Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest

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training

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!

Cy’s Ultrasound

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Cy’s last exam showed some testicular edema, which is not uncommon in chimpanzees like Cy with congestive heart disease. His veterinary team and caregivers began training him so that we could gather diagnostic images using ultrasound and share them with specialists. This will help us monitor the amount of fluid around his testicles more frequently than we could with a full exam under anesthesia and thus keep better track of his overall health.

Kudos to our vet and PRT teams for another success in cooperative medical care!

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!

Where are the humans in the hierarchy?

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Today, former staff member Anthony gave away a morning off to volunteer. If you were a fan of Anthony and his blog writing while he was on staff, you know that he had a certain fondness for Honey B, and she certainly reciprocates the sentiment – she’s always excited to receive a visit from her old friend.

Honey B is a chimpanzee who is very demonstrative – you can tell when she’s happy and you can definitely tell when she is mad.

I was sharing a story with Anthony about something that happened just the other day. I was sitting outside of the caregiver house where J.B. and I live when J.B. went up to see the chimpanzees for the first time after being away for two weeks. The house is not far from the chimp house, but it’s not right next door either. I’m not great at estimating distances, but I would say if were in in a city, the two buildings would be about a half a block away. When I heard an excited (and very loud) pant hoot coming from the chimp house, I knew exactly who was emitting the sound and why. Honey B had spotted J.B. and they were greeting each other as though they had been apart for a year.

This story led to Anthony and I talking about Honey B, Honey B’s preference for men, and the hazing that she does with some people, the results of which look like this:

For reference, if you don’t remember or haven’t seen the above photo before, that would be Krissy adorned with a mouthful of breakfast smoothie, care of benevolent Ms. B.

J.B. and I were trained that the humans who care for chimpanzees in captivity should consider themselves at the bottom of the chimpanzees’ hierarchy and should act accordingly, with proper deference and subservience. We have carried through a similar philosophy to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest. However, you can read this blog post from several years ago about the complications of trying to place dominance in a linear line. Considering the social primates that chimpanzees are, an interesting question to ponder is what they themselves perceive in terms of the status of the humans within their social sphere, both in relation to themselves and amongst the humans as our own separate troop.

Honey B is known, probably even for a casual blog reader, for her mischievousness and her ability to state, in no uncertain terms, that she very much does, indeed, have a level of power over the lowly humans who look after her. I know from experience with chimpanzees I have known previously that it can be quite humbling to be put in this position, a mere peon relegated to the outer circle of affection. In truth, though I am not of her favored gender and are therefore not greeted with the same level of exuberance, Honey B seems to have placed me in her personal hierarchy above those who regularly receive her ire (THANK YOU, HONEY B!).

Honey B is not the only chimpanzee at the sanctuary who treats humans differently based on what appears to be either an internally-decided or an externally-perceived ranking. For those of us who knew Lucky when she first came to Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest, we couldn’t have envisioned a chimpanzee with such a demeanor sweeter than hers.

As soon as we began training new staff and volunteers, however, another side of sweet Lucky came out that was quite a surprise. When I asked Krissy (the most recent trainee on door shifting) how she would describe this side of Lucky, Krissy replied, “out for blood.”

Lucky will jump at the mesh towards those who she deems below her. She will try to poke them, and she will vocalize her unhappiness if they do something displeasing to her, which is almost always the caregiver attempting to do something quite nice, like give her some food.

I don’t begrudge this side of Lucky or any other chimpanzee. I bet Krissy will be moving up in the ranks as soon as another poor human initiate comes along that is more deserving of Lucky’s scorn, and Krissy and Lucky’s relationship will be all the more precious for it.

As for Honey B, I’m not willing to wager.

 

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!

Gordo, the PRT Superstar!

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Gordo has a routine physical exam in his future, as he has not yet had a physical exam in his time at CSNW and it doing so will allow us to have a better understanding of both his heart health and overall health. Because Gordo has not experienced an exam here before, we have made it a priority to prepare him as best as possible using Positive Reinforcement Training (PRT) so that his stress throughout the process can be as minimal as possible. In order for his exam to occur, he will first have to be separated from his group, and then sedated to allow for him to be safely removed from his room and evaluated by Dr. Erin and a team of other professionals that she will assemble. When we last checked in on Gordo’s training progress in March, he had been doing well presenting different parts of his body when asked, and was learning to come to his station marker.

Gordo being perfectly Gordo!

I am happy to report that Gordo has exceeded all of our expectations and progressed rather quickly through his training for allowing an injection (to allow for him to be sedated for his exam), as well as for being separated from his group! We started by simply asking him to participate in PRT in whatever way he felt most comfortable, which ended up being during meal times where the rest of the group was otherwise occupied and he was already used to coming up to us for his meals. We placed a station marker (which for us is a frisbee with a handle on one side and 2 hooks on the other so it can hang on the caging) on the caging wherever he chose to come up for his meal, and rewarded him for staying there throughout the meal, as well as for touching it when asked. Throughout the meal we would also ask him to present other body parts, especially focusing on his arms and legs as these would be ideal locations for him to eventually receive an injection. We also practice “target” regularly, where he is asked to touch the end of a pvc tube, as this can also be a good way to communicate with him when we want him to move somewhere else (by holding the target at the goal location and asking him to move to it by saying “target”). We use a clicker to communicate to him when he has done something correctly, and follow the click up with a reinforcer of some kind (his favorites are peanuts and fruit). Once Gordo seemed to have a good understanding of stationing, we started to ask him to station in different places to be sure he knew the same rules applied with his station in various locations. He caught on to this quickly, and we were soon able to start asking him to move from his usual mealtime spot in the Oakwood Greenhouse (or the chute/the Bray, depending on the day!) to the front rooms, where we will eventually ask him to separate from his group to allow his exam to take place.

During these daily training sessions, he has progressed from presenting his arms and legs while at his station, to letting his trainer poke him gently with a chopstick, then a capped needle, then blunt needle, and after many sessions together (and as of this week!), a real needle. He has allowed the “injection site” to be cleaned with an alcohol wipe, which can be quite an unusual experience when you don’t know what to expect. He has also allowed Dr. Erin to come along for some of our sessions, and has allowed for her to poke him with a blunt needle as well which is a very big deal as seeing your veterinarian with a needle in hand can be a very scary thing! We did, on the first session where Dr. Erin held the needle, first show him Dr. Erin poking me with the blunt needle so that he knew there was nothing to be scared of. He did seem anxious initially, but calmed down and allowed her to touch him gently with the blunt needle, then quickly inspected his leg after the brief touch, and finally slurped down his beloved surprise smoothie (a jackpot for a job VERY well done!). This has been such a rewarding process to see him succeed at every little step, and to see his confidence grow, seemingly both in doing PRT as well as in his group in general.

Gordo relaxed, eating his lunch at his station marker. You can see in the back left corner of the photo that the shift door to this room is closed, as he is being briefly separated from his group as part of his training to lessen his stress when he must be isolated for his upcoming physical exam. This was the first time we closed the door!

A lovely bonus of training with Gordo multiple times a day has been getting to spend extra quality time with him and getting to watch him savor his favorite foods. He is such a fun and unique person to get to know, and I am thankful for this extra time and trust-building we have been able to have together.

Gordo enjoys some green onions during breakfast

Our next steps will be to continue training together as often as we can, mostly working with a blunt needle for the injection training portion, and only intermittently using a real needle as we do not want to poke him often with a real needle. Dr. Erin will continue to come along when she can and practice injection training with Gordo as well. We will continue to practice separating him from the group in the front rooms for several minutes at a time a couple times a week during meals, so that when the time comes for him to be separated for his exam, he will hopefully feel less stressed than if we had not practiced and trained for this. I am so proud of all that Gordo has accomplished in his training already, and hope that all of his hard work pays off when the time comes for his exam! He really is a superstar of PRT (and of our hearts!).