We can make training your husbandry needs a positive experience for both the animals and the keepers

With over 15 years of work in the animal field, Julie has worked at prestigious facilities as Brookfield Zoo in Brookfield, IL; Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago; National Zoo in Washington D.C.; Shedd Aquarium in Chicago; Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach; and the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk, VA. During her zoo career she has worked with hundreds of species of animals…from elephants to rock hyrax; rhinos to Rodriguez fruit bats; giraffe to grey seals; tapirs to tamarins; birds to boa constrictors; leopards to lynx, and countless others. She has been involved in husbandry training programs with protected contact animals such as Clouded leopards and programs that trained a voluntary pouch check of a Matschie’s tree kangaroo (using no physical restraint).

First widely used by dolphin trainers who needed a way to teach behavior without using physical force, operant conditioning (used for clicker training) can be, and has been, successfully employed with animals of all sizes and species, both domesticated and wild, young and old; all breeds of dogs and puppies, cats, birds, leopards, rats, rabbits, chinchillas, fish, and more.

Clicker trainers who learn the underlying principles have at their disposal a powerful set of tools that enable them to analyze behaviors, modify existing methods for individual animals, and create new methods where none previously existed. This flexibility allows the tools of clicker training to be re-invented in new forms that work in a range of situations, and for an infinite variety of animals.

Call me today for a free consultation at your facility.