Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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kardiamobile

Heart Health Training

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A year ago today, we shared about KardiaMobile training with you all for the first time. I had been planning on sharing some exciting Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT) progress today, and this gives me the perfect opportunity to share some of our wins from the past year. We have come so far!

As a refresher, the KardiaMobile is a small, wireless EKG device that records heart rhythm to a smartphone or other device. To record a complete reading, the chimpanzee must sit still for at least 30 seconds, with one finger from each hand resting on the pads of the KardiaMobile device. This sounds simple, but it is no small feat for a chimpanzee to stay completely still for 30 seconds. To make things trickier, readings are easily impacted by interference from other sources. For example, another chimpanzee pant-hooting, displaying, or even tapping on the caging to request a snack can impact a reading. Other devices such as fans, radios, and TVs can also cause interference which can muddle the EKG enough that it no longer provides diagnostic information. Watch the video before continuing on to avoid any spoilers!

Since our first update on this behavior, we have recorded multiple EKG readings with Willy B, Terry, Cy, and…George! Willy B is a quick learner and was the first to successfully record EKG readings. JB made some adjustments to the platform that holds the KardiaMobile device (and keeps it safe from being taken by the chimps), so that Terry’s adorably stubby fingers could reach the KardiaMobile, and he is now unstoppable. Cy needed more time to grasp the behavior, but in the past 2 weeks has recorded his first EKG reading, and several more since then! George impressed us all by learning the behavior in just one session!

Above is one of George’s first EKG readings recorded with the KardiaMobile device. You can see at the beginning where he moved his fingers slightly, and the reading is affected. He then settled in and recorded a very clear reading for Dr. Erin to be able to review.

PRT is one of my favorite parts of my job. Not only is it a fun way to build relationships and incredibly exciting when the chimpanzees make breakthroughs in behaviors, but most importantly it allows them to cooperate in their own care. Through KardiaMobile training, we are able to provide Dr. Erin with awake EKGs on the chimpanzees, which gives her a diagnostic tool to regularly assess their heart health. For more information about KardiaMobile training and other PRT behaviors, check out the blogs linked here, here, here and here!

PRT A Day Keeps the Doctor at Bay

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Watch today’s blog video to see what the chimpanzees and our Positive Reinforcement Training team have been up to!

Here is a hint…

This is a EKG reading from Terry, using the KardiaMobile!

Honey B has been resting a lot today after her procedure yesterday. She spent her morning watching chimp videos from her cozy nest, and was reunited with Gordo this afternoon. Gordo seemed very glad to have his friend back!

The Learning Process

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Here at the sanctuary, we utilize Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT) to work with the chimpanzees to participate in their own care. The possibilities of applications for PRT are nearly endless, and help us perform many necessary tasks here at the sanctuary in a way that the chimps enjoy and can actively participate in!

The uses of PRT range greatly…we use PRT to station Jamie during meals to allow everyone else in the group to enjoy their meal, ideally without stealing or intimidation. We use it to apply lotion to Willy B’s dry feet and Rayne’s dry forehead. We use it to teach the chimps to present different parts of their bodies for us to observe for a variety of reasons, including asking Willy B for his right foot currently so we can get a look at how his toe is healing (which is very well!). And very recently, we have started utilizing PRT to train the chimpanzees to provide awake EKG readings utilizing the KardiaMobile, as J.B. discussed in a recent blog.

Willy B on his first day of EKG training, not quite sure what the human wants yet, but looking handsome while he ponders it!

Training for awake EKGs with the KardiaMobile is such an exciting and rewarding process. While it may look and sound simple to hold one finger from each hand to the device for 30 seconds, it is far from simple when working with a chimpanzee (they aren’t really known for their patience…). Willy B has so far been our star student where KardiaMobile is concerned. He is eager to participate when he sees the KardiaMobile holder, and has obtained several EKG readings. However, progress is not perfect, and a regular part of the PRT process is regression. Just because Willy B has mastered the KardiaMobile during one training session does not mean he will always do so from now on. Recently, I asked Sabrina to come with me to film KardiaMobile training with Willy B, as I was excited about the progress he had been making and wanted to show you all how well he was doing. He presented me with the idea for this blog instead! He has racked up several completed KardiaMobile readings, but during this session, he seemed to have forgotten he needed to present both hands at the same time, and somewhat comically kept switching out one hand for the other when I tried to ask for both hands. He even once presented a hand and a big toe at the same time (because you never know, maybe that is what this silly human wants!). We prepare for situations like this to happen when initially planning how to train a new behavior, so we “went back to kindergarten” and I tried asking for one hand on the KardiaMobile and the other to be presented at the same time anywhere in the caging. From there, I could ask him to present his hand at varying heights until it is presented over the KardiaMobile at the same time as the other hand that he has been resting there. At this point, I can try again asking for both hands to be presented over the KardiaMobile using the normal cue for this, and if he does so correctly, provide him with a jackpot treat (like a handful of blueberries, or several peanuts).

Willy B starts to get the hang of this thing! Soon enough, he’ll be presenting both hands.

Some training sessions, we don’t get to the end result we were hoping for, and that is okay. It is part of the process. Sometimes an individual is too distracted to focus on the task at hand, or confused about what you are asking them to do for some reason. Sometimes their friends are crowding them and preventing them from having the space to participate, or the social setting is not conducive to them being able to participate (for example, if high-ranking Jamie is sitting right next to low-ranking Foxie, and neither Foxie or Jamie are willing to relocate, providing a high-value reward to Foxie could get her in trouble with Jamie and possibly even start a fight. I need to be sure I can reinforce Foxie for doing what I ask before I start a training session, and under these conditions I would not be able to do so safely. Training can wait until another time when an additional trainer is available to train with Jamie at the same time, or Foxie is in a better location where she can receive her rewards for a job well done). While we attempt to work through these hurdles and have strategies to help them understand what we are asking for, sometimes the best tool we have is to ask for a simple behavior we know that the individual can do successfully, reward them with a tasty treat for their success, and call it a day!

EKG Training

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I love watching the chimps learn new ways to participate in their own healthcare. We’ve had a KardiaMobile device for a little while now, thanks to a generous donor who purchased it from our wish list, but only after making sufficient progress with other medical behaviors was our PRT team able to begin setting their sights on training everyone for cooperative EKGs. In theory it’s a simple behavior to train, since it doesn’t involve any pain or discomfort, but getting a chimpanzee to sit still for 30 seconds straight, while at the same time getting their friends to wait their turn, can be a challenge. Kudos to our training team and to our current EKG champion, Willy B. But watch your back, Willy—once we adjust the platform to accommodate ol’ stubby fingers (aka Terry), you may have some competition!

Hey, speaking of wish lists and generous donors…if you’d like to help supply the sanctuary with food, enrichment, medicines, supplies, and other necessities, please check out our Christmas in July drive and help empty our wish lists!