HOW THE CLICKER WORKS

Here is the way the clicker is used with marine mammals:

With a dolphin or whale we "pair" the whistle with feeding of the animal. This means that we are conditioning the animal to understand that the sound of the whistle means food, or something good. With sea lions we use a clicker, and we do the exact same thing.

These two different sounds that we use for the two types of marine mammals are called a "bridge". The bridge is defined as the time between when the animal heard the sound, and was rewarded. Going back to the history of training marine mammals, it was essential that we were able to blow the whistle and commucicate to the animal when he was 50 to 60 feet away.

So over the course of time we will begin to click and feed the sea lion, or blow the whistle and feed the dolphin or killer whale. Simple so far. Once the animal understands this, the trainer can now start to train the animal.

One of the key tools in training marine mammals is the use of a target. It simply looks like a huge Q-Tip. the trainer holds the pole, and the animal is trained to put their nose on the "ball" portion of it. Once the animal does it, the trainer blows the whistle or clicks the clicker. This valuable tool will help the trainer guide the animal, and actually teach a number of very complex behaviors.

This is a behavior that I am sure you have seen. If you can see, I am just reaching for my whistle. Once I blow it, it releases the dolphins from this position. But I only blow it when both dolphin's heads and tails are raised. They learn to work as a team!

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HOW THE CLICKER WORKS

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