Clicker Training Olivia the BLM Burro, Session 1

Although I've long understood the principles of clicker training, I've never been diligent in using a clicker - mostly because I've never really needed to. With Olivia, though, I felt that a clicker would be the most appropriate technique for such an intelligent, but apprehensive, animal. Yesterday, my pack of clickers arrived late in the afternoon. I had already begun to accustom Olivia to the treats I'd be using - often, treats are an acquired taste, so I introduced them by adding them to her feed for a day or two. I chose  Manna-Pro Peppermint Trail Size Bite Nuggets because peppermint has a strong enough aroma to be useful when training,  they are small enough not to choke a burro, and they don't crumble readily in my pocket.

As soon as my clicker pack arrive, I was eager to begin, but I was running out of daylight. I spent a few minutes just clicking and rewarding as soon as Olivia gave me an interested look. Today, I gave her the first "real" training session with the clicker.  Olivia has been wearing a halter since I brought her home, but has had no halter training. I chose that for today's lesson.

For clickers, I chose a four pack of Big Button Clickers with wristband. The last thing I want to do when training a wild burro is to tie up a hand holding a clicker, so the elastic wristband comes in handy. I stuffed peppermint treats in my pocket, slipped the clicker bracelet on, and took a lead loop and lead rope into the stall.

The loop-style lead is a handy thing. Similar to the loops or "tab" style leashes for dog-training, they're indispensable if you have goats or if you have occasion to need a quick "handle" in your pocket for handling horses. They're also ideal for initial halter training with a burro, as it turns out. I first showed the loop to Olivia and as soon as she extended her nose to sniff it, I clicked and rewarded. I snapped it onto her halter, clicked, rewarded. Then I began introducing the "give" to pressure she needs to learn as a basis for all future training. I gently applied lateral (sideways) pressure on the loop and the second she gave to it, I released pressure while clicking, then rewarded.

A few words on the "give": First of all, you don't need a "big" give. All the animal must do is stop resisting pressure for a second. Also, it's always easier to get livestock to move sideways than to move forward. Use that to your advantage. So often people get into tug-of-war battles by pulling forward. Burros, especially, will sit back and wait you out - they're far more patient than you are. For those first important "gives" and steps, I opt for lateral pressure.

At first, I just asked for Olivia to bend her neck towards the pressure for her reward. As soon as she was comfortable with that, I attached a regular lead rope, using the same sniff - click - reward followed by attach - click - reward method. From there, I began asking for first sideways gives and a couple of sideways steps. Within just one pocketful of treats, I had a burro who was quite willingly walking on the lead. I was astonished. Now it's possible I'm just an amazing trainer, or that I have a prodigy of a burro, but it's more likely these techniques really are ideally suited for a burro's mind. Olivia certainly took to the clicker work rapidly.

During today's session I also reapplied fly spray to Olivia's legs and face, using the clicker while doing so, and picked up her front feet. She's becoming quite comfortable having her forefeet handled; I always tap on them when I do so in order to simulate future trimming work.

While doing all of today's clicker work, I made sure I consistently spoke to Olivia and gave her verbal commands when asking for actions: "Olivia, come," "Olivia, walk on," Olivia, step up," "Olivia, pick up," and so forth. These will be the same commands I use in a variety of future training, from trailer training to driving. I will also, of course, be using the clicker.

One final note from today's clicker introduction: It's important that from this point forward, Olivia does not get hand-fed treats unless she works for them. I don't want to "train" her to be a big mooch. I have enough of those already.


*Copyright (c) 2018 by MJ Miller * All rights reserved * No part of this content, including photographs, may be used without the express permission of the author * Links, however, may be freely shared and are appreciated * Products endorsed and recommended in this blog may include affiliate links for which the author receives compensation * Thank you for linking, liking, sharing, tweeting, sending via carrier pigeon, and otherwise helping grow my readership * Most of all, thanks for stopping by! 

Olivia's Progress, Day 4

Olivia is surprisingly well-adjusted for being fairly new to the ways of captivity. She's bonded with Lily, the goat, and seems to have become fond of Ethan, the McNab pup. Yesterday, Olivia let me pet her face and neck and, amazingly, let a friend approach her and pet her neck as well. I'm not attempting to halter break her yet, and instead am focusing on building trust and being able to touch her.

Today, I let her out in the turn-out while I did chores, but she opted to return voluntarily to her stall and wait for her feed. When I brought it for the usual morning routine of coffee with Olivia, she confidently approached and ate from the bucket between my feet. Before I allowed her to eat, though, I asked to pet her on the face and neck; with very little concern, she allowed it.

I know she's already aware of the benefits of having a human scratch her itchy spots, so I was eager to introduce a brush to the equation. Happily, Olivia accepted the brush immediately. She enjoyed being brushed so much she stopped eating and just stood happily as I brushed her face, neck, sides, back, belly, and front legs.

The flies are horrible with the warmth and the recent moisture. Olivia's not ready yet for fly spray, but she let me use a fly roller to apply it to her legs, face, and neck. I then rolled spray onto the brush and brushed it over the rest of her body.

I expect to be able to pick up Olivia's feet shortly. They're in excellent condition so I am not in a hurry to have them trimmed - which will make that first experience with the hoof trimmer all the better, as I'll have time to get her well accustomed to it. And, of course, having her halter broke first will be something of a benefit.

One burro characteristic that I'm enjoying is Olivia's natural curiosity. I buy large, hard plastic balls for the McNabs and the young horses. Weanling filly, Julie, hasn't been interested in the one in the turnout - but today I kicked it a bit while cleaning, and Ethan played with it for a minute in front of Olivia. Olivia couldn't resist, and eagerly approached it to give it a look. She hasn't attempted to play with it yet, but I suspect she'll soon start nudging it. Given her aptitude for observation, she may learn to push it around by watching Ethan and me.

In the next few sessions I'll repeat much of the same routine while also introducing gentle pressure on the halter. As with horses, we'll work on the "quick give" - when I apply pressure, the very second she gives into it at all, I'll release. Mules and burros aren't as yielding to pressure as horses are, so this will take considerable more time and patience, but I've got both.

Olivia's Progress, Day 2

Olivia is a quick learner. With those ears, she's a great listener, as well; and that's a good thing, because for now, I'm just doing a lot of talking to her. Today, though, she made great progress. I turned her out in the turnout for a couple of hours this morning, hoping she'd return to her stall voluntarily when she saw me put the feed inside, but she didn't. It took only a moment to usher her in with a driving whip.

For the uninitiated, the driving whip is but an extension of one's hand. It isn't a tool of abuse or striking; it's a way of safely reaching out toward an animal in a non-threatening manner. It is the driving whip that I'll use to teach her to trust me touching her legs; burros are accurate and lightning-fast kickers, and it's far better that they kick at a whip than at me face, hand, or leg.

Once inside her stall, Olivia promptly and quite happily busied herself eating her hay. First, though, to my delight, she approached me and again touched me with her nose and sniffed my hair. Satisfied I was not a threat, she settled down to breakfast. After some conversation and a few more country songs, I decided she was comfortable enough for the next step in our relationship.

I slowly worked my way toward Olivia, mindful of that quick back end, and when she retreated to the other corner of the stall, I followed. I extended my hand first, palm up so as not to appear threatening, and she indicated her willingness to continue by reaching out and sniffing my hand. That's a good sign.

I picked up the driving whip and extended it very slowly, letting her sniff it also, and when she reached toward it, I stepped back a little. She eventually let me touch her on the shoulder with it. I used it to touch her neck, side, and belly.

To my surprise, she was fine when it made contact with the underside of her belly. A lot of equines are ticklish there and will react negatively, but Olivia was perfectly happy. I put the whip down and moved closer to her empty handed.

I was astonished at how trusting Olivia was. She didn't even fudge when I reached out and put my hand on her withers. Her ears slightly back with attentive apprehension, she let me pet and scratch her neck, side, and chest, resisting only when I rubbed her eyes (but minutes later accepting that as well). She wasn't ready for me to touch her lower leg, but no matter - I am thrilled at what progress we made. She's coming along far faster than I'd have anticipated.

Many times, the way to an animal's heart is to scratch what itches. Livestock, like cats and dogs, often have favorite scratching spots. I haven't found Olivia's yet but she seemed warily happy to have me try.

Although not emaciated, Olivia is definitely on the lean side. A fat burro isn't a healthy burro, but she'll benefit from gaining some weight; in the top photo, you can see how meager she is above the hips and along the ridge of her back. I have her on timothy hay, bermuda pellets, and just a handful of  timothy / alfalfa chop. She wasn't crazy about the Calf Manna I gave her, but when she acquires a taste for it I'll add it to her feed to give her a bit of a vitamin boost. I'll also start her on a small amount of rice bran to help her coat bloom. Of course, she has a mineral salt lick available as well. Below, she's enjoying her bermuda pellets. As a side note, I chose the bermuda pellets because the vendor I visited to pick up some hay for her the other night was out of bermuda - the recent rainfall has ruined many crops - and as she had been on bermuda hay before I adopted her, the best substitute I could find in a pinch was pellets plus a beautiful, clean compressed bale of timothy. I like the timothy so well I will probably leave her on it.

Copyright (c) 2018 MJ Miller * All rights reserved * No part of this content, including photographs, may be reproduced without the express permission of the author * Links, however, may be freely shared and are appreciated * Thank you for linking, liking, tweeting, sharing, and otherwise helping grow my readership * Most of all, thanks for stopping by!

A Burro's Progress: My BLM Burro Arrives

Meet Olivia.

One of the infinite joys of the equine world is even after a half-century of working with them, there's always a new experience, a new pleasure, a new goal to be achieved. Since reading Marguerite Henry's "Brighty of the Grand Canyon," as a child, I've wanted a burro - but not just any burro, I wanted to adopt a BLM burro that once roamed my home state here in Arizona. The timing hasn't been right, before now; sometimes life is a series of speed bumps and cul-de-sacs. Yesterday, the forces of nature aligned and, thanks to the help of my forever friend Cindy Mathers and a talented young horsewoman named Christen Milhon, I brought home Olivia.

Until just a few weeks ago, Olivia ran feral in the Cibola region of Arizona, when she was rounded up. Olivia was put up for adoption three times, without success, at which point she was available for direct sale to the public. Christen Milhon steps in on as many of these situations as she can and rescues burros and mustangs before they end up in the kill pen. Olivia (whom she had called "June") was a recent rescue.

I dubbed the lovely three-year old burro "Olivia" in honor of Olive Oatman, the famous pioneer Arizona woman who'd been kidnapped by natives, her face tattooed, before eventually being rescued. Olive's family gave its name to the small town of Oatman, famous for the burros that roam the streets and sidewalks and beg treats from tourists.

Olivia had the advantage of a short time with Christen, but is neither tame nor halter broke. She's cagy and apprehensive, but neither aggressive nor ill-tempered. She has a sweet eye and responds sensibly. She watches everything - I like that trait in an animal (as well as in people) - and I know she'll learn a lot simply by watching everything I do in the barn area, and that will inform my work with her.

Because Olivia is an observant beast, I waited to feed her until last today. I wanted her to focus on watching my every move. Although burros are notorious for aggression towards canines and wildcats, I let the large dogs out this morning so she could begin to familiarize herself with them - and they with her. Ethan, the rambunctious McNab pup, is a vocal dog and initially barked at Olivia, recognizing her as a new sort of creature unlike the horses, goat, or cattle. As soon as Olivia gave him a side-eye and shifted her ears in his direction, he'd quickly dodge out of the pen.

Once I'd cleaned the barn and fed everyone else, I brought a mounting block as a seat, a cup of coffee, a flake of timothy, and a bucket of bermuda pellets for my first session with Olivia.

I plopped the bucket down just in front of my foot, sipped my coffee, and waited. Within a few minutes Olivia ventured forth and checked out the bucket.

After a few minutes, a tentative Olivia was eating happily, but alertly, while I sat. I tried to make some non-threatening noise and, I admit, I sang Hank Williams songs to her. If you had ever heard me sing, you'd consider that threatening, or torturous, but Olivia seemed calmed by it.

I avoided reaching out to her in any way. Prey animals instinctively view those extended arms as outstretched claws until they have learned to trust you. I'm in no rush, and I let Olivia just munch her food.

After a few more minutes, I moved the bucket of pellets between my feet. Olivia wasn't pleased, and wandered off to the other side of the stall for a bit, acting uninterested in the food. Of course, she soon came back.

Olivia, fairly confident now, was unconcerned as she munched her breakfast. Every few minutes, Ethan would approach; Olivia was more trustful, now, and merely watched him. Every so often, Ethan being Ethan, he'd bark.  I'd also let Lily, the goat, out during morning chores. Lily came by regularly, her goat-bell clanging, and Olivia gave her a curious, almost welcoming look.

Finally, I reached down slowly and rested my hand on the bucket. A few minutes later, Olivia returned and ate from the bucket, her nose just inches from my hand. Again, I never tried to pet her; I just was.

That was it for my first session with Olivia: just letting her decide it was safe to approach and be near me. A few times during the session, of her own volition she reached out and touched my hair and face with her muzzle, smelling me. I took advantage of these moments to deeply exhale, communicating to her my sense of peace and calmness. Eventually, she'll learn, as the horses do, to draw confidence from those moments: if the herd boss (me) isn't alarmed, neither will she be. 

Copyright (c) 2018 MJ Miller * All rights reserved * No part of this content may be reproduced, including photographs, without the express permission of the author * Links, however, may be freely shared and are appreciated * Thank you for linking, liking, tweeting, sharing, and otherwise helping grow my readership * Most of all, thank you for stopping by!