Don't Shoot the Zebra Pony
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- Опубликовано: 31 июл 2024
- Equitopia (www.equitopiacenter.com) presents “Don’t Shoot the Zebra Pony” featuring “Ziggy,” a 19 year old, wild, hybrid zebra-pony cross who was bred as a novelty pet but never handled. While fending for herself in the hills at a horse farm in Winters, CA., her feet had become so overgrown that she started knuckling over when she was grazing and laying down from the pain. Because she desperately needed her feet trimmed but no one could get near her, the owner was considering shooting her. When word got to Caroline Hegarty, Founder of “Equitopia,” she jumped in to help. Caroline hired a team of people including Animal Behavior Consultants Jody Abrose and Megan Phillups, and Zoo Veterinarian Dr. Jackie Gai, to come up with creative solutions to help Ziggy. Jody Ambrose patiently incorporates training techniques normally used in other species, such as "classical conditioning" and "operant behavior conditioning” to teach Ziggy to willingly participate in her own care. Ziggy learns that she has the power to make choices to benefit her own well being. What started out as a project to save a wild “Zony,” becomes a strong message to the horse industry... if training techniques that provide an animal with CHOICE is successful with virtually every other species… why don’t we use them on horses?
Maybe helping one animal won’t change the world but for that one animal their world is changed
User 46362 😔😢😭THAT IS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL SAYING....IT IS CLOSE TO WHAT I SAY, THAT’S WHY I RESCUE ANY ANIMAL I CAN❤️
@Bambi Palmer : someone played God when they bred her parents, but that was 19 years ago & didn’t have anything to do with anyone in this video. This was about alleviating one animal’s distress after being essentially abandoned.
Zorses were originally produced around the turn of the last century to try to produce a mule-like animal that was not vulnerable to the diseases transmitted by the tse tse fly. Domestic horses, donkeys, and mules tended to die of these diseases, but wild zebras had a genetic resistance. They did turn out to be handleable and useful, especially if a mare with a good working temperament was used rather than a stubborn pony. But just as the Pennycuik experiments were gaining momentum, the internal combustion engine was gaining a rapid foothold and equines in general fell out of common use. There was a resurgence of interest in the 1990s to produce an animal with coat patterns of both zebra and horse (or donkey) and a decent working temperament. I've ridden several myself. In general zedonks are easier to manage than zorses because they tend to follow the donkey's spooking pattern when startled. Rather than take off running blindly like horses and zebras they are more inclined to freeze and evaluate the situation before acting. This makes them safer for their riders.
FilmerOfBobcats thank you for this insightful info. This may explain the subtle yet noticeably apparent patterned stripes on one of the 39 miniature horses here at the farm. He is more inquisitive and much more highly spirited
than most of the others. More
independent and somewhat
aloof at times and often
grazes alone and apart from
the rest of the herd. Demands much more “one on one” attention and grooming demands than the others. Instinctively more intuitive.
All to the good, of course, he certainly is a horse of a
“Different Color “. Zigmann is his name. I will convey to him the facts of which you have shared. He, too, will thank you for sharing. Happy trails to you and yours!
Thanks🤓
Zebroids
@@susibrooks8620 if you don't know who Zigmann's parents are there is a possibility that he might be half zebra, but if you're implying that he might have a zebra ancestor I'm sorry to disappoint you. All hybrids between horses, zebras and donkeys are sterile and unable to produce an offspring. That's what makes them separate species.
@@malinbergvall I don't know about Zebra crosses, but I've heard that horse/donkey hybrids can sometimes be fertile (it is of course extremely rare, so the chances of a fertile mule/zorse etc are probably close to 0%).
The most beautiful thing was when it said, "On March 20, 2017, Ziggy let Jody touch her," and showed her stroking her face. That was just beautiful.
Thank you for providing proper care and dignity to Ziggy. She is an innocent victim of human folly.
Like a horse isn't beautiful enough? Or a zebra beautiful enough just being a zebra. I wish people would just be able to appreciate the magnificent wonder of creatures as they are.
Most likely, Ziggy was bred as a trophy piece. Just so whoever first owned her could say "hey! Look what I got!"
An Indian belief is when you die you come to a crossing. At this crossing the animals you worked with decide whether you should cross into the afterlife or not. I beleave this!
Holy shit... that’s beautiful!
Is there a specific name for this belief or any sources you can link me? I’d love to read up about this. It’s a nice way to think about it. Animals are better than people and have better judgement so I’d much rather put my fate in an animal’s paws/claws/etc than a human’s hands.
Wasn’t God the one who told Noah “Build the Ark- load up the animals- the people aren’t worth saving--.....and Noah took his family, animals and 7 of every kind of fowl, God then closed the hatch so no man could enter.... the flood came..the animals were worthy of God’s love but humans fell from his Grace. The Bible tells the best animal stories ever.
Okay this just brought tears to my eyes. What a beautiful sentiment.
CornBeanS
Giving Ziggy a partner, that little mini horse was a good idea.
Asa Faust he looks like a zebra💖
Should have been common sense tbh. But better than never.
Just love her it was no fault of her own that she became a zebra cross. She may never let pet her , just be calm and kind.
By saving Ziggy's life and keeping her alive, you have brought to the attention of the world, that it's not a good idea to cross animals with others of similar breeds. You have highlighted that breeding a totally wild animal with a domesticated one, has implications and disaster. You have managed to show the health risks that Ziggy has suffered, and thus tampering with genetics is not a good thing. In essence your care of Ziggy has been a good education to us all. Mother nature is the best indicator as to whether animals should breed and not human intervention.
Ziggy is a unique animal. This is once or twice is a lifetime this comes about. This animal deserves love, respect, caring and most of all honor. Beautiful animal.
What just happened to me right now? I"m shocked. I sat intently watching this video rewinding here and there because I wanted to understand some of the procedures. I'm not an animal lover and for whatever reason, this video moved me to bits. Incredible welfare work! Thanks for the breakdown of definitions and procedures. You guys have opened my eyes into a subject I didn't think I had any interest in. I thought you should know. Thank you.
Can we all give a 💘 for Alvin?!
💘💘💘💘 !
@@ilovehugemen3982 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
The picture you see on the left is my son 'Ziggy', he passed away May 13 th, 2015 from the neglectful decision of a surgeon who decided that his life wasn't worth a simple gallbladder surgery and he got sepsis from the infection and slipped into a coma and had to be on life support for 5 months and they still wouldn't do the surgery for fear of not getting paid, but ended up in ICU with a bill of over $5.5 million dollars? Try and figure that one out, because we can't! This story moved me and I am especially deeply concerned about the little Ziggy. Your special people to help a helpless little animal like Ziggy! Thank you, Mac
I am sorry you lost your son. Peace.
@@ravent3016 Thank You 💔!
Mac 👊😔🧸
God Bless 🙏 !
It makes sense to save the zony. She has so much to teach professionals. What a rare opportunity to work on the hybrid.
To the person who asked " why" save Ziggy, I ask "why not"! Ziggy isn't the failure here. She is the result of human failure. She didn't ask to be born, but the fact that she was, gives her the right to life and to the best life possible. In nature, horses and zebras would never breed. The fact that some irresponsible human impregnated their horse with semen from a zebra, means that Ziggy was forced into being.....because she isn't perfect does not mean she deserves to die. It's not your money or your time being spent to date for her, so your opinion doesn't matter.
Judy, really well said brilliant comment.👍👍👍👍👍👍
Judy Gagnon, What a beautiful sentiment! Too bad so many humans don't feel the same way about our own species, being willing to abort for "imperfections" like Down syndrome or birth defects, or just because.
Several reasons.
Thank you for getting Ziggy to the point where he/she could experience love.
Every animal deserves a chance at life no matter what the cost
That whole distance bit is basics of working with horses, which is pressure and release. As far as the club foot damages and such, recent discoveries have shown that 99% of the time it is the hoof capsule rotating and distorting, not the coffin bone.
When it showed the owner cry for Ziggy, my heart melted! Sweetheart, your love for these animals that you care for WILL be rewarded. God is watching!
Better not feel sorry for the owner who bred this animal.
cannon 0357 I think they were referring to the lady at 14:40, and if you take a look of her jacket it says Equitopia. So I assume she’s the owner of this lovely organisation, not the irresponsible person who bred this poor creature.:’)
@@crispykett right?! I think so too after rereading this.
It wasn't the owner of Ziggy crying...it was the founder of Equitopia, the group that helped Ziggy and produced the video. But, I agree, my heart was also touched at her care and concern!
Thank you all for caring enough to help ziggy.. I pray she settles down and let's you fix her problem and starts trusting you and bonding eventually so she can know what love is!❤❤❤
You guys are so amazing helping a poor animal live the life it deserves
Wow. The ending really hit me. It is so amazing that she let yall touch her. It feels good to know that she is living an amazing life instead of being killed. How the one person said why work with her instead of saving many others made me kinda mad. If the rescuers that reascued my dog would have not reascued him because they could be reacueing others I would not have my best friend. Every life is valuable and every life should be treated as a being and not just an object. We should strive to give animals the best life we possibly can and if we can't meet those requirements because " we don't have the time " or " we don't have the money " or " we just don't want to " than we don't deserve to have them. No one deserves animals if they can not properly care for them. Whether this be a fish, or a elephant, a hamster, or a horse, a bearded dragon, or a dog we should treat them with utmost respect and love and give them the best lives that they could possibly live.
Layla Ammons Preach sister!! Wishing there could be more humans just like you to educate the world as to the sanctity of life! Your words of wisdom certainly are uplifting in a seemingly dismal world. Thank you for sharing. You are special!
Ziggy should have never been cross-bread. She paid the cost for those that bred her. She was inspiring.
Those clubbed feet look better than my drawings of horses feet
Thank you for helping Ziggy. All of Gods creatures are worth saving.
Poor little Ziggy, thank you for saving her
I think this is an amazing story. Ziggy is so lucky she came into your lives. When most would have just euthanized or shot her, you seen the potential in her ❤️. You are all beautiful, loving people and I wish the world was filled with more like you 💕💕
Ziggy is gorgeous and Thank you for working with her.
It's wonderful that they are trying to make her life better. But that tiny enclosure is so sad! Horses need room to run and play, she can't run in that! Not a full out run anyway. I'm happy to see that they gave her a herd mate, equines should NEVER be alone.
She can’t run at all with her clubbed foot, at least not without hurting herself or causing more damage to her foot. I think this is a temporary enclosure used to build trust as well, so that it will be easier once she is in a big enclosure to handle her
Wonderful that you were able to safe ziggy as every life is precious
Thank you for sharing the knowledge and experience and saving Ziggy.
How rewarding is that??? Just awesome to see those results.
Thank God for animal lovers.
I’m a person who has been around horses, ridden a lot as a child and teen. I enjoyed them but I didn’t understand them. When Ziggy had her first hoof trim, I couldn’t believe the difference in her movement. Someone will equate it with spending years in shoes that didn’t fit but if escape is her main defense, it must have been calming to her whole system. I think that as well as the intelligent training from people who understood she was not a horse or a zebra, that made the life-saving difference. As for putting time and energy into an animal, who is to say who gets saved. In dog rescue, people get upset about all kinds of things. I have been yelled at because I was caring for puppies from across the Mexican border. I took them because I had space, because I knew I would be given the meds to get them well and I was hoping I could get them to eat. If you try to save everyone you will save no one.
That was so cool getting to see the point where Ziggy allowed touch !! AWESOME !!
Great job. I’m always touched to see a life saved. It breaks my heart to see neglected and abused animals.
I am so glad you were able to help her. It took alot of patience but you both won.!!
Thank you for the care
Thank you all so much for helping this little zebra pony ..Namaste
What a wonderful story and endeavor. Of course Ziggy deserves every chance for a good life, love, and care. What a blessing it is to see her get that care. Thank you so much for sharing.
Hello from an parrot behaviorist! Parrots should be trained in just the same way. Parrots NEED choice in their training. They need slow understanding training with lots of options to leave. They don't want to bite. They bite because they are wild and aren't being given choice. It's lovely to see this attitude spreading all over animal husbandry.
The beginnings of this animals life were not the greatest and to know that at the end of its life it will have felt love, enjoyment, and safety makes this worth it.
Thank you for your care and to make Ziggy happy. She deserved it! I truely believe it is worth to help animals having a good life! And yes that is emotional. If people would be more emotional with animals, animals would suffer less because of our awe, ego, negligence and irresponsibility
I was born with clubbed feet and the pain is horrendous. I feel so bad for her. This is cruel to breed really two different types horses to create a hybrid. Here’s another great thing to do.....Don’t play god for a ‘trophy’
She doesn’t deserve thins
I absolutely disagree with the comments made against Zebra-hybrids. They are not, by their nature/genetics, wild animals with a mean streak that will never amount to anything. Ziggy was simply not handled properly from birth. ANY Equine, zebra hybrid or not, would revert to a wild and unruly, even untouchable state, if not given proper handling from the start and if you say otherwise you are delusional. Zebra hybrids are not the issue here, Ziggy's handling and care from the start is. Regardless, I am very glad Ziggy got the care and treatment she deserved. I hope she and Alvin both have long and happy lives.
Actually, zebras & their hybrids are pretty notorious for inheriting the aggressive habits of the zebra parent - zebras kick very forcefully & often with little or no provocation, just b/c you are within striking distance.
They also BITE - a lot more often, & more intensely (not nips, these are frequently crushing injuries with necrosed tissue due to mangled blood vessels - such a bite leaves a large sloughed area, where skin & muscle died & a void was left).
A zebra hybrid, even after good early habituation & force free handling, mindful training with rewards (not coercion or punishment), & a solid affectionate bond with trusted handlers, is never going to be as calm, accepting, tractable, & trustworthy as a horse - even a horse that was born feral, & trained only as as an adult, is going to be more approachable, handleable, & will be less likely to HURT YOU than a zebronkey, zorse, etc.
Like dog X wolf hybrids, zebra hybrids are not good domesticated partners, even with knowledgeable owners.
The several domestic cat X wild cat "breeds" (in fact, hybrids) are also very aggressive in the foundation crosses (50 / 50 domestic + wild cat,).
In quite a few jurisdictions, the cat must be an F5 cross to be kept "as a pet" - F4, F3, G2, & F1 all require WILDLIFE PERMITS, & enclosures, etc, to specific standards, as well as mandatory microchips, to identify them for life if they escape, are sold / given away, etc, & their "wild" status is not disclosed or known by the new owner.
For anyone not familiar with the terms, F1 is a 1st generation cross - in the case of hybrids, that's always 50 / 50, half wild type + half domestic.
F2 is the 2nd generation, which would be a 50% hybrid (F1) x a domestic animal (100% domestic), producing 75% domestic / 25% wild-type, progeny. IOW, this is the grandchild of the original wild parent, & the original domestic parent.
So F5, the "pet" standard generation, are the progeny of an F4 parent mated to a domestic parent. An F4 is the great-grandchild of the original pair, THEIR children, the "pet" generation, are the great-great-grandchildren of the original pair, & are (50% to 75% to 87.5% to 93.75% to 96.9%) virtually entirely domestic genes, but ask the owner of an F5 Bengal or Savannah cat if the BEHAVIOR of their "pet" is just like a 100 % domestic cat's behavior.
You will hear some eye-opening stories.
“Why save this mare instead of others?” I bet whoever made that comment wouldn’t want to hear that about their grandparents or parents from a nursing home employee...
aha sure..lol my answer is "why not?"
Also, that same argument could be said about any animal. Why help that one, why not some other animal? The logical conclusion of that line of thinking is that in the end no animal gets help, because there are always other animals out there that are going without... It's nonsense. How about instead we all help where we can, help those animals in need we happen to encounter in our lives. If everyone did that, all animals would be taken care of.
I do understand that argument. When there are so many animals out there that need help, you do have to choose. But this girl deserved a chance, just like they all do. And the fact that someone had it in their power and chose to help is beautiful. That's what makes us human: our choices.
Emma Narotzky .....nursing homes kill them all. They are not picky
The ending brought tears to my eyes. Two amazing ladies, thank you for such patience and caring!
Wonderful!! Thank you so much for helping Ziggy-- I am simply amazed at your kind and gentle souls. This gives me hope.
She's absolutely beautiful Ziggy maybe a hybrid between horses and zebras but she's beautiful I love it absolutely love her burst of energy yes she was in pain but I'm not giving up on her and sticking with her it's something we all need to remember so if you ever do have a horse that hard rude pushy and you just want to throw the towel in and say I give up then just remember Ziggy video on this channel I hope to see more updates of the Ziggy in the future🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎
She's beautiful...and, definitely a training soul for all. Blessings to you and your family and friends who have been involved in this amazing transition for Ziggy and others. Hats off to all of you. Thank you.
Wow, loved this outcome. Have been watching Emma Massingale on RUclips too. These are transferrable skills that we should all adopt with our interactions with other beings. Thanks for sharing xxx
Just amazing work you've done with Ziggy!
we really love our horses and dogs. but for us its a matter of lifequality . there is none for this pony. thank you so much for sharing this video and greetings from germany.
At the end her life quality looks just great and she looks pretty happy.
That Tweet PISSED ME OFF, SO MUCH!!!
WHY??? Because Ziggy Did NOT Ask To Exist, nor to be One Of A Kind!!!
amazing story, bless you and all you do to help our 4 legged friends
Thank you for all the help for Ziggy.🌟🌟🙂
Good on you. I'm using liberty training on my horse which is a zero pain training method that focuses on communicating as much like a horse as humanly possible and giving the horse a choice but encouraging the one you want.
I admire what are you doing!! Help to an animal in need is always worth it.
Ziggy is a wonderful animal. She is beautiful. this is my first time to watch your vlog, ever nice.
I don't have words...thank you for helping me smile. Blessings from Rhode Island
Thank you for saving Ziggy.
So much skill and knowledge in this video.. I`ll have to watch it several times!
Thank you for this great video! I hope this way of thinking will continue to catch on.
This was an amazing video. You packed a lot of information into a short period of time. Your depth of knowledge and and what has been gained from this experience will make inroads into the horse training world. I would love to see some follow up videos. Keep up the good work
We can’t save the life of every horse, but you changed the life of one horse
The cuddles at the end great work 😍
Bless her , bless you, Ziggy is BEAUTIFUL! 💕💞❤
Ziggy's life gives me hope. I am touched by your efforts to communicate in relationship with this wild sentient being. I think this is what G-d meant when They said to have dominion. We may have over stepped in the breeding of this animal but here we are being responsible. This is an example of a higher love. Thank you.
i completely can understand there is a level of shock anytime you need to put a horse or ANY animal down... But hopefully EVERYONE who sees this will remember.. it is "extremely" traumatizing for animals to witness DEATH also, as she explained & I just felt I needed to draw more attention to this. Hopefully Alvin & Ziggy will forget quickly. Hanging up a tarp or sheets are always a great way to temporarily block an animal's view for ANY reason. The cover the dead animal & remove it. (They will still smell what has happened. But THIS is why slaughter houses are horrifying... when they allow the animal behind the one being killed to witness what is coming)
On a lighter note!! GREAT JOB making this one life so much happier!!!!! 💕 especially getting the pony!
Clicker training is used to train the most vicious zebras in rehabbing. The training is not combining pressure release and clicker training, it is complete clicker training.
Zebras that are so vicious all training is initially done from the other side of the fence, building in tiny increments, until the zebras are under saddle and jumping cavalettis.
The Mustang Camp in New Mexico bred a permanently lame mustang filly to a zebra just to get a novelty foal. The filly should have been put down or at least given hoof care, but instead they bred her and forced her to carry the foal with her damaged front foot.
They refused to even allow me to trim her deformed hooves, for free. Evil.
I don't know if they ever taught the zony foal to be handled.
And we're left wondering why, WHY would someone refuse available help for an animal in need???
@@imonthewinningside8281 yeah, I wonder that too. Just like I wonder why she would breed a permanently lame pony that's suffering just carrying her own weight, and make her carry an extra hundred pounds of foal. The novelty of having a zony and a general disregard for the welfare of the animal are the answers I can come up with.
She has hundreds of horses and ponies go through her place every year, so why not breed one of the sound ones?
So glad you all let her have a friend 💖
Amazing story. I learned a lot here. Thank you 🙏
Amazing. Just amazing. I love this so much.
Ziggy story made me cry because she went threw so much and the ones that brought her into our world has really given us more than Ziggy gets in return for her type of animals she See's none that are like her own breed
Love UC Davis’s vets they are the best
Poor Ziggy, because of humans she suffered, thank goodness for these helpful people
some truly wonderful women, and yes you can change the world one living being at a time.
I can`t believe someone could question making an effort to help that animal. In cases like this - I think as much is put into the saving of it as its gained - in terms of knowledge, experience and the satisfaction from the achievement. And that is without even starting on the moral side of it... On top of that - for some the satisfaction comes from getting the rosettes in showing rings, for others a big day comes when you can stroke the horses face for the first time. And anyone who has a problem with that - well... they have a problem.
I cannot believe the horrid insensitivity of euthanizing an animal in front of one of its herdmates and then leaving the carcass just out of reach in front of its herdmate all night.
Basic animal understanding is against this. How could someone think this would not effect the living animal?
RoseThistleArtworks I still hate that when my horse was euthanized they completely took the other horses out of the pasture and im not sure they let them see him at all like they could watch but from really far off and they did watch they both stood at the fence and the donkey kept calling him i wouldn’t have minded if they were in the pasture with us but I wasn’t really thinking at the time They might’ve had to put them on leads but i think they should’ve been with us they were his family I try to go visit every couple years just to make sure they are ok I miss my boy
Doing it that way means the herd know their friend is dead, they then don't become unhappy looking for him and calling. Horses understand death.
I don't think they had another place suitable for Ziggy and the infrastructure to move her there fast enough to not prolog the suffering of the horse that needed to be euthanized. It probably would have been more stressful for her to be moved by strangers to a new enclosure than to see another horse die.
In some cases, if its got a very close herdmate that is put down, it is better to let them see and then touch the deceased horse as a mourning/acceptance. A lot of the time a horse that is put down and removed without his/her buddies seeing can lead to the left behind friends in a panic or worry because their friend is gone. BUT, in this case......They could have done something a little better!!
She's so cute xx
YOU are cute xx
you are using a number of hog panels in the close quarter pens. you are lucky a horse has not caught the lower jaw and hauled back and broke the jaw
Thank you for posting these really insightful and informative clips. It was heartwarming to see the amount of time and effort your team devoted to the rehab of this hybrid. Such s tragic situation ... and just left unattended while slowly becoming crippled while in view of some type of commercial riding stable/barn I find shocking ... how many saw her until one person decided to act and get help?
Unfortunately the capacity for cruelty and failure to act through sheer negligence or ignorance just doesnt surprise me anymore. Getting these stories out will hopefully prevent more human vanity breeding projects, carelessness or bad husbandry ...
Ziggy allowed touch in 2017. It is now two years later. How is Ziggy now, physically and socially?
a very informative video, well done!!!
Why would they euthanize a horse in front of Ziggy when they knew how nervous she was?
That horse had been kicked and its leg was broken. It would have been in pain and very scared. The necessity of authanising it to get it out of pain, given it would not have been able to be moved elsewhere, would have been balanced against Ziggys emotional needs.
Thank you for sharing this this useful info.
Love this story!!
Love this video. Keep up the good work, publish an update
You did the right thing why do people say it’s not worth it
What a great story!
Love this ... Good JOB !
Im glad it worked out for Ziggy to have Alvin and it all worked out in the end for a beautiful creature
Love Ziggy, and your story
Someone give this people a novel price for the extraordinary good work they are doing
The Ramdom Channel - "a novel price"?? Could you explain? Thanks.
@@canreffy I don't know, a medal or something... this methods of training and rehab are pretty new, experimental and I'd say groundbreaking too, so maybe yeah, a novel price
@@theramdomchannel8329 -Thanks for answering - I think you mean a novel PRIZE, not price. And yes, these people do deserve it. :O)
@@canreffy sorry, english is not my first language and I misspel all the time. My point still stands
It's ba shame to be forced to say this, but these are sadly NOT brand-new, novel training ideas.
As far back as the 16 & 1700s, in Europe, there were trainers who taught animals with REWARDS - not by punishing behaviors they did not want, which is a never ending task, but by rewarding those behaviors they DID want - a much shorter list, dependent on context.
In the 1930s & '40s, extensive training that used OPERANT CONDITIONING was fine by Skinner & his grad student assistants, the Brelands. The Brelands also did brilliant work, training nonhumans for the "war effort" (WW-2) under the auspices of the Fed Govt.
One of their most successful projects used pigeons - yes, "rats with wings", ordinary tick doves, one of the earliest animals domesticated by humans.
Pigeons have phenomenal eyesight & excellent memories for objects, & the birds were taught to do 2 crucial tasks: pick out hidden armaments (cannon, grenade launchers, mortars, machine guns...) hidden under trees, tarpaulins, at the edge of an overhang (roof, cave...), etc.
& task #2, to pick out DOWNED AIRMEN who landed in the ocean, so they could be rescued.
The pigeons even taught themselves to pick out "things that don't belong", like hidden troops in a woodland, dug in bunkers or foxholes, & convoys of troop carriers.
The saved the lives of thousands of soldiers on land, & hundreds of scarce, highly trained, hard to replace pilots.
The birds could pick out a man's head, bobbing amid the froth of 3 to 4-foot chop in open ocean, FROM 500 FEET UP, so that a rescue team could be dispatched in time to save them from drowning, or more likely, hypothermia.
The Brelands also were the 1st to train sea mammals as Navy helpers - which is where Karen Pryor, a young woman whose husband was running a marine park in Hawai'i, was inspired to begin training their dolphins - & then ponies to draw a cart was easy, & training dogs was even easier.
Reward training is not "new" - it keeps being rediscovered, by individual trainers, by owners, & passed around.
It was just getting some traction with average dog-owners in the USA when Cesar Millan / "the dog whisperer" began his TV career, & wrecked all the headway made by positive reinforcement AKA reward training, over the previous 20-years.
Cesar was a disaster for dogs, & set the humane training movement back "twenty years", according to Nicholas Rodman, DVN, a veterinary behaviorist.
Reward training is not a secret.
It is not "a gift" - virtually anyone from 7 or 8-years of age can do this, & do it well.
It is much, much faster than punishment based training, it is more efficient, & the animal (or human) so taught recalls their learning better, than what is taught the by punishment.
THE HARDEST PART of reward training is A, breaking the behavior down into small steps that the learner can easily master, & B, not "training to failure".
Humans always want to skip steps & hustle - if the dog can be called reliably INSIDE A FENCE from 100-ft away, with nothing very exciting happening around them, we want to call the dog FROM 500-FERT AWAY, & outside the fence - at large.
Guess what? - It's too big a leap, the dog gets halfway back & sees a k9 friend, or a friendly human, or a running squirrel, & POOF! - there goes a month of solid, progressive, steady learning.
And worse yet, there goes the dog - off leash, headed for the next county, happily galloping along.
Humans are way harder to train then nonhumans.
Love this rescue
THANK YOU FOR SHARING♥️
Thank you ladies,God speed.
Thank you!
I don't think this is a "novel concept"....I think it is common sense that has been my natural approach for over 50 years.