Investigative Project Proposal
Title of Project –
Can You Train a Domestic Cat Using the Same
Methods as Those Used in Zoo’s to Train Big Cats?
Aims/Objective –
The main aim of
this project is to figure out whether you can train domestic cats using exactly
the same training methods as those used to train domestic cats, for this I will
be comparing the training of Cheetahs and then applying some of the methods to
my own domestic cat Tilly, and recording what I discover. I will be watching
the training of cheetahs instead of the training of other big cats because
through previous research I discovered that cheetahs are the easiest and the
most commonly trained big cat so therefore there will be a lot more information
and research for me to work with and compare my findings to. This research
could aid with the future training of domestic cats and it could also indicate
just how similar big cats and domestic cats actually are. I will also be aiming
to look at the reasons for the particular outcome of this project by looking at
the behaviour of both domestic cats and cheetahs.
Methodology –
To start my
project I have asked 20 members of the general public whether they think that
domestic cats can be trained using exactly the same methods as used in big cat training
and 12 people answered no leaving 8 people that answered yes. I am going to
carry out lots of extensive research using the internet and books to find out
information around the subject including finding video footage of cheetah
training. I will also be taking observations of cheetah training at Paradise
Wildlife Park and retrieving information from big cat keepers about training
and then applying it and trying to train a domestic cat in the same way using
the same methods. I will then record my findings in a report along with photo
evidence. Once my findings have been recording I will begin to look into the
reasons for this by looking at the behaviour and temperament of both domestic
cats and cheetahs and then writing this up as part of the report to help to
conclude and evaluate it.
Information
Sources –
Examples of some
websites that may be used in this project are
-http://www.fabcats.org/behaviour/understanding/zoo%20cats.html http://www.arkanimals.com/ark/ws_training_big_cats.html. These will be useful because they contain
information about the comparison of big cats to domestic cats (research that is
already out there on the subject of the project) and information on big cat
training which is important for me to know so that I can apply it to my
domestic cat training. Some of the books that will be used in this project
include The Complete Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Cats because it contains
everything you could possibly need to know about domestic cats plus a little
about big cats and how domestic cats compare which is very relevant for this
project, I will also use other general animal behaviour books such as
Unravelling Animal Behaviour because these will provide me with advise and
suggestions and give me ideas on what to look out for when I am observing and
cat behaviour and may also indicate different ways in which I can record my
findings. Paradise Wildlife Park and the big cat keepers there will also be a
very big information source for this project because they have first-hand
experience on what I am researching and this is also the location of the big
cats which I will be observing. I shall also use the book Big Cat
Diaries-Cheetahs because this will provide me with some general information on
cheetahs and their behaviour. I will also be looking at forums such as this one
to see what people think and know about the topic of my project - http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090424091442AAAvU0g.
Resources –
Many resources are
going to be used for this project including cat behaviour books which will help
me to understand the basic behaviours of domestic cats and cheetahs and to see
the similarities and differences between the two and also to maybe be able to
see what kind of behaviours affect how they are trained, cat training books in
order for me to know the basic training methods used already for domestic cat
training and to learn what training technique to apply when training my domestic
cat using big cat training methods, computers and the internet as this will
allow me to type my report and have a wide range of access to information,
video footage of training and forums to view other peoples knowledge and
opinions and articles etc. A camera will also be used as one of my resources so
that photo evidence can be used in the report, the cat keepers at Paradise
Wildlife Park will be a resource because they are where I will receive my hands
on opinions from and will be the base at which I learn the training methods
used in cheetah training, the big cats at paradise wildlife park as these are
the cheetahs that I will be studying and observing the training off, any
training equipment used such as target sticks, clickers and treat rewards My domestic
house cat Tilly will also be a resource as she is the cat I will be applying
the training methods to, the general public are a resource as they are who I
asked my main question to in order to get some opinions of what I am going to
find and they are also part of the forums from which I am going to be using as
part of my research, and any articles or extra forms of information that are
found in order to broaden my knowledge on my chosen subject.
Hypothesis –
I believe that the
outcome of this project is going to be that cheetahs and domestic cats can be
trained using the same training methods and this is because they are both
closely related and the domestic cat I am using is a house cat so therefore she
could do with the enrichment and extra stimulation the same as captive cheetahs
do and both domestic cats and cheetahs are known to be easily trainable through
positive reinforcement and they are both closely related and so therefore I do
not see why cheetah training methods would not work on a domestic cat. I
believe that it could actually prove very effective, maybe even more effective
than the current general domestic cat training methods because big cat training
methods seem to be much more efficient and simple so therefore may be easier for
a domestic cat to grasp.
Justification of
Proposed Idea –
The reason for
this investigation is to find out whether domestic cats can be trained in the
same way as cheetahs and to try and figure out the reason why by looking at
behaviour. This is going to be a very interesting project because many people
have different opinions on it, and it could also help with the future training
of domestic cats as it may indicate what the best methods to be used are. I
have chosen to do this project although I had many other ideas such as ‘How
Does Living Alone in Captivity Affect a Lemur’ or ‘What are the Best Ways to
Enrich Reptiles in Captivity’ or ‘Comparing the Training of a Harris Hawk and a
Kestrel’ but I eventually chose to do one about cats because I have a huge
interest and fascination in them and how they behave and am particularly
fascinated in training of cats so therefore thought it would be the perfect
project for me to pursue. I also have easy access to all of the resources
required to the project as I work at Paradise Wildlife Park where they have
three male cheetahs which they are training currently and I have my own
domestic house cat as well as easy access to information from the keepers etc.
Whereas with some of the other projects it may have been harder to maintain the
contact and carry out an actual investigation and they may be less information
already out there for me to compare my findings to and people may have less
split opinions about them.
So overall my
project is going to be finding out whether domestic cats can be trained in
exactly the same methods as cheetahs and I am going to be doing this by
carrying out background research and then learning how cheetahs are trained and
then applying this to my own domestic cat and recording my findings in a report
along with photo evidence. I will then try and explain why I think the result
was what it was referring to the general behaviour and temperament of each
species. I chose to complete this project because it is of most interest to me
and people have many different opinions on what the outcome will be so it will
be exciting to discover whether it will work or not. I will have access to many
resources and information sources all recorded above which will be my aids for
this project and will help me to discover the end result.
Investigative Project Plan
This
is an action plan for an investigative project called Can Domestic Cats be
Trained in the Same Way as Big Cats are in Zoo’s. This is going to split the
project up into simple steps and explain how they are going to be achieved in
detail and any possible disruptions that could occur and how they will be
overcome.
Action one –
·
Complete
background research to build my knowledge on my chosen subject and to help me
to understand what I am going to later be observing and also to give me a clue
of what to expect my outcome of the project to be.
·
Resources
that are going to be used include the books Big Cat Diary-Cheetah, The Complete
Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Cats, Animal Behaviour and Training. These are all
going to be used because you can get a wide range of information from them
about the general behaviour of cheetahs compared to domestic cats and just big
cats compared to domestic cats, they also provide me with basic behaviour
knowledge which will help me when studying the training and how each of the
animals responds to the training methods. I will also be using internet sites
such as http://www.fabcats.org/behaviour/understanding/zoo%20cats.html http://www.arkanimals.com/ark/ws_training_big_cats.html
http://www.zooborns.com/zooborns/2012/10/after-rigorous-training-monartos-cheetah-cub-debuts.html because these
have information about the behaviour and training of cats and so therefore will
aid in me gaining knowledge on the basic topic. I will also be using forums
such as this one http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090424091442AAAvU0g and articles like
this one http://www.wildwatch.com/living_library/mammals-2/cheetah which will help
me to discover what information is already out there and what people already
know and have found out about the training of big cats compared to that of
domestic cats.
·
This
should take a week; the start date is 17th December and so therefore
should be completed by the 23rd December.
·
Possible
problems to this are that the laptop that is going to be used may stop working
in which case I will have to use someone else’s computer which I have arranged
as a backup.
Action two –
·
Ask 20
people whether they believe that domestic cats can be trained using the same
methods as big cats in zoos.
·
The
only resource that will be used for this is general public as this is who I
will be using to answer this question. This will be done by me asking a range
of people and then tallying up my findings.
·
This
should take a day and will be completed on the 24th of December.
·
Possible
problems that could occur are me not being able to print it out on time or me
not being about to get enough people to fill it out in the one day so therefore
I will allow for an extra two days just in case this does happen, so therefore
it will be finished on the 26th December.
Action three –
·
This
will be when I do my research and learn about big cat training, specifically
cheetah training ready to start applying it to train my domestic cat.
·
Resources
that will be used for this are the internet, websites such as http://zookeepersjournal.com/wiki/index.php?title=Cheetah_Enrichment_and_Training_Program as this will teach me about the actual
methods used, although the majority of my research will be based on video links
such as http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mviDgPq_qk and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwd24ogYASg because this will show me exactly how
Cheetah’s are trained and the methods used so I will know exactly how to apply
it to my domestic cat. The animals at Paradise Wildlife Park and the keepers
will also be an important resource because this research will be to get a more
in depth view about how big cats are trained and I will hopefully get to see
the methods in action, and talk to the keepers about anything that I don’t
quite understand or am unsure, the internet will also aid this because as
talking to the keepers while I am at the zoo I will also be emailing them
asking any questions I neglected to ask while I was at the zoo.
·
This
will be completed between the 27th December and the 10rd
January so will take two weeks.
·
Possible
problems that may occur are keepers not being in the zoo when I am or them
being unable to show me the training due to being busy with more important
things which is why I have allowed two weeks for the completion of this instead
of just one. Another problem that may occur could also be lack of internet
access which is why I have arranged time to go down the library and also have
the use of someone else’s computer if needed.
Action four –
·
This
will be when I start training my domestic cat applying the big cat training
methods.
·
Resources
that will be used for this are the information I’ve obtained through the other
three actions of my project, particularly action three because these will
provide me with all of the methods used and so I will know what to do and will
have the keepers assistance if need be through email etc. There will also be
extra internet research on domestic cat training for example Clicker Training
for Clever Cats which will help me understand what the usual successful
training methods for domestic cats are which will make it easier to compare my
findings once I start training. Other resources will be the training equipment
I use which will include a target, clicker and food rewards which are the exact
same equipment used for cheetah training (most commonly).
·
This
will be completed between the 3rd January and the 17th
January, allowing two weeks for me to work in.
·
Possible
problems that may occur are struggling to gather the information needed for
example not being able to get hold of keepers or internet/laptop not working
and so therefore I have allowed two weeks for this section and also have
arranged for use of another person’s computer if mine fails. Also not being
able to get hold of the all the equipment required which is why I have arranged
such a lengthy period of time for this part of the project.
Action five –
·
This
will be when I try to explain why my outcome was what it was by looking at the
general behaviour and temperament of both cat species, mostly stuff that has
been looked at in previous research.
·
Resources
to be used are books, internet (titles and links in previous actions) as well
as http://www.planetwildlife.com/information/species/cheetah?section=behaviour, http://www.lucievandongen.com/Pages/cheetah_behavior.htm, Understanding Cat Behaviour and The
Behaviour of the Domestic Cat which will provide me with knowledge of the
general behaviour and temperament of each cat species to try and help me
explain why my outcome was what it was. Keepers and general cat owners will
also be used for information and opinions on the subject from a broad range of
people rather than just people involved in the actual project. I will also be
using my own domestic cat to observe and one of the cheetahs at the zoo (or
maybe multiple this is undecided yet) to try and discover why my outcome was
what it was by comparing their behaviour and individual personalities and
temperament, this will be aided by books such as Unravelling Animal Behaviour
and Studying Animal Behaviour because these will help me and show me methods to
use to affectively study and record as well as understand the behaviour of
which I observe and how to link in back to the outcome of my project.
·
This
will be completed from the 17th of January for two weeks, finishing
on the 31st.
·
Possible
problems include, internet not working or not having access to necessary
resources which I will overcome by having access to other peoples internet or
the library and I have also allowed a fair amount of time for the completion in
case this does happen. Also I may not be able to observe the big cats when I am
at the zoo due to being too busy which is why I am going to specifically
arrange times with the cat keepers when I can just sit and observe.
Action six –
·
This
is when I shall put all of my information together and complete my report,
having the information I need to answer the main question which was the point
of my project.
·
Resources
needed will be all the information I’ve gathered other the past month using all
the resources named in this plan plus any others I may stumble across which
will be referenced in the actual report. I may end up using extra resources
such as other books, internet sites, articles and videos because there is many
information sources out there and I want to gain as much knowledge as possible
and as this project develops I may discover more resources than named in this
plan and would feel I required to use and refer to them anyway to improve my
depth of knowledge on the subject. I will also be using my computer to type up
the report in order to make it as presentable as possible.
·
This
will be completed from the 31st of December for two weeks till the
14th February.
·
The
main problem that could occur is not having access to a computer of the
internet which will be overcome thanks to me arranging the use of someone
else’s computer and internet and me allowing a fair amount of time for the
completion of this action. I have also saved all of my work and recorded my
findings on a memory stick as well as on my computer’s hard drive so that
everything is backed-up so I will not lose any of my work even if one of them
failed.
Carrying Out An Investigative Project
TThere are many health and safety
issues and animal welfare issues which need to be discussed and considered in
my project. The five freedoms is the main code of practise relevant to my
project because by training animals they can easily become distressed and in
these situations it should also be ensured that you allow the animal to take a
break from training. It should also be ensured that the other four freedoms
(freedom from hunger and thirst, freedom from discomfort, freedom from pain
injury and disease, and freedom to express normal behaviour) are met with the
animals that are participating in my project which are the cheetahs and white
tiger at Paradise Wildlife Park and my own cat, Tilly. This will be ensured
that all of the animals although being trained, are still allowed and able to
express all of their natural behaviours including things such as making any
natural noises, sharpening their claws etc. Also, they will always receive the
correct amount of food and will always have access to water no matter how well
they train; food received in training will simply be extra treats and not part
of their essential diets. If the animals ever appear to be in any discomfort or
pain or show any sign of injury or disease training will be stopped immediately
and it will be dealt with accordingly and then animals will begin training
again once they are fully recovered. The Health and Safety At Work Act also
applies to this project to the keepers involved in the big cat training as this
is their job and could be seen as a very dangerous one; this includes that the
keepers must have a written health and safety policy, that all equipment and
foundations are of safe working condition, employers must ensure that non
employers (such as students, like me) who may be affected by work activities
are not exposed to risks to their health and safety which is why I was not able
to participate in the big cat training, and employees should not interfere with
or misuse anything provided for health and safety reasons. The ways to assess
the health and safety precautions required for this project are to complete a
risk assessment which shows all of the risks, how serious
they are, who they will affect and how they will be prevented while the project
takes place.
Write up of my log of all actions
and inputs into the project –
18th December – This
is when I completed my first set of research on big cat training, specifically
looking at Cheetahs, I discovered some videos on youtube. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwd24ogYASg, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mviDgPq_qk, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfSENh6Ojr0) The first video showed me how cheetah cubs are trained at a
zoo using clickers and food rewards, the second video showed me adult cheetah
training in order to hunt food and bring it back to their trainers and the
third video was also about cheetahs being trained in order to hunt and catch
prey for their trainers and after looking at some websites including http://www.zsl.org/zsl-whipsnade-zoo/exhibits/cheetah-rock/cheetah-facts,858,AR.html which informed me that humans have trained cheetahs for
hunting as long ago as 3000BC, and this was done because Cheetahs as well as
having amazing hunting ability (particularly speed) but because they were thought
to be the easiest to tame of all big cats because they are smaller and more
submissive than other species and responded well to training from a young age
and being hand reared.
19th December – I read
through certain relevant parts of two of the books i’m using for this project
today which were the cat encyclopaedia and the cheetah diary which explained to
me some natural cheetah behaviour and how intelligent they are and the cat
encyclopaedia informed me of natural cat behaviour and also general training
methods which are used to train domestic cats which is mainly done through food
rewards and signal commands. This is already similar to cheetah training.
20th
December – I spoke to a keeper from Paradise Wildlife Park today (Ricky Reino)
to find out how they train the big cats there, they don’t only train their three
male cheetahs (all aged 3) but also their 2 year old white tiger. He told me
that at Paradise they use positive reinforcement
training so that the cats are always learning and being rewarded (with meat
cubes) for doing a correct behaviour when the keepers ask them. They use a
target tick with a large red ball on the end and a whistle set at a certain
pitch as the bridge. Voice and hand commands play a big part too. It
doesn't really depend on species so much, it is more the individual cats
character and personality, even their age. You will find that younger cats a a
lot more interested and motivated and so do a lot better with taking part in
training, learning things and actually remembering them. Training cheetahs
and smaller cats is different to training a big cat because you can do so much
more with a smaller cat including actually doing free contact training whilst
inside the enclosure with them. With a lion, tiger, leopard, jaguar, snow
leopard you are limited to through the fence or 'protected contact' training so
there are only certain things you can do. So after discovering all of this
I was able to plan Tilly’s (the domestic cats) training, I shall train her
using treat cubes and a clicker and I will apply the ‘contact training methods’
to her because this allows you to use hand signals rather than a target, so
this is why my project is to be focused on cheetahs as a big cat as these are
one of the only species that can take place in contact training.
21st December – Today I researched into
what other people thought about whether domestic cats can be trained the same
as big cats using forums such as http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090424091442AAAvU0g and many people think that they cannot because big
cats are wild animals and so therefore must require specific specialised
training and think that it would take a lot longer to train a big cat than it
would to train a domestic cat. While I was doing this I also decided to carry
out my survey early and discovered that out of the twenty people that I asked
my question people twelve people gave me the answer no and eight gave me the
answer yet but many people had trouble deciding what their answer should be so
this shows me that this is a very split opinion subject as I had suspected
before I started the project so therefore this is the reason why I thought it
would be such a good project to carry out.
22nd December – I completed more
research on big cat training, specifically cheetahs and domestic cat training
using the internet and various websites as already listed in my plan and now
feel that I have gathered together enough background information to carry out
the rest of my project, I found that the most common and affective way to train
a cheetah is that used at Paradise Wildlife park and that it is best to train
any cat from an early age as they are a lot more receptive to it. Domestic cats
can be domestically trained in various ways which will be further commented on
in my write up in task D.
27th and 30th December –
These dates are when I carried out my specific big cat training observations at
Paradise Wildlife Park, I observed some tiger training that was non-contact
using targets and meet cubes as rewards, he was able to perform things such as
opening his mouth on demand, sitting, lying down against the mesh and standing
on his hind legs, when they trained him to open his mouth they used a syringe
of blood to help encourage it, and because the blood dripped onto the floor the
tiger has now trained himself to sometimes become distracted from his actual
training and gets obsessed with licking the ground. I then observed some
cheetah training; firstly contact training which was completed in their outside
enclosure, the cheetahs were trained to sit in certain spots (their training
area) and to wait their for food and then to touch targets and respond to hand
signals, they were not brilliant at this but it is early days in terms of their
training and it can take a lot of time, especially considering they are 3 years
old. I then watched non-contact training with one of the cheetahs which was
done using the target and the whistle and meat cube rewarding and they cheetah
responded a lot better to this and they were able to get the cheetah to sit,
lie down against the mesh and the stand up on its hind legs.
2nd January – I completed some research
on domestic cat training methods today using the sites including http://animal.discovery.com/cat-guide/cat-training/ and mostly youtube videos such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fkJ9Hnsmfg
; these informed me of varieties of ways and methods to train cats using all
sorts of equipment which will be talked about in more detail in my actual
report.
5th January – This is when I sat down
and thought about the methods I wanted to use to try and train Tilly taking
everything that I have learnt over the past weeks about not only domestic cat
training but also big cat training into consideration and I decided that I was
going to train Tilly using treat rewards and a clicked and by using hand and
voice commands and I will try and train her to sit, stand on her hind legs, lie
down, turn around on command and open her mouth on command.
10th January – I have started the
training of Tilly a little later than I had planned as I have struggled to find
the time. I trained her today to realise that hearing the clicker meant that
she would receive a reward so it was a nice easy start to help her to
understand what the clicker sound was. I think she picked it up really well but
this will be properly discovered when the real training starts tomorrow. To
help her learn that the clicker means that she receives a treat I simple
clicked it once and then presented her with a treat.
11th 12th
and 13th January – In
training Tilly today I tried to teach her to sit by putting my hand in front of
her and saying sit, I placed my hand in front of her in order to stop her from
moving forward, to try and encourage her to sit, every time she sat down I
clicked the clicker and rewarded her with a treat, the first two days she
wasn’t fluent with completing the behaviour but by the third day she completed
it on every command.
14th January – Today I tried to teach
Tilly to stand on her hind legs, I done this by clenching my fist and raising
it above her head and saying touch, she responded to this a lot quicker than
she had to the first command, sit, whenever she done the required behaviour I
clicked the clicker and rewarded her, by the end of the days training sessions
(15 minutes) she was almost fluent in completing the behaviour. I also made
sure she still practised the command sit and she was fluent at responding
throughout training, I made sure that she completed her previously performed behaviour
as well as her new one so that it builds up and improves and so that she
doesn’t forget it.
15th January - I didn’t want to rush into yet another
behaviour and overwhelm Tilly today so I decided to stay safe and just perform
the two behaviours that she knew and by the end of the training session she was
fluent in both and would respond every time that she responded to one of them.
She would always then be rewarded and praised.
16th January – Today I tried to get
Tilly to lie down on demand and this proved very unsuccessful as I couldn’t get
her to perform the required behaviour even once. I tried to get her to lie down
by placing my fist on the ground by her feet and saying lie but she would only
look at it, I then tried getting her to lie down by saying touch instead but
this was still unsuccessful, as a last ditch attempt I tried to move her front
feet from underneath her and lie her down to try and show her what she had to
do but she wouldn’t let me do this. However through practising her two
previously learnt behaviours she is still fluent in them.
17th February – I have decided today
that as I complete the rest of my project I am going to continue Tilly’s
training and record any successful attempts as I have not allowed enough time
for the training and only successfully completed two of the five behaviours
that I wanted her to learn. Today I tried to get her to lie down again and once
again it proved unsuccessful, the other two behaviours are still completed
every time I have demanded.
18th January – Today I had my first
successful attempt at getting Tilly to lie down, although she didn’t do it for
very long and she only done it once I still feel it was a breakthrough. She
responded to me lowering my fist to in front of her feet and saying touch and
then once she did by lying down I clicked and rewarded her and as soon as she
heard to click she got back up into the standing position. The other two learnt
behaviours remain fluent.
19th January - I had two successful
attempts at getting Tilly to lie down today so we are definitely making
progress although I cannot get her to remain in the position for very long at
all. She is still completing the other to learnt behaviours whenever demanded.
20th January - Today I started looking
into why Tilly was reacting the way she does to the training and why big cats
do by looking into their general behaviour, I done this by looking at previous
research that I have completed and I decided that considering Tilly’s age of 1
year she was responding as a big cat would to the training at that age. I also
completed training with her and got her to respond to the lying down demand
twice in the training session and she is still completing the other two learnt
commands fluently, tomorrow I plan to introduce another command.
21st January – Today I introduced
turning around to Tilly’s training and she responded to the demand twice. I
commanded it to her by using my finger to make a circle around her head in the
direction I wanted her to turn and saying turn, I done the hand command slowly
so that she could pick it up easier. Both times that she responded it was when
she would turn left. Once she had turn the full way around I would click and
reward her with a treat. She only responded to the lie down command once today
and once again this was for a very short period of time and she still responds
fluently to the sit and stand on her hind legs command.
22nd January - Today I managed to get
Tilly to respond to the lie down command three times and to respond to the turn
around response six times, three times turning left and three times turning
right which is brilliant! We are making slow but good progress and she is still
completing the first two commands that she has learnt whenever I request them.
23rd January – Today Tilly responded to
the turn around command all but two of the times I requested it and completes
the two first commands whenever requested but is still really struggling with
the lie down commanded and only managed to complete it three times in this
training sessions and each time lasted no more than 4 seconds before she got
back up to a standing position again.
24th January – Today I got Tilly to
complete all the commands I have taught her whenever demanded apart from the
lie down command which she did still do well on today managing to complete it a
total of 7 times which is her best so far. She still will not lie down for very
long though. As I have fallen behind on my schedule and sense Tilly has made
such amazing progress I feel that it is time to move on with my project now and
leave the training behind, I think my findings from Tilly’s training will
provide me with enough information to compare it to the training of big cats
and to decide whether or not it was successful or not.
26th til 31st - This is when
I completed my excess research and put all of my training information together
and decided whether or not you can train a domestic cat using the same methods
used in big cat training and explaining why the cats respond to training the
way they do by referring to their general behaviour, I recorded all of this by
using spider diagrams and notes. You will find out whether I thought the
training was successful or not in the report and why I believed this was. All
of the resources used have already been listed in the project plan.
1st February til 13th
February – This is the time I used to complete my full report by putting all of
my information that I have discovered over the past two months together, I
planned this all very carefully and didn’t actually start writing the full
report till the 8th February. I done this by reading through all of
my notes from the very start of the project, referring back to old footage that
was relevant and to photos taken of the big cat training and the training of
Tilly and then making a final plan of how I was going to put everything
together and what photos I would use etc. Once I had written the report I proof
read it twice and got someone else to proof read it as well to make sure there
were no errors and that it was very clear and made sense.
Looking back at my action plan, at the beginning of
the completion of my project I kept on track and was very successful but I
appear to have really slipped up by not starting my training with Tilly as
early as I had planned to. This then held up my project a fair amount and once
the training was completed I was rushed a bit to complete the research on why
my results from the training were what they were, the limited time frame made
it a lot harder to go into as much detail as I wanted to and I am not sure
whether I managed to achieve this or not. Despite this set back, through lots
of hard work I managed to stay on track for the last action of the project and
even complete the last part of my project a day early! If I were to complete
this project again or any other I would definitely ensure that I stuck to the
time frame for each action to ensure that none of the project needs to be
rushed and to make it a lot more easier on myself.
Can You Train a Domestic Cat Using the Same Methods as Those
Used in Zoo’s to Train Big Cats?
Aims and Objectives of the
project -
The main aim of this project is
to figure out whether you can train domestic cats using exactly the same
training methods as those used to train big cats, for this there will be a
comparison of the training of Cheetahs specifically and general big cat
training and then applying some of the methods to my own domestic cat Tilly,
and recording what is discovered. The training of big cats and particularly
cheetahs will be observed because through previous research it was discovered
that cheetahs are the easiest and the most commonly trained big cat (discovered
from comparing many references such as http://zookeepersjournal.com/wiki/index.php?title=Cheetah_Enrichment_and_Training_Program and http://www.zsl.org/zsl-whipsnade-zoo/exhibits/cheetah-rock/cheetah-facts,858,AR.html and talking to keepers at Paradise Wildlife Park) so
therefore there will be a lot more information and research to work with and
compare findings to. The reason for cheetahs to be thought as the easiest big
cat to train is because they are one of the smaller species of big cats so
therefore it is easier to contact train them and they pose less of a danger
than an animal such as a lion or tiger and they are also highly intelligent and
not as aggressive as some other larger species of big cat. This research could
aid with the future training of domestic cats and it could also indicate just
how similar big cats and domestic cats actually are. Another aim is to look at
the reasons for the particular outcome of this project by looking at the
behaviour of both domestic cats and cheetahs. Once the training has been
completed there will then be an explanation of the findings by referring back
to general both of their general behaviour traits and comparing them.
Review of Existing
Literature/Information -
There is a wide range of existing
literature and information already about training big cats such as cheetahs and
tigers in zoos and there is also a wide range of information about domestic cat
training but there is not much existing literature about the comparison of big
cat training and domestic cat training and about whether you can use the same
methods. There is also a fair amount of literature about how training is linked
to cat’s general behaviour. The existing literature shows that big cat training
is becoming more and more common in zoos and game reserves all around the world
and the most common reason for this is as a form of enrichment to keep the cats
interested and active and to make them use their brains. Another reason also is
to tame the animals in order to use for experiences and in shows. There is also
a lot of literature specifically on Cheetah training because these cats have
been used and trained for many years’ not in zoos and reserves but by tribes
and villages of people in countries in Africa in order to hunt for humans. There
are many methods of training used for big cats, including clicker or whistle
training, food reward training, positive reinforcement training and also
negative reinforcement training (although this is rarely used, especially in
this day and age and it is not advised or agreed with.) The most common form of
training for big cats appears to be positive reinforcement using clickers or
whistles and then rewarding the cats with food treats (most commonly small
chunks of meat or syringes of blood). The tricks that are normally taught to
big cats include lying down against the bars of their enclosures so that
keepers can perform health checks through their enclosure fences, for them to
open their mouths on demand for health checks, for them to allow keepers to
touch their tails and for them to stand up against the fencing of their
enclosure, things such as teaching them to roar on demand or even ‘kiss
keepers’ through the fences are also sometimes taught for shows to the public
and things (these are all taught through non-contact training). Some other
tricks that can be taught to big cats through contact training include sitting
at a certain point in an enclosure and waiting to be rewarded, lying down,
exposing their stomachs (the purpose of these tricks are to aid in health
checks) and also performing other more dangerous tricks for things such as
shows to the public. Domestic cats seem
to be trained in similar ways using positive reinforcement such as food
rewarding and they are also sometimes trained with clickers which is becoming
more popular and occasionally using targets. It is rare to hear about domestic
cats that have been trained through negative reinforcement because they seem to
react poorly to this and do not respond to the training which is a good thing
because positive reinforcement is a much better system of training and a lot
fairer and nicer to the animals. Domestic cats are taught millions of different
tricks all for different purposes and reasons, some things simple such as lying
down, sitting, turning around etc and some things that are more complicated
such as walking on their hind legs or even their front legs, jumping on command
and even completed agility courses! Cats surprisingly already seem to respond
extremely well to training, especially when it is food rewarding because cats
seem to do almost anything for food, they are very food motivated. I found out that
big cats all over the world are trained in zoos and sanctuaries in a variety of
ways and for a variety of reasons. There is not any already existing literature
out there that I could find that was specifically on the comparison of big cat
and domestic cat training. The most common reason for big cat training in
England is as a form of enrichment and to help keepers to be able to carry out
health checks in zoos and the most common method is through positive reinforcement
using things such as targets (especially for non-contact training) and hand
signals as well as voice signals and then once the required behaviour has been
performed a whistle or clicker is sounded and the animal is presented with a
food reward. In other places in the world cheetah training specifically is more
commonly used to train cheetahs to hunt for humans and then surrender the food
to them. As this is not the reason for me training my domestic cat Tilly I
decided not to look very far into the methods used to complete this sort of
training but I do know that the cheetahs had to be hand reared. When looking
into domestic cat training I found out that there are many ways to train
domestic cats and that they are very food and toy motivated so they are
actually seen as very easy to train. You can train domestic cats to do endless
amounts of things, even things such as walk on their front legs or roll over
like a dog which I never thought would be possible as they are such independent
animals. Once again the most common method used for training domestic cats is
through positive reinforcement which is already very similar to that of big cat
training and some of the equipment used is commonly whistles, clickers and
sometimes targets. However there is lots of existing information about the link
between cat training and their general behaviour in both big cats and domestic
cats and by looking into this and speaking to keepers at Paradise Wildlife park
it was discovered that there was less of a link to how they respond to training
compared to their general behaviour traits and that it was more to do with
their individual personalities and their age. The younger the animal is (this
is relevant for both big cats and domestic cats) the better it will respond to
training because it will be a lot more motivated and will find it a lot more
exciting and they will also find it a lot easier to pick up new tricks whereas
older cats may struggle with this and therefore may become frustrated. Also
because all cats have their own individual personality and characteristics as
do people there will be certain cats that won’t be very food motivated and that
will be lazy and there will also be cats that are extremely into training and
excel at it. So therefore every cat domestic or big will respond to training
differently.
Methodology -
To start the project twenty
members of the general public were asked whether they think that domestic cats
can be trained using exactly the same methods as used in big cat training. I
done this to find out what peoples general opinions on the subject were before
I completed my actual project as there is not much information or opinions on
it already out there. I then carried out lots of extensive research using the
internet and books to find out information around the subject including finding
video footage of cheetah training and domestic cat training; I also used forums
and information from the cat keepers at Paradise Wildlife Park. I then observed
some of the cheetah and white tiger training at Paradise Wildlife Park and
found out some more information from big cat keepers about training and then I
applied it and tried to train my domestic cat, Tilly, in the same way using the
same methods. I decided to train her offering treat rewards every time she
completed the correct behaviour and to train her using a clicker and hand and
voice commands, I wanted to train her to sit, lie down, stand on her hind legs,
open her mouth on command, and turn around both left and right. I recorded all
of my findings into a log book. Once my findings had been recorded I began to
look into the reasons for this by looking at the behaviour and temperament of
both domestic cats and cheetahs/big cats to try and explain why each of them
responded to the training in the way that they did and I will also compare how
similar they both were and finally answer my main question of the project.
Results/Findings of the project -
The results from the survey are
shown in the graph below; as you can see the public were very split on whether
they thought that a domestic cat can be trained using the same methods as those
used for big cat training. Tilly
responded brilliantly to the training I gave her which included teaching her to
sit, lie down, stand on her hind legs and turn both left and right by using
force commands and then when she completed the desired behaviour clicking the
clicker and rewarding her with a treat. Although she did struggle with the
aspect of lying down (and I was unable to capture this in a picture), by the
end of the training she would successfully sit, stand on her hind legs and turn
around both left and right which was great! Unfortunately we ran out of time in
the training to try and get her to open her mouth on demand but overall in the
time period I think the training was very successful. Once I had these findings
I researched why the cheetahs and Tilly responded to the training the way they
did and found out that it is less to do with their general species behaviour
and temperament and more to do with their individual characteristics and
personality. The male cheetahs at the zoo are young and so is Tilly which is
why they respond so well to the training, if you tried to do it with older cats
of any species they are less interested and motivated and find it a lot harder
to pick the tricks up. When I watched the male cheetahs being trained outside
they were being trained together whereas when I watched them being trained
inside it was done individually and this could explain why the cheetahs didn’t
perform so well out doors because they had the distraction of each other
whereas when they worked on their own there were no distractions. The male
cheetahs have also taken a while to pick up the training whereas the white
tiger and Tilly appear to have picked up training quite quickly and I think
this is because they both know their trainers very well and have known us for a
long time whereas the three male cheetahs have only been at Paradise Park for
about 5 months. I also think I might be able to explain why Tilly was so
difficult when it came to lying down, she is a very protective of herself and
finds it hard to trust so she may feel that lying on her side is putting
herself in a vulnerable position which is why she will do it for the smallest
amount of time possible or not do it at all.
Conclusions -
So, to answer the main question
of the project; ‘Can you train domestic cats using the same methods used in
zoos to train big cats?’ is yes you can. By completing extensive research and
speaking to cat keepers at Paradise Wildlife Park and then carrying out my own
experiment to test my theory I believe I have proven that you can train a
domestic cat using the same methods as them used to train big cats. I believe that
domestic cats and big cats are massively similar in behaviour, temperaments and
their characteristics and this is what makes them so similar in terms of
training and the methods used.
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Evaluation of the Conduct and
Management of the Project, its Results/Findings and Topics for Further
Investigation -
Overall I think that this project
was conducted and managed well, the time frame for the project was met although
there were some slip ups with some of the time frames for different actions
within the project. I believe that to have made this project better I could
have done more intensive research, completed the cat training for a lot longer
and I could maybe have observed training in another zoo than Paradise. This
would have helped widen my knowledge on the subject and made it a lot more in
depth and so therefore made this project a lot stronger and more conclusive. I
would of also liked to allowed a lot more time for the entire completion of the
project so that I could go a lot more in depth into the chosen project and also
have included a wider range of knowledge into my project such as talking more
about how the training could act as enrichment for both large cats and domestic
cats when they are captive or house cats (as the ones in my project were). I
also believe that even if I had had time to try and teach Tilly to open her
mouth on demand it wouldn’t have been successful using just a clicker and food
rewards as big cats are actually trained to open their mouths by holding a
syringe of blood over their mouths to encourage them to open it and I think
Tilly would have found it easier to respond to something similar such as a
syringe of milk. The project could have also been made better if I managed to
stick to all of the time frames and used my time more affectively. My results
from my project showed that domestic cats can be trained using the same methods
as big cats; this proved many people wrong as the majority of people (just over
half the people I asked in my questionnaire at the beginning of the project)
said they didn’t think you could. I also found that training was not so much
linked to cats (big or domestic) general species behaviour but more to their
individual personalities and characteristics as well as their background and
age. Topics that I could go on to talk about for further investigation include
seeing how much you could actually teach to a big cat compared to a domestic
cat to learn which animal can learn things the faster to determine which one is
most intelligent or more responsive to training or see who you could teach the
most tricks to in a certain period of time. I could talk about how training can
be used as enrichment for both species and why it is important, how important
it is and why it does each species such good. I could further investigate how closely
related both species of cat are and how they have evolved and compare their
behaviour from observations to discover how different/similar the two species
actually are. I could have also furthered my training with Tilly to include
things such as sitting on a ‘target spot’ (certain area of a room) on demand
and also opening her mouth on demand etc which would have aided and furthered
this current project and made it a lot stronger and more conclusive.
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