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7.3 Two‐way Communication 125

VetBooks.ir the animal’s body language provides feedback the target forward the lion snarled and
aggressed repeatedly with feet hitting the
about its level of motivation to participate or
not. If the body language shows the animal is
no more than one foot, the lion stopped the
not motivated, the trainer can change the wire mesh. As soon as the keeper backed up
antecedents and/or consequences to encour- aggression and sat calmly in the presence of
age the animal, or stop the training session the keeper. Those 12 inches made a world of
and try again later. When cues and criteria for difference in the attention span and motiva-
behaviour are clear, the animal may learn tion of the lion.
quicker and motivation may increase. When A trainer can have a high trust account
animals don’t learn as expected, a trainer with a particular animal then one day, with
should review antecedent conditions includ- no apparent reason from the trainer’s point
ing cues, criteria, and reinforcers. of view, the animal might retreat at the train-
The most successful animal trainers are often er’s approach. Though we will never know
the ones who are the most sensitive to animals’ what an animal is thinking, we can observe
body language. As a trainer approaches an ani- what the animal does. When an animal’s
mal’s enclosure there is an important opportu- body language shows distrust or concern, a
nity for the trainer to observe the animal’s body trainer should stop what he or she is doing,
language and determine the most helpful speed quickly evaluate the conditions, and move
of approach, or if approach is even advisable. back to the animal’s comfort zone. No matter
Too often, keepers just march up to a training how high the trust account or how much his-
area with little or no concern for what the ani- tory a person has with an animal, trainers
mal’s behaviour might be telling them. Like should always approach an animal with care-
humans, each animal has its own personal ful observation of its body language, and only
space and the data flows the moment the ani- enter an animal’s personal space when the
mal can perceive the trainer’s presence. animal’s body language invites them in. If we
give animals control of our behaviour though
their body language we will gain trust,
7.3.1 Personal Space
improve personal space or flight distance,
The concept of personal space was intro- increase their comfort zone, and have more
duced by Edward T. Hall in his book The productive training sessions.
Hidden Dimension. He said, ‘Most people Even when a trainer has established a high
value their personal space and feel discom- trust account with an animal, standing too
fort, anger, or anxiety when their personal close can be a problem that disrupts training
space is encroached’ (Hall 1966). Personal sessions. Some animals focus intently on a
space is also considered ‘flight distance’ in person’s hand, target, food container, etc.,
animals and can be seen as the distance at and stop paying attention to the other impor-
which an animal shows comfortable body tant aspects of the training environment.
language as a person or other animal There are times when we want an animal to
approaches. Judith Bardwick, author of hold its nose or other body part against a tar-
Danger in the Comfort Zone, defines the get. However, there are also times when a tar-
comfort zone as a behaviour state where a get held too close to the mesh could cause an
person operates in an anxiety‐neutral posi- animal to try to bite or lick the target instead
tion (Bardwick 1995). Flight distance and of moving as indicated to the target.
comfort zones are directly related to the rela- Additionally, when an animal is ‘cross‐eyed’
tionships we have with animals in our care on a close target it may not see the rest of the
and are strongly influenced by current condi- environment including prompts and cues.
tions. A lion (Panthera leo) at Assiniboine When you look cross‐eyed at something
Zoo was new to training and just beginning close to your face everything else goes out of
to learn target training. As the keeper moved focus. The same happens when trainers use