News

Train a moose with some tree boughs and a clicker? That’s what Ralph Jarvis of Harbour Grace, Newfoundland accomplished as part of the recent online course offered by Extended Learning at the Faculty of Agriculture.

Operant Conditioning Behaviour Analysis (OCBA) Level 1, was offered for 12 weeks from the beginning of April to the end of June and is set to run its second installment in January of 2014. This type of positive reinforcement training enriches the animals’ environment and their interactions with handlers, is a cost effective way to provide a positive environment for animals and staff and is a valuable skill set that can be used to train any species.

Including a moose.

“The course was a great motivation and I intend to continue working with Isabelle and other animals in our care” states Ralph. “This was an important first step for us learning about OCBA and integrating it into the wildlife care program here at the park.”

Co-instructor Dr. Melissa Cox demonstrating OCBA techniques with Bramble the goat.

Ralph is the Manager of the Salmonier Nature Park on the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland. He, along with 15 ‘classmates’, spent 10-15 hours per week, learning the theory and skills of OCBA training- completely online. The course participants included those who worked with wildlife, in zoos, veterinarians, vet assistants and those who were looking to change careers and their lives. Besides a moose, the course guided the development of dogs, horses, donkeys and a minipig.

Sarah Macdonald, Manager of Extended Learning at the Dalhousie Agricultural Campus, is thrilled about the results. “We knew it was going to be a challenge to train the skill of OCBA via the internet, but we wanted to reach a national audience and we accomplished exactly that by attracting students from Newfoundland to British Columbia.”

By providing training plans and submitting video footage of themselves, the students were able to portray their competency to the instructors in order to be critiqued Once they got comfortable with the use of the technology, most students embraced the opportunity to learn at their convenience and looked forward to the sharing of skills and experiences provided by the student videos.

Heather Logan training chickens

“The most surprising aspect of this instructional experience was the bond we felt between students and instructors,” shared Heather Logan (left) the course co-instructor, “many of whom are still keeping in touch.” Bonding with students is nothing new to Heather who has been teaching Operant Conditioning for over 20 years, but the ability to do so over distance and co-teach with her daughter Melissa, who lives in Germany, was a treat.

The course is getting geared up for its next offering in January 2014 and registrations are currently being accepted. Visit the Extended Learning website at www.dal.ca/ocba or contact jmaceachern@dal.ca for more information