Remy's Training-Day 5

February 29, 2016.

I was optimistic for today's training given the progress that Remy made on Thursday afternoon but also worried that being gone for the weekend would set her back in the learning process. The goal for the day was to continue to shape her to associate a bar press with receiving food in the magazine. The purpose of this training session is to solidify her learning this association that she seemed to be grasping before the weekend.

My procedure began the same way as has been typical so far: I put her in the box, put the cover on, and give a few reinforcements to orient her and refresh her about the association she made in magazine training that the clicking sound and the light switching off in the chamber would give her food in the magazine. Our training session began at 4:30 PM and Remy weighed in at about 88% of her starting weight-- 196 grams (4 grams below her target weight). After that, I gave her a few reinforcements for going near the bar or putting her paws on it. She seemed to remember training and did succeed in pressing the bar after the reinforcements designed to serve as reminders.

The results of today's training were discouraging after the progress made a few days prior. Remy pressed the bar 11 times and I issued her 20 rewards in a 30 minute training session. Throughout the training session, Remy groomed herself and explored the cage. She even left several pellets in the magazine by the end of training. Here are a few examples of things that Remy likes to do while she is distracted inside the operant box:

Remy rearing

Peek-a-boo Remy

The cumulative record below details the efforts for today's training:

Cumulative Record 2/29/2016

Discussion:
Remy seemed to not be food motivated at all, which I was not expecting considering that she was under her target weight. She even seemed a little irked at me, as though leaving her over the weekend was grounds for a complete lack of effort. Even when she pressed the bar, she did not go to retrieve any food. Most of the reinforcements given were to attempt to get her interested in the session again. Not training for three days clearly set Remy back, and I will be working to rectify this over the next several training sessions. I am still not satisfied that she has been successfully shaped. Hopefully she will be more motivated tomorrow!


-Jessica