Self-Isolation Training with Social Species

Melanie Canatella, B.S., CPDT-KA, CPBT-KA, Fear Free Certified Trainer

Fluff and Feathers Training

Self-isolation training is asking for one animal in a social group to willingly separate from the others. This can helpful for husbandry related tasks like an animal needing to be treated medically short and long-term, training sessions, social group management, giving medications or special diets, safety, and decreasing aggression. It can be useful for carrier training and having more animal ambassadors from social species that will willingly want to leave the social group. By using a general approach over multiple species, the training of the behavior can be reviewed more in-depth with solutions on decreasing latency, cueing the right animal of the group, decreasing fear and frustration when being separated, and how to prepare the social group for one is leaving. Utilizing different species will demonstrate the variances you can have within training not just with individuals but between species.  Also, using methods to make the training less predictable, more engaging, and more enriching for the animals aiding in success with the behavior. Making changes like choosing different routes, the order of which individuals are called to be isolated, and when the training sessions happen to imitate the possible need to do this in an emergency can aid in the success of training this behavior.

            Self-isolation training can be described as teaching an animal to choose to move into another area where they are removed from their social group. Self-isolation training is helpful to teach animals in a captive environment, especially when it comes to zoo facilities. Animals are moved between facilities for various reasons including breeding purposes, social group composition and manipulation, quarantining for illness or injury, and training sessions. Animals inevitably pass away, so by teaching the social group to be comfortable with social changes, like one leaving, can be helpful. In some social species, like parrots, most species are monogamous, and it is not uncommon for a parrot to pass away after the death of a mate. It is also helpful to manage reactive-type behaviors between animals in a social group that are a result of the fear of separation or lack of skills. By teaching the animals to self-isolate, they can learn to be less reactive about their conspecific leaving and interacting with trainers.

            The importance of training this behavior is immense. Not only does it include using foundational behaviors, like station training, target training, reinforcement mechanics, etc., but applies them to other scenarios furthering the animal’s understanding of the behavior. It also prepares animals for changes within their environment and social group with the least amount of stress as possible.

            Isolation within social species has been proven to invoke stress and physiological reactions due to social separation (Hennessy et al. 1996). Social separation can be described as “the restriction of access to an individual (or individuals) with whom a subject had previously established a social relationship with, however loosely defined” (Mineka and Suomi, 1978). Effects of social separation are biphasic seen with protest-despair reactions (Mineka and Suomi, 1878). The animal will initially show “protest” behaviors, which are described as an increase in vocalization, locomotion, and self-directed behaviors (Bashaw, Maple, and Tarou, 2000). Other known “protest” behaviors can include the activation of the stress-responsive hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system (HPA system) and an elevation of plasma glucocorticoid (Hennessy et al. 1996). A changing heart rate, body temperature, eating patterns, cellular responses, and sleep patterns has been documented. Rapid eye movements, and an increase in cardiac arrythmias have been shown related to isolation within animals (Bashaw, Maple, and Tarou, 2000). It can affect breeding within some individuals (Ieiri et. al., 2023). Destructive behaviors and psychological stress can start or increase (Hennessy et al. 1996).

This is followed by “despair” behaviors that are a decrease in vocalization and locomotion behaviors with an increase in self-directed behaviors (Bashaw, Maple, and Tarou, 2000). Long-term effects of separation can decrease behavioral competency in novel situations and difficulties in social introductions with new animals (Mitchell et al., 1976 Bashaw, Maple, and Tarou, 2000). This is likely because of the deep attachments they form between each other creating an emotional bond that facilitates evolutionary functions of security and survival (Dowsett, 2019).

            Attachments do not only happen within social species. Ruiz-Miranda et al. (1998) found that brief periods of social separation between cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) found to increase activity level, stereotypical behaviors, and vocalizations (Bashaw, Maple, and Tarou, 2000). Attachment and the response to separation may be a universal phenomenon, despite if the species of animal is known to be social (Bashaw, Maple, and Tarou, 2000). These observations showcase the importance to use self-isolation training within the facility with a variety of species housed with con-specifics or compatible species, even if they are not known to be a social-species.

            It has been theorized that some short-term stress can improve animal welfare. Moodie and Chamove (1990) found that short-term stress can be beneficial to captive animals because it is like natural stressors in the wild. The criteria for this are it must be common in the wild, experienced by all group members, and it only causes short-term arousal. Separation from con-specifics happens in the wild through death and other factors, separation affects all group members, and with self-isolation training, separation should only create minor short-term stress, if any at all. Further research needs to prove if the stress is short-term or not.

            The goal while training this behavior is to make it as stress-free as possible for the animals involved. Separating social-species from conspecifics can be challenging, and unnatural depending on the species. It is a vital skill for animals in our care to learn to aid in transferring to other facilities, vet visits, quarantine, medical isolation, group management, and other factors. The focus when training these behaviors include small approximations within the training plan, accurate reinforcing mechanics and timing, and not just focusing on the animal you need to separate but the ones that will stay in the social group as well.

            When training most behaviors, there are many smaller behaviors that allow it to be successful. With every individual requiring different timelines, methods, and with unique challenges arising, it is difficult to give one specific training plan that works with every species, facility, and trainer’s skillset.  However, where there are limitations, there is the ability to explain topics more in-depth in hopes that it covers more trainers and animals. Ideas talked about can inspire teams to take pieces or ideas from this discussion and modify it in ways that they know will be more successful for their individuals.

            Utilizing a station to help train self-isolation can be helpful for the animals that are staying in the social group, as well as for the animal being separated. A station is asking the animal to stay within a specific designated space for a specified amount of time. There are many reasons you would want to teach a specific animal in the group, or the whole group, a station behavior for self-isolation training. Depending on the species or individuals, some animals are very busy bodies. Some individuals are more investigative and exploratory of their environment, keepers, and other animals. The demand for higher levels of stimulation can become challenging. It can increase frustrations if they are not given a lot of reinforcement and direction for what they are supposed to be doing in that time. Having a calmer social group can be helpful in decreasing stress for all the animals, which is vital when working on a behavior that can cause stress.

Teaching animals a station can help keep them more localized and make it easier to manage the social group and the animal self-isolating. The animals can follow the one you are teaching to isolate into the other area causing confusion for both animals. If you know where all the other animals are, it allows your focus to be more directed to the individual you are trying to teach to self-isolate. You can call the individual being trained from their station to self-isolate and have more space within the enclosure to work with them because the other animals are on their stations away from where you are working.

For animals who are food motivated, sometimes when they see other animals are getting food, even if it is the same food item, they go over to investigate, mug the trainer, or other nuisance behaviors. It is not uncommon for animals to want to investigate what others are getting. They can take food from the animal once the reinforcer is handed out; therefore, this will reinforce the behavior of stealing the other animals’ rewards increasing tension within the social group and slowing down progress for all the animals. Animals can mug their trainer, or steal food from the trainers’ hands and treat pouches, which is equally self-rewarding. This can create a dangerous situation for the trainer and the animals, especially if you are not working behind protective contact. There can be resource guarding of reinforcers or the trainer. If there is one busy body animal, or super curious individual within the group, it is best to at least teach them to station if you do not teach the other animals to.

Stations can also be helpful for keeping control of the training session since every animal will have its designated place. You will know with your back turned to the social group where all of them are. If they go to specific spots, it is easier to be able to differentiate them quickly, especially if they all look similar.

It can help trainers that are limited on staff and are outnumbered by the group. Some social groups have an abundance of animals in them, becoming limiting for trainers to manage. Schedules do not always align to get all the department staff together every day for a training session. Stations allow for fewer trainers to be present. Teaching them all a station can help make it feasible for trainers to do this training with less staff. Stations can either be independent where every animal has a specific perch, mat, corner in the enclosure, etc. It can also be within groups so you only go to a few areas to reinforce, aiding in your ability to train this behavior with less staff.

The station behavior can aid in communication of the expectation and help the animal learn faster. When having this skill under their belt, the animal knows exactly where you want them to be and go. When you ask for the station, they know to stay in that designated area. When you cue them off, they know they are free to explore. By practicing these methods, behavioral growth will happen faster for the animals and decrease stress and confusion.

Finally, teaching a station behavior can help aid in safety if there were minor errors in implementing the training and an animal gets frustrated. For animals with close pair-bonds, they can become reactive when they realize their companion is being separated. Though this can also be mediated by using other methods described in this plan like small approximations, changing rates of reinforcement, and teaching more skills to the reactive animal to aid in their ability to cope. A station is another tool that you can use depending on the animal.

A station behavior is all about reinforcement timing and clear communication on what you want the animal to do. When teaching a station specifically for this form of training, it is easiest to find a station area that is as far away from the place you are isolating animals to. This allows for the animals throughout the training process to learn to be separated through small approximations within their enclosures before being isolated. With it being further away, it allows for space for the trainers to focus on the animal they are isolating and their training. Allowing for extra room creates the ability to modify the training session if one is to leave their station before being cued off.

Once you have the animal’s designated station planned out, you can start to train them to it. First, work to get the animal to the station area. This could be using a food lure, the trainer’s location, a target stick, or other known behaviors. Once the animal gets onto the station, bridge. A bridge is a signal and marker that communicates to the animal that they performed the designated behavior, it bridges the gap between desired behavior completion and reinforcer delivery, and it starts the next set of behavior chains. After you give the bridge, it should be followed by a form of reinforcement.

Initially, it is best to do a higher rate of reinforcement while the animal is on the station. This can be helpful to keep the animal still in the designated station area, and it helps communicate that they can gain reinforcements, allowing it to be a desirable and pleasurable area for the animal. For all animals, I start with a high-rate of reinforcement; it allows me to use small approximations to communicate very clearly the criteria to the animal. Not doing a high-rate of reinforcement initially can lead to trainers assuming the animal’s skill, leading to taking too large of an approximation, having unclear criteria, and increased frustration with the animal and handler.

Altogether, the initial step is to get the animal to the designated station. Once the animal in there, you bridge, and reinforce. Once the animal consumes the reinforcement, before they have a chance to leave the station, another bridge is completed for staying on the station, and another small reinforcer is given. I usually do this for about five repetitions depending on the species and the reinforcer being used. Then, I ask the animal to leave their station using the same methods I got to get them to the station, just moving them off. I bridge when they leave and reinforce.

There is no timeline that can be universally given, and it is hard to generalize when these behaviors would happen. As a behavioralist and trainer, it is my job to try to give the education for all aspects of what could happen, common behaviors that I see, and common timelines that seem to universally work best. With these steps, some common undesirable outcomes include the animal is constantly trying to leave their station. I would increase my rate of reinforcement, and possibly for a short period of time use a target stick for them to interact with, or show my food reinforcer in my hands or tongs so they know it is coming. With success, I would stop showing the food or fade out the use of a target stick so it is just the high-rate of reinforcement described above.

It is just as important to teach the animal to come onto the station as it is for the animal to leave the station. Having a clear cue for the animal if when they can leave the station aids in the animal’s understanding to stay for even longer durations of time. The skill is helpful when there are distractions, like caretakers moving around servicing the environment, training other individuals, or when at educational events. I choose to do five repetitions before asking and rehearsing the animal to move off the station because it is enough repetitions for me to understand a pattern in their behavior. Some individuals may need more or less than five repetitions; to gauge this, you have to test it and see the animal’s response.

I continue to lure the animal on and off the station until they have shown to me that they are consistent with their actions. Then, I start to switch to using a fixed interval schedule of intermittent reinforcement. This means there will be a specific amount of time between reinforcer deliveries based upon the behaviors being shown. Using small approximations, I like clients to build duration using time slots between one and five seconds depending on the individual. It is always better to use one to three seconds, in my opinion, because it does not hurt to speed through the steps, but it would create setbacks if you ask too long of a duration, or you are constantly changing durations of time. I also choose a fixed interval schedule because it is consistent for the animal, allowing the trainers behaviors to be predictable, having the animal create patterns in their own behaviors, and it can give reassurance to the animal.

These next steps in action are the animal getting to the station, bridging, giving the reinforcer, then you start counting. For all intents  and purposes, I will choose a three second duration of time since it is in the middle of the range I recommend. The trainer would count one, two, three, then bridge again if the animal is still on the station, and deliver a reinforcer. I would restart counting once the animal consumes their reinforcer. I would continue for about five times, like before, and signal them off their station.

At this time, if the animal is getting consistent with coming to the station and getting off when directed to, you can start to fade out any prompting and use cues, either verbal, visual, or both. You want to wait to start using cues until the behavior is consistent. If you do not, then the animal can get confused on criteria and the behavior you are asking. It can cause the behavior to take longer to teach and increase frustrations. Prompting should be phased out as soon as possible for optimal success. Do not be afraid to use prompts when needed, but within training, it is not ideal to rely on them for long.

Common undesirable behaviors that can be seen during this stage in the training process include the animal leaving the station when they are not cued to, especially when starting to add duration. In the initial phases of training, if you tried to use longer time intervals, and you are seeing the animal leave the station too soon, it is acceptable to decrease time intervals. You do not want to change the time intervals throughout the training process as much as possible; that is why it is always best to start with the smaller time intervals. If you are using a one second time interval, and the animal is still leaving the station before being cued off, I would go back to a high-rate of reinforcement and continue to work there a while longer. If you are seeing this, be sure the animal is not half off the station or trying to leave when you bridge and reinforce, or you may be unintentionally reinforcing the wrong behavior. 

Once the animal is consistent with the initial time interval, for this example three seconds, the next steps would be adding another time interval, for this example making it six seconds. Since we are using a fixed interval, it means that you would continue with the same amount of time adding it onto the end of the duration. This is where having using one second can be more helpful because one goes to two, but three goes to six, and five goes to ten seconds. It may not sound like a lot of time, but it can be for the animal and in practice!

You should continue indefinitely with reinforcing being on the station while slowly increasing the duration of time you ask them to be there. Using the station method can be helpful because understanding how the animal processes and learns with fixed interval schedule of reinforcement will aid in the training when you are moving them into the other area for self-isolation training. Training a station beforehand and having the training history can aid making self-isolation training easier for animal and trainer, it can set the expectation for the animal, and you know what durations work for the animal. Teaching a station behavior is not necessary, but it can be helpful for this skill and teaching other skills in the future.

            Target training is a foundational skill to teach any animal in our care that can be helpful in training self-isolation. A target behavior involves the animal presenting a specific body part to a designated area. This can be a parrot touching their beak to a target stick, a wolf sitting down utilizing a butt target to the ground, or a polar bear targeting its paw into a catch cage to allow vets to do a voluntary blood draw. These behaviors you can use for almost any skill, and it is easy to build upon them.

            When preparing for self-isolation training, utilizing targets can be very helpful. There are quite a few methods you can utilize when teaching target training depending on the social group and their overall skills. The benefit to using them is to help manage the animal you are teaching to self-isolate and animals you are asking to stay in the main enclosure.

A target can give clear communication to the animal where you would like them to go and do. Since it is a known and learned behavior, you can ask specific animals to move to designated areas and help keep them there if a station is not taught. It can have the animal learning to self-isolate be able to focus with its trainer without other animals coming into the mix. The trainer can also communicate to the animal if they would like them to move and where the trainer wants them to go.

It can give a behavior to aid in allowing the animal self-isolating to explore the new area it is going into. When the animal is in the second area where they are self-isolating to, it may not be a familiar area. It could be a carrier, a different enclosure, an outdoor area, or an indoor area. If the species is neophobic, if the individual is not used to change, if they are a prey species, or if they have fear-related behaviors seen previously around change, target training can help guide them around their enclosure and explore. Target training can aid in increasing exploratory behaviors in animals.

It can help with building duration within the isolated area. When you are building longer durations of time, especially if the door to the main enclosure with conspecifics is still open, it can become boring and unstimulating for specific individuals. This can create behavior by the animal trying to go back into the main enclosure with the others, and other frustrated-related behaviors. One way to avoid that happening is to give the animal something else to do in the new enclosure through target training. It does not have to be long distances with the target stick, it could be a simple target offered intermittently, even with longer durations of time between offering a target, to give the animal something else to do.

Target training gives a skill for the animal to use while it is in the isolated area to aid in the high demand for enrichment since the animal is alone. When the animal is finally isolated, for whatever reason, since they are a social species, they will need even more enrichment to continue quality of life for the time they are isolated. Enrichment can be many things, but training is the animals most preferred enrichment. Having skills that are easy for all staff to implement quickly and easily can aid in getting extra training sessions throughout the day for more socialization, engagement, and ultimately enrichment.

A target behavior allows the trainer to move animals around in an off-contact environment, aiding in safety of trainers and animals. When working with dangerous species, following faculty guidelines, and adhering to individual comfortability, a lot species we work with is behind protective contact. It can be hard to use food lures behind protective contact. Some species have drop shoots for the food to go into, only allowing designated reinforcement areas. Trainers may not be able to approach the mesh easily for some species where a target stick could. Animals could take tongs away from trainers when using a food lure. Having a target behavior allows for keepers to move animals around easily and communicate where they want the animals to go and keep them there.

One method a trainer can use is different colored target sticks; each color being associated with one animal. This is perfect for animals who can see a wide-verity of colors. It makes it easier on a facility by buying the same targets just in different colors so the animals have their own colors. You can also use different shapes made of out opaque acrylic. If you have a lot of animals, you can even use specific colors and shapes to give each animal their unique target. This is ideally taught when the animal is one-on-one with a trainer, and other animals in the enclosure are also training one-on-one with other trainers so there is not any confusion in the learning process.

How you teach an animal to present a specific body part to a target stick is very simple. First, you must be sure that the target stick is desensitized to be either neutral to the animal or the animal is inquisitive of it. If the animal is afraid of the target stick, you could use methods like habituation where you place it in the environment and everyday move it closer and closer. I generally do not like using this method for a few reasons. The animal may be comfortable with the target stick in the general area placed somewhere, but once the trainer picks it up, they are afraid of it. It also does not work on counterconditioning their feelings towards the object. It could take longer to get the animal to start interacting with the target. Habituation can be utilized, but there are more effective ways, in my opinion.

I like to use systematic desensitization. This involves starting as far back as you can from the animal while still within sight line. This may be still within the enclosure, moving to training outdoors in a larger enclosure, or moving outside the enclosure to utilize a hallway. Once you are as far away as you can get, you are going to hold the target stick and quietly walk towards the animal holding it. I recommend not speaking, especially words of reassurance like “it is okay” because it usually does not calm the animal; it can become a signal to the animal that something stressful is about to happen. We generally only say similar phrases when we assume the animal will be stressed. The trainer should stop moving towards the animal once they see very subtle body language cues of fear, stress, or anxiety. This could be the animal looking away for a moment, maybe they start vocalizing, they could puff up or get small, and a variety of other behaviors specific to species or individuals. Take one step back, and that is the distance to start at.

Once you have the starting distance, you will stand there quietly holding up the target stick till you see calm or indifferent body language. Since we are trying to remain under threshold, this should happen quickly. When you see it, bridge. Either hide the target stick behind your back, in your pocket or treat pouch, or leave it on the ground where you last were, walk up to the animal, and reinforce the behavior. Then, go back to that distance and repeat. Once you see no reaction to the target stick when you present it, take just one step forward and continue the process. You will continue with this till you approach the animal.

Some common set-backs that can be seen with desensitizing objects using these methods include the animal reacting overtly and negatively, especially when taking one step forward. The goal is not to use flooding and pushing the animal past its comfort zone. Do not hold the target stick up for a longer duration of time while the animal is clearly stressed waiting for it to calm down. This tells the trainer that they are working above threshold where the animal is unable to learn, and we are no longer using the least intrusive, most effective methods. What is best to do is to move far away from the animal to allow them to calm down. Next, go back to the distance you were last successful at and continue working there for a bit longer to build reassurance and consistency in our behaviors for the animal to interpret. When you are debating on taking a step forward, and a whole step did not work in the past, you can try to cut that distance in half. You may also want to determine if there are any modifications to the target that can be done to decrease stress. It may be a color change, making the target a smaller size, using a different material, or other modifications.

Once you can approach the animal with the target stick, you need to encourage them to interact with it in the way you desire. If you are looking for a face target to the target stick, then hold your target stick higher so it is easier for them to understand you want their face to touch instead of their foot. If you are looking for a shoulder or wing target, hold it midway down them. For foot targets, hold it close to their feet. The hope is that we capture the behavior when the animal is naturally inquisitive on interacting with the item and touches it how we desire because we utilized antecedent arrangement effectively. When the animal touches the target, remember to bridge, remove and hide the target stick to avoid confusion, and give them reinforcement.

If the animal does not interact with the target stick at all, then a food lure may need to be implemented. The biggest rule when using a food lure is to not fight the animal for the food. This means if you present the food lure, and the behavior was not completed as anticipated, you still give them the food lure if they grab for it. Also, you do not continue to move the food lure or the target around or further away once it is presented. This is because animals can become frustrated when they believe you are taking food away from them that can lead to a dangerous interaction. Animals may also lose interest and the motivation behind the food lure. If the animal takes the food lure without preforming the desired behavior, that is information for us as trainers to modify our approach based upon how the animal responded with prior methods. Phase out the food lure as quickly as possible within training to ensure the animal learns the skill instead of constantly following around a food lure.

Once when the animal is interacting with the target consistently at its original position, the next skill to teach is the animal moving towards the target stick. Start with small approximations, like moving the animals head side-to-side for a face target without them having to move their feet. Then, add one step, two steps, and so on to continue to build complexity indefinitely.

You can teach a target for many animals by placing one target stick on one end of the enclosure for the animals to gather around, and signal out one of the animals to do the self-isolation training. This can be helpful if there are a lot of animals and only a few trainers to allow animals to be managed. This could be a mat on the ground and asking the animals to do foot targets while standing on it.

One of the easiest and most universal ways to teach this using a different method is to have the target mat presented and throw some food on the ground near the target for the animals to get. Be sure to reinforce individuals that do not seem to be getting food easily in a large group setting. When you remove the target, all food stops.

With tools on how to keep animals still, and skills to move animals where we want them to be, we can start self-isolation training. Begin with getting the group of animals either to their stations or moving them with their targets. Next, target or lure the animal short distances away from the group to start self-isolation. Some animals need to move small distances at a time with more reinforcement initially. You can determine this when you move the animal a few steps away from the social group, and after you bridge and give the reinforcer, they move immediately back to the social group. If the animal stays to consume their reinforcer and waits for further direction, you can add distance away from the social group to the isolated area. Until then, keep asking the animal to go to the same shorter distance.

Another common factor that could explain why an animal goes back to the social group after consuming their food reinforcement is in search of other reinforcement opportunities. To mitigate this, try to bridge and give all the reinforcers around the same time so everyone can be done their reinforcers at the same time. You may also want to give a high-rate of reinforcement for a few repetitions after the animal moves away to help reinforce them staying away. Unlike station training, I would try to give three reinforcers before pausing reinforcement for another target and to see if the animal retreats. You can even decrease the rate of reinforcement and build duration just a few steps away from the social group depending on the individual. Overall, it does not hurt to ask the animal to not move as far from the social group initially and use smaller distances away from the social group rather than using other methods that may increase fear, stress, and anxieties. It all depends on the individual, what works for them, and finding the method that aligns with the training standards of the facility.

Continue to work with the animal until you are at the junction to get the animal to self-isolate. This may be a carrier, an atrium to leave to another enclosure, right into another enclosure, etc. What is important is the design of this space to aid in success with training. You want there to be an easy path of travel for the animal to walk in and out of. Focusing on targeting or luring them in and out immediately is helpful in the beginning for the animal to get comfortable with it and learn they have agency. Being sure there is a comfortable spot for the animal to sit right beyond the threshold where the door to separate the two enclosures.

Once your set up is complete, start by getting the animal to go into the new area, either by a target or a lure. Reward them for stepping into the space, and follow it up with a high-rate of reinforcement. This looks like one reinforcer right after the other. After about five repetitions, ask the animal to come out using a target or lure. For some individuals, especially in the beginning, these steps may look different. For instance, you may want the animal to have a few moments back with the social group to be reassured and lessen any possible subtle stress from being separated. It may be best initially to just ask the animal in once and end the session for the day. For most, I have found that they are just as willing to go back in there and continue the session. If you see that the animal quickly moves back to the social group and is highly involved with them, it may not be a bad idea to let them have some time. Continue with this until you see those behaviors lessen when they get reintroduced.

Continue with the high-rate of reinforcement until the animal stays in the new area willingly for reinforcement, and they are not quickly going back to the social group. Instead, the animal is choosing to stay with you and participate in the training. This is when you can start implementing a fixed interval schedule of reinforcement. Depending on the individual, I recommend anywhere between one and five seconds to start. The short time intervals allow for increased success due to the small approximations. It can also aid in learning faster for the animal. What this will look like is the animal goes and self-isolates, the trainer bridges, reinforcement is given, then count, bridge at the end, and reinforce. You would continue to do this for about five times, then you would ask the animal to exit back to the social group.

Once the animal is content in the isolated enclosure with the initial duration of time used, you are going to just add another interval to your training. For example, if you chose three seconds, once your animal is sitting contently for three seconds inside the isolated area, then you would ask the animal to sit for six seconds. You continue to build this duration up indefinitely. You will find that once the animal gets the pattern, you will speed through the steps quickly.

Though variety is important when training skills and teaching the animal to generalize them, there are many other ways we can add variety while keeping the times consistent. We can add variety though asking the animal to come to a different part in the isolated enclosure when we call them. We can vary how many sessions we have. Just because your animal can be isolated for a minute does not mean every time you have a training session you have to ask them to sit for a full minute or continue to push for more duration. You can vary how much time the animal sits in the isolated enclosure up to the duration of time you have worked up to. By adding these subtle changes, it can make a huge difference in their training sessions.

Continue to build duration indefinitely. If you ever find that the animal attempts to leave the isolated area to go back to their social group, and there is no clear explanation like the social group got spooked or made an alarming noise, then go back to the duration of time you were last successful with and work longer there. There is no harm in hanging out at a time interval a bit longer to be sure the animal understands what we are asking of them.

The next steps are working through closing access to the social group. I recommend working on building duration and comfortability in the isolated area before starting to close the door between the groups for a few reasons. During the learning process, there will be mistakes on the animal’s and the trainer’s part. Giving the animal the choice to go back can be so impactful on how the animal bounces back after a mistake. The area is also new, so some individuals may not be very comfortable with the area, leading them to want to transition back to the group for security. They could be fearful, unconfident, and unsure. One way to mitigate that is to allow the social group in and around the isolated area. If it is a carrier, leave it within the enclosure, if you can, or leave the shift door open to a secure enclosure.

Start by just closing the door and imminently opening it back up followed by a bridge and delivering the reinforcer. This will help the animal learn that when the door shuts, desirable things happen, and it is a short duration of time to keep the animal’s stress level low. Once the animal is comfortable with that, using a fixed interval again, repeat the same steps just with the door closed. If the animal ever seems agitated around the door, or the behavior significantly changes while the door is shut, go back to where you do not see those behaviors and work longer there.

I recommend if an animal is agitated at the shift door, then I would open it and give them some time with the social group. I take that as a moment to reflect on what is going wrong for the animal to have an overt reaction like that. I usually go quite a few steps back within the training process, and I pay closer attention to the animal and their body language trying to find the solution for this behavior. By being able to “see the future” when the animal was stressed at the shift door, I can look at their behaviors with a different perspective. Opening the shift door when the animal is irate at it does not mean the animal will rehearse that pattern of behavior. It can happen! With this procedure, there is a focus on antecedent arrangement and making the animal more comfortable and successful so those behaviors are not seen again. The animal no longer has a need or desire to rehearse those behaviors because they choose to be isolated and they enjoy the training process.

Finally, if the other animals in the social group were put on a station throughout the training process, it is time to release them while the one animal is isolated and the door separating them is shut. You may have to initially use an increased enrichment and reinforcing desirable behaviors in the isolated area during high activity. The animal may need to be redirected to shift focus away from the social group and onto trainers or activities. The duration the animal is isolated may need to decrease for a bit and build it back up the same way, just start counting your time interval when the social group is released. What this looks like is the animal shifting into the isolated area with the door shut, bridge, and reinforce. Then, the social group is released from their stations, bridge, and reinforce the isolated animal. Add duration of time as the animal is successful.

Once you start asking for a lot of time in the isolated area, you will need to start adding enrichment and other training within the area to help pass the time and increase welfare. Enrichment is anything added to the animal’s environment with the intention of increasing environmental complexity and improving biological functions; it changes the physiological and behavioral functions (Bortolotti et al. 2011). The goal for adding enrichment to the area through foraging, training sessions, new sights, smells, and enhancing species-specific behaviors is to decrease stress and help pass the time while the animals are in isolation.

A study done on giraffe (Giraffa camelopardalis) separation found that there was an increase in object-oriented behavior during specific times of day depending on feeding and enrichment schedules. Feeding is an incompatible behavior with object-oriented, locomotive, and pacing behaviors. Rumination is compatible with the behaviors, increasing the behaviors being present (Bashaw, Maple, and Tarou, 2000). Increasing enrichment, small amounts of food given more frequently, and other ideas can decrease these behaviors and stress related to isolation. This is especially important when the animal is self-isolating for longer durations of time, as well as to allow for the animal to build longer duration of time during the training process.

It also can entice the animal to explore more of its enclosure. This is accomplished because enrichment increases movement and exploration behavior (Bortolotti et al. 2011). Asking the animal to move around the enclosure through the enrichment provided will help them want to explore more. This allows to further the self-isolation skill by the animal moving even further away from the social group by potentially moving to the other side of the enclosure and spending time over there to interact with the enrichment items.

Using items that are familiar to the animal can be beneficial. Taking enrichment ideas or furniture from the main enclosure and putting it into the isolated one can help bring familiarity and comfort throughout the process. This is more effective if you choose enrichment the animal participated in frequently in their main enclosure.

Overall, isolation will happen when managing animals for a variety of reasons. Social species, and even not traditional social species, can benefit from training them to self-isolate. It will decrease stress when the animal needs to isolate; you never know when the animal will need to isolate. Decreasing stress when isolated can make a huge impact on health, especially if the animal is sick. It also aids in the social group recovering quickly from the sudden removal of their conspecific. It encompasses multiple behaviors into one, aiding in generalizing behaviors and giving practicality to them.

References

Bashaw, Meredith J., Maple, Terry L., and Tarou, Loraine R. (2000). Social attachment in giraffe: response to social separation. Zoo Biology, 19, 41-51.

Bortolotti, Gary R., Fairhurst, Graham D., Frey, Matthew D., Kelly, Debbie M., Reichert, James F., and Szelest, Izabela. (2011). Does environmental enrichment reduce stress? An integrated measure of corticosterone from feathers provides a novel perspective. PLoS ONE 6(3): e17663. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0017663

Chamove, Arnold S., and Moodie, Eleanor M. (1990). Are alarming events good for captive monkeys? Applied Animal Behaviour Science, 27(1-2), 189-176. doi: 10.1016/0168-1591(90)90016-7.

Dowsett, Elisha. (2019). Separation anxiety: the human-animal bond. School of Psychology.

Hennessy, Michael B., Miller, Julia A., Sanders, Suzanne, and Tuber, David S. (1996). Behavioral and glucocorticoid responses of adult domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) to companionship and social separation. Journal of Cooperative Psychology, 110(1), 103-108.

Ieiri, Seiji, Koshimoto, Chihiro, Nagura‑Kato, Goro A. Sakamoto, Shinsuke H., Shinohara, Akio, Tsuzuki, Yasuhiro, and Ukyo, Rina (2023). Long‑term behavioral effects of social separation during early life in a social mammal, Octodon degus. Scientific Reports (13). doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-36745-6

Mineka, S., Suomi, S.J. (1978). Social separation in monkeys. Psychol Bul, 85, 1376-400

Ruiz-Miranda C.R., Wells S.A., Golden R., Seidensticker J. (1998). Vocalizations and other behavioral responses of male cheetahs (Acinonyz jubatus) during experimental separation and reunion trials. Zoo Biol, 17, 1-16.