Ep76 Sven Wieskotten on positive reinforcement animal training and its utilisation in research
"The toughest part of animal training is that you find your own way, and not following rules. Because, following rules means there is no forward development" - Sven Wieskotten
Let’s welcome Sven Wieskotten for today’s podcast. He is the founding director of Animal and Training.
Sven first reminisces about his childhood bird and how far we have come in terms of animal husbandry. Then his first animal bond during his PhD with a Harbour seal named Henry. Sven noted his first career choice was being a pilot, however, due to unforeseen circumstances, he could not do this. So, he studied his second choice; biology, in 1997 at the Ruhr "University Bochum". During this, he met the founding director of the ‘Marine Science Center’ in Rostock, who introduced the research his team do on Harbour seals to his class. This started his passion, Sven enquired whether he could join their team. After seven weeks of enquiry, the centre got new seals and invited Sven to join.
Sven then describes the centre and its part in the research. He states how the public can view the current behavioural and sensory studies. Additionally, he describes how the public can participate in medical and husbandry training, which means animals will allow strangers to interact with them, promoting stress-free veterinary interactions.
Sven introduces us to non-mammal training such as with octopi, penguins, and fish. Stating how training principles can be utilised cross-species. For example, the two-alternative force choice task, whereby the animal is given to targets and are taught to distinguish between the two by rewarding when the individual interacts with one target over the other.
From here Sven describes his work on trial following, whereby he is working to distinguish the seals' hydrodynamic perception. This is to follow water disturbance trails using their whiskers alone, whilst blindfolded. He then describes the training process required to achieve this, addressing the hurdles of training being reduced motivation. Sven continues by discussing the importance of understanding both the animals and trainers’ individual personalities in terms of the training strategy.
Sven then talks about Akademie für Tiernaturheilkunde (ATN), a German online course provider which educates students internationally.
Sven concludes by telling us the story of an orangutan he witnessed whilst in Borneo at a feeding platform. He was amazed at the animal’s brute strength as he removed a tree seemingly in frustration as a female would not mate.
Find out more about Animal and Training HERE
Find out more about the Marine Science Center HERE
Find out more water trailing HERE
Find out more about Akademie für Tiernaturheilkunde HERE
Become a member of PAWS HERE
