7/29/09

#137: Harbor Seal Happy Dance!

Our Harbor Seals are excellent at many fun, energetic behaviors and Amelia is one of the best at dancing. She learned this behavior through targeting, which is one of the first steps to training the majority of the behaviors she knows. We started by asking her to touch--or target--one flipper to our hand and then used the other hand for the other flipper. We then increased the amount of times she touched flippers to hands. Over time we were able to back away from touching the flipper and then increase her distance from us in the water. This is a short explanation but the finished product is fun to see.





Here is a view of Amelia from the front of the exhibit. She learned the dance behavior many years ago and it just shows how practice makes perfect.









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