Getting a Mule to Be Safe Around Bicycles

This video shows clips from a 15 minute training session to get Cavort, a five year old john mule, to be safe and calm around bicyclists. The video shows the whole training process; I only edited out the portions of where the bicyclist is circling around for another pass. I show the basics of using advance and retreat to defuse fear. This technique is very compatible to clicker training, and uses some of the same principles, even though I am not doing a whole lot of clicking and treating in this session. This method is very effective at defusing fear and aggression, in horses, mules, donkeys, or any animal. The important part is to wait until the animal shows a sign of self-calming before the scary object retreats. Cavort took responsibility for calming himself, which makes this method much more effective than straight desensitization.