Train a pet bird to like being petted
You can do a little bit of training to get your bird more comfortable with the idea of being petted. As with other forms of training, practice in short frequent sessions and stick to small steps at first.
* Choose a quiet time when your bird is relaxed.
* Keep your hand in full view of the bird.
* Speak to your bird before petting him or her.
* Try just lightly touching and petting the beak at first.
* If your bird lets you touch his/her beak, try gradually moving your fingers to the skin on the face just behind the beak.
* Use a very gentle touch.
* Work your way around the side of the head.
* Work with the natural orientation of the feathers -- petting the "wrong way" can be irritating. Pet either in the direction the feathers naturally lay down, or gently scratch side to side between the feathers.
* Eventually, as the bird relaxes (a bird that is enjoying being petted will often ruffle its feathers and bow its head) you can work your way around to the back of the head and neck.
* Don't try to force your bird to like petting.
* Don't expect your bird to accept petting from strangers. |
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Teach my Parrot to Step Up
1.# If your bird is not receptive, start training in a room out of sight of your bird’s cage. Less familiar surroundings are likely to improve cooperation. 2.Choose the command you will use. It doesn’t matter what word or phrase you use, but you must be consistent. Many owners just use “step up” or “up,” but you might prefer “come here,” “let’s go,” or something else.
3.Pick a relaxed time with no distractions – a bird that is preening or eating is not going to be very receptive to training.
4.Hold your finger (or wrist or hand held perch, whichever you are using) in front of the bird, level with the bird’s abdomen directly above the feet. Make sure you are close enough that it will be an easy step for your bird.
5.Give the step up command. |
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Correcting Bad Behavior in Birds
Beliefs about the origins of birds aside, most can agree that some parts of a bird's anatomy can deliver quite painful attacks if our pets become angry with us. Indeed, the instincts and inherently wild nature of our avian companions can bring forth many behaviors that are undesirable in the home. Dealing with these issues can be especially trying for bird owners, given that their feathered friends are such highly sociable and emotionally sensitive creatures. Read on for tips that will help you gently but effectively convey your displeasure toward undesirable behavior in your pet bird. |
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Training a Fish: Goldfish-Click
The most common goldfish performances were:
1. Swimming under and through a ceramic bridge, castle, or loop made from bent coat-hanger wire.
2. Swimming in a circle in open water.
3. Swimming backwards.
4. Swimming to a finger target placed against the bowl.
5. Following a laser pointer spot on the pebble floor of the tank.
You must be very, very careful to keep the laser in front of the fish and not let it hit their eyes. The fish are primarily visual and their eyes are very sensitive. We eventually dissuaded the use of lasers because it was so hard to keep them off the fishes' heads and out of their eyes.
The most common "do it" cues were:
1. Flashing a table lamp nearby.
2. Flashing a flashlight aimed at the tank.
3. Placing a finger against the bowl in the same spot.
The most common "did it" cues (clicks) were:
1. Flashing a flashlight beam at the tank.
2. Tapping the tank with the edge of the Veeder root hand counter, or table knife to be used to knock a food pellet off the glass plate.
Some students used a green table lamp bulb for the "do it" cue and a white flashlight flash for the "did it" cue (click).
It should take fewer than two weeks of 15-minute daily training sessions to reach your fish performance goal. A short morning session and a short evening session each day gets faster learning than one long single session. Stop a session when your fish does not instantly eat the food pellet dropped into the floating triangle. If the fish modifies your goal by doing something spectacular like swimming a somersault loop the loop on his/her own, CLICK IT! My Sampson was in training to high jump his meter stick, but one day he pulled it down: CLICK! Then off into our championship weightlifting we went!
The students turned in a daily Standard Celeration Chart with counting time (record floor), number of fish attempts, and number of rewards (clicks) administered. From these charts we could see the regularity and duration of daily training sessions, and both the frequency and acceleration of fish performance, and student shaping (clicks).
I am now convinced that "click" is a much better name for the "did it" signal than Skinner's "conditioned reinforcer" or my "response definer." It is shorter, clearer, and both a noun and verb. I am also convinced that "clicker training" is a much better name for the training process than Skinner's "shaping" or my "TEBRO." Skinner's "shaping" even got misused for stimulus fading by some well-known behavior analysts. My "TEBRO" was just too arcane!
Don't let them scrape your fish! |
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The Sea Food Circus: Training Fish
After several years at Sea Life Park I thought up a new kind of marine show, a performance that would be staged in a glass-fronted aquarium tank with scenery on the sides and back. By using automated feeders and cues a cast of trained fish and invertebrates could act out a sort of opera plot. An octopus would be the villain, a school of minnows the chorus, a handsome surgeon fish the hero, and a damselfish (natch) the heroine. I'd call it the Sea Food Circus, since every performer would be edible. Alas, this stellar idea was quashed by management. It was too complicated, the equipment would undoubtedly break down, and while thousands of people came through Sea Life Park daily, only a couple of dozen people could see this show at a time, so where's the profit in that! True, at that time, at least, since video projection screens were way in the future; so I dropped the plan. But I still mull over how to shape a whole school of minnows to enter stage left, swim until they come to a red light, stop, wait until the light turns green, and then, still in a school, exit stage right. There has to be a way... |
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TRAINING FISH
We'll put some fish food into the end of the T's arm, and at the same time, we'll flash a light at the top of the aquarium, for about 15 minutes once each day. The fish will learn, after just a few days, that the light means there is food available to them.
As we have observed, goldfish seem always hungry. (Actually, they can live for four to five WEEKS without being fed, if the ecosystem of their aquarium is right!) Any time there is any kind of activity near the aquarium, the goldfish swim up to the top, ready to eat whatever is set before them.
All fish seem hungry most of the time, and they all exhibit some kind of different behavior when there is activity at the aquarium. Top feeders come to the top and swim around, looking for their food. Middle feeders show a little more energy than usual, but they don't come to the top, unless they are extra hungry. Bottom feeders sort of quiver and dart around the floor.
It is difficult to say whether we have trained the fish to respond to a specific activity, such as flashing a light, or if they think they're going to be fed just because we open the lid or come over close to the aquarium.
Those huge goldfish called "Koi" that people have in outdoor ponds will learn, in just a few days, that a certain vocal sound means that there is food available to them, and will swim to the place where a person is standing, or to a certain place at the top of the pond.
I don't think it takes any captive animal very long to learn how to get food, who brings it, or the kind of activity that always precedes being fed. Forcing a captive animal to go through a maze to find food, or to open doors, like the monkeys are taught, certainly is called training. How much they actually learn is questionable, since the "lesson" has to be repeated daily so they won't forget. |
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Horse Training Tips And Techniques
From the day a foal is born it should learn respect and the basics of good manners. Lessons should be very brief and not cause the mare or foal stress. Most handling can take place during the routine care of the pair.
Most of the foal's time will be spent napping, nursing and playing. As much as possible foals should spend time outside with other mares and foals. Occasionally you might see a foal sampling a pile of manure. This is natural and will not harm the foal.
Foals should not be allowed to nibble on people, strike out, or kick. While these behaviors may be cute in a small foal, they can become dangerous as the youngster gains size, strength and speed.
Foals should learn early to have their feet handled, especially if corrective trimming may be needed. This is done by holding the foot up for a few seconds and putting it down again. |
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Train a Foal
From the day a foal is born it should learn respect and the basics of good manners. Lessons should be very brief and not cause the mare or foal stress. Most handling can take place during the routine care of the pair.
Most of the foal's time will be spent napping, nursing and playing. As much as possible foals should spend time outside with other mares and foals. Occasionally you might see a foal sampling a pile of manure. This is natural and will not harm the foal.
Foals should not be allowed to nibble on people, strike out, or kick. While these behaviors may be cute in a small foal, they can become dangerous as the youngster gains size, strength and speed.
Foals should learn early to have their feet handled, especially if corrective trimming may be needed. This is done by holding the foot up for a few seconds and putting it down again. |
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Train a Two or Three Year Old
For many horses this is the age at which a horse starts learning to be ridden or driven. A two year old can learn to hold a bit and carry a saddle. While some trainers believe it is acceptable to work a two year old under saddle, many believe that riding is best put off until the horse is more mature. Many wait until a horse is up to 4 or 5 years old to begin training under saddle. During this time the horse is still growing although they may be approaching their full height.
A two year old's joints will still be maturing and susceptible to overwork. While the hardening of the joints in the knees are considered a sign of physical maturity it's worth considering that joints throughout their bodies mature at different rates. While legs may be ready, hip and back may not. The horse owner ultimately decides how old a horse is before it goes to work. |
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Ferret training tips
The first tip in ferret training: do not buy a ferret to teach a child responsibility. Buy a ferret for a responsible child. Children like to grab at small animals, pick things up by their tails, and tend to make sudden movements around them. These are not acceptable behaviors when dealing with an often-skittish animal. Training a ferret first begins with you. Once you have trained yourself in observance of their behavior then you can begin to train them. It never hurts to read a book or two on their behavior.The second tip is to derail the tendency to nip or bite. Some ferrets nip, some do not. However, all have very sharp teeth that you wish to avoid. Like dogs, ferrets main communication tool is their mouths. Nipping can be a reaction to fear, it can be playful, or it may think that your pink finger is its next meal. It is up to you to "nip" it in the bud. Ferrets never respond well to being hit, therefore never hit a ferret. The best method of discipline is to grasp the scruff of the neck much like a puppy. Couple this with a loud and firm "NO!" and that should work. Another useful method that works for stubborn ferrets is to flick them quickly on the end of the nose. Be sure that it is done without the intent to harm, because the nose is their most sensitive area. Just a quick flick usually deters bad behavior of any kind. |
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Tiger training
You’ve just spent the morning planting tulips and daydreaming about how splendid they’ll look next spring. Digger, your beloved canine companion, was at your side watching attentively as one bulb after another disappeared beneath the cool, moist soil.
At noon you abandon the trowel and tulips for lunch, leaving Digger outside asleep under the apple tree. When you return you discover your beloved pet has painstakingly rooted through the entire garden, dug up every bulb, and placed them in a neat pile beside your garden gloves.
Naturally, your first reaction will be to scream at Digger, telling him he’s BAD! But before you do, think about this scenario from a canine perspective.
From a Dog’s Point-of-View
Consider your dog’s breed. Certain species are more inclined to dig because that’s what they’ve been born to do. All Terriers and Dachshunds, for example, were originally bred to dig into underground rabbit warrens or fox dens. Digging comes naturally for them, and it is an extremely pleasurable experience. Siberian Huskies and other sled dog breeds dig because of their instinct to burrow in snow. Pregnant females dig to make a nest in preparation for whelping. Bearing this in mind, how can we expect our dogs to know that this is not a desirable behavior? |
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