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What is a training plan?

If you have been training animals for any length of time, you have likely heard of a training plan. Simply put, a training plan is a written document outlining how you will train a specific behavior. Training plans are used by nearly all types of animal trainers, from professional dog trainers to zookeepers and those training their pets at home. 

A training plan serves as a guide that helps you strategize and consider how to train a behavior before you begin. While referred to as a training plan, it is more accurately viewed as a pre-training plan. The essence of a training plan is proactive. Sadly, many proactive elements in life are often overlooked once other demands rise in importance or when they seem unnecessary. I aim to revive the significance of developing and integrating training plans into your animal training practices or facility training program. 

There is no one-size-fits-all approach; training plans are as unique as the trainers and animals they are created for. While it can be helpful to replicate a training plan developed by someone else, the primary benefit comes from the development process itself. There are many ways to train the same behavior. A great trainer will know how to personalize a plan to address situational, environmental, and individual animal preferences and learning histories. 

A training plan has many names, such as a shaping plan or approximation plan as it relies significantly on creating many small behavioral’ stepping stones” until the final goal is achieved. These small steps, or successive approximations, gradually build until the desired criteria are met. These shaping steps form the core of a training plan. It is, fundamentally, a training roadmap from start to finish.

Dennis with Luna, the Eurasian Eagle-owl we raised

When should you use a training plan?

You might wonder whether you need a training plan. After all, they require time, effort, and energy that you may not feel you have. While I cannot say that a training plan is necessary for every facility, trainer or animal, or for all behaviors, a general sentiment holds true. The benefits of a training plan far outweigh any objections. 

While we might be inclined to think we are “above” spending time on a training plan, it is a rare case where one isn’t helpful. Professional trainers, animals highly skilled in training, or situations where you are simply maintaining behaviors may be exempt from this process. Some experienced trainers may get to the point where they no longer physically write a plan. Instead, they will still mentally navigate the training plan process if one is not required. I encourage you not to abandon the practice of writing training plans or to believe they can no longer serve you. All new behaviors should have a training plan or a pre-training plan to help guide you smoothly through the training process.

Emma bottle feeding Irwin, Bennett’s wallaby

Twenty benefits of writing a training plan

• Helps guide you through the steps of training

A training plan slows you down and forces you to systematically and thoroughly think through your training roadmap. Behavior is complex and in an attempt to simplify or rush poor decisions can be made. Having a roadmap available helps you quickly answer the question that should be asked before every training session, “What is my plan for this training session.”

• Prioritizes behavioral goals for each animal

How and why is this specific behavior chosen? What is the reason or benefit of the behavior? Does the behavior you want to train the animal have a net positive impact for the trainer, the animal, and the facility? A training plan helps solidify and prioritize behavioral goals that are not arbitrarily selected. While it can be enjoyable to train cute “tricks,” it may be more beneficial to focus on training for your upcoming medical procedure. In addition to training plans for each behavior, all animals should have a written individualized list of behavioral goals. This list is developed based on the animal’s individualized management and care plan, keeping their overall welfare in mind. 

• Allows you to develop clear behavioral criteria

If you don’t know where you’re going, you’ll never know if you’ve arrived. Clear and consistent criteria are among the most important elements of a good training plan. Criteria define what is expected for a goal to be achieved and thus reinforced. Developing the final behavioral criteria is the ultimate focal point encompassing the entire process. The training plan is created with the end criteria in mind. While balancing consistency with flexibility can be challenging for any animal trainer, one aspect that must remain clear is your criteria. 

• It helps you remember specific components

Building strong and lasting behavior involves multiple elements. These components may include when and how to add a cue, achieve duration, increase distance, reduce delay (latency), fade prompts, etc. Without a plan, these components are often overlooked or hurried at the end of the training process. Developing a plan helps you constructively and purposefully remember these frequently forgotten or rushed components that contribute to the fluent behavior we all desire. 

• Allows for feedback and helpful input from others before you begin

Many of us, myself included, struggle when things are not written down or communicated in an organized manner. Constructive feedback can only occur if someone understands your plan. A written and organized training plan enables helpful input or proactive redirection rather than reactive measures after an issue arises. Even the best trainers can benefit from another perspective and a different opinion. You might not be familiar with an animal you are asked to train. Consulting someone who knows the animal well can help highlight potential issues related to specific situations, stimuli, or reinforcement preferences that you’d otherwise be unaware of. We should always strive to learn and remain open to change; that is a hallmark of a great trainer. 

• Limits dead ends by forcing you to think through each step

Dead ends can be a stumbling block for many trainers. Once you become stuck in a rut, it can be hard to get out. A training plan helps you see the path to take zoomed in and out. It also helps pinpoint potential ruts to address before you begin your journey. The better you become in your ability to think through the training steps, the easier it will be to spot dead ends.

• Keeps a record or log of behaviors

Having a record of behaviors an animal knows is helpful in multiple ways. First, it keeps a record that can follow the animal if it is moved to another facility or there is a staff change. Second, it allows managers to track progress and stay on top of what is being trained. Lastly, it helps to keep a record to reference if and when a behavior starts to break down. Looking back over a training plan when a behavior starts to deteriorate allows you to go back in approximations to rebuild the behavior instead of completely re-training the entire behavior. 

• It helps you focus and stay on track during the training process

I’m not calling anyone out, but it’s harder for some people to stay focused. While we should be prepared to pivot when necessary, constantly changing courses will likely not get you to your behavioral goal. The lightbulb moment can vary in time for each animal. Confusion sets in if you are too quick to change course instead of going at the animal’s speed. While training and building new behavior focus and steadfastness are key. This starts and ends with you as the trainer. 

• Allows you to refresh before starting a training session

Life gets busy. Whether you are a zookeeper with a hundred things to do, a professional animal trainer managing many animals, or a pet owner trying to fit in time for training, a training plan is a great tool to have in your back pocket. A written plan that is easy to access can help you quickly refresh to stay on track. A training log is also helpful to go alongside your plan. A training log is a written and recorded evaluation of your previous training sessions. It is like a training diary recording your progress and what happened. Things never go to plan, that’s just life and it’s ok. A training log accounts for this and helps you track your progress. 

• Motivates and provides accountability by setting deadlines

Without a deadline, it is hard to make things happen. A good training plan will set approximate deadlines and timelines for training. This builds motivation to find the time to train and discipline in what you spend your time training. It allows for accountability, for you or others, to hold you to your goals. If there are no goals there can be no reinforcement.

• Keeps the process clean and streamlined

Modifying behavior can get messy quite quickly. A training plan helps keep the process of training clean and streamlined by focusing on what matters. It helps narrow down tangents and cut wasteful clutter before you start training. 

• Provides clear and consistent communication

Animal training is often referred to as communication. It helps bridge the gap in our language barrier with animals by conveying our needs. It is a two-way street where the trainer and the animal interact during the training process. Effective communication is not as simple as it appears. Regardless of how good a communicator you believe you are, we all face challenges with it. Much of the confusion in my communication stems from not knowing or being clear about my goal. A training plan provides clear steps that facilitate effective communication. 

• Helps both the trainer and animals be more successful 

By now, you can see the many ways a training plan can contribute to your success. While it might be “easier” to overlook the plan, it typically saves you time, effort, and energy in the long run. We want both our animals and ourselves to succeed. A well-thought-out and developed training plan will assist you in achieving that. Anyone can train a behavior; however, to do so in a way that prepares an animal for a successful lifetime of learning requires effort and discernment.

• Makes you a better trainer 

Becoming a better animal trainer requires experience, practice, and a commitment to learning. Crafting a solid training plan is a crucial part of this process. It fosters your growth as a trainer by encouraging you to explore various methods of teaching behaviors and identify the most effective ones. This approach broadens your perspective and helps you consider how to manage all the variables involved. It also pushes you out of your comfort zone by embracing less instructive training techniques. Like any behavior, improvement becomes easier with practice. So, don’t hold yourself back from becoming a better animal trainer.  

• Eliminates “I don’t know where to start” or “Where do I go from here”

One of the most common hindrances to progressing with training is not knowing where to start or progress after a certain point. This is where a training plan shines. It answers these questions by breaking down behavior into manageable pieces and highlighting the path. If at any step you have to ask, “How do I do that?” Your training plan needs more work. Every training plan should have a clear starting point and end point with multiple achievable steps in between. 

• Speeds up training

While some may disagree, a training plan typically accelerates the training process. Training proceeds more smoothly and swiftly when you are compelled to think through your plan beforehand. A behavior that might take twenty minutes to teach without a plan could take only two with one. Even if you are an advanced animal trainer, it may still be quicker and more beneficial to follow this approach. 

• Provides consistency between trainers and behaviors 

Training animals in an official capacity rarely occurs in isolation. Multiple care staff or trainers often attend to the same animal in various facilities, such as animal shelters or zoos. This situation can create confusion, unclear expectations, and a lack of ownership. A training plan communicates your goals and what you will need from others to achieve them. When developing a training plan, your criteria should be written clearly so that others can easily follow, copy, and replicate your methods by reading your plan. Behaviors will begin to break down if consistency is not maintained among trainers and care staff. 

• Builds lasting behavior

Our goal as animal trainers should not be to achieve behavior as quickly as possible in non-emergency situations. Instead, the goal should focus on developing solid and robust behavior that encourages an animal to be a willing participant in the entire process. When our focus and measurement is solely on the end goal, we risk compromising aspects that seem unbeneficial in the short term but can have significant long-term repercussions. Shortcuts rarely serve you well in the long run, as they often result in only temporary success. 

• To create a safe environment for both the trainers and animal

We don’t want frustrated animals or trainers. A frustrated or confused animal can lead to undesired behavioral responses we wish to avoid. A training plan should be written so criteria are raised in such small increments that an animal can be successful and therefore not frustrated along each step. A training plan also accounts for things that should be handled with care based on the animal’s environmental, situational, and individual history. If you can account for potential hazards by adding additional steps to your training plan, beneficial prompts, and recognizing aversive conditions you can create a safer working environment for everyone.

• Allows for sudden breakthroughs without losing momentum

Nothing is worse in animal training than a trainer holding an animal back because they don’t know what to do next. Animal training is not a stagnant process but a dynamic one. While having a plan is beneficial and encouraged, applying it is not always straightforward. If an animal suddenly presents behavior three steps ahead of your training plan, you must be ready to reinforce that behavior and continue training without breaking continuity. You have to be prepared not only for these breakthroughs but also to maintain the momentum they create. If you are familiar with your plan, you can know what to do next. Understanding your plan will help build confidence in yourself as a trainer. Confidence, which is not the same as cockiness, in your ability to handle what is thrown at you allows you to focus on and respond to the animal in front of you, rather than the process. It prepares you to tackle whatever comes your way without fear of failure or damaging your ego. After all, training should be fun for both you and the animal!

What should my training plan look like?

There is not a standard template for training plans. They can be created and tailored to meet your or your facility’s needs and requirements. Therefore, one is not necessarily better than another. Some facilities prefer to keep them short and simple, while others favor a more detailed and thorough approach. The key is that the important elements are included. A training plan can be written on a printed sheet or entered into an online platform. Many facilities require approval from management before training any new behavior; this requirement would be located at the bottom of the template.

http://stalecheerios.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Smart-shaping-plans-by-Mary-Hunter.pdf

https://www.animaltrainingacademy.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/TrainingPlanApprovalForm.pdf