The label “Startbutton Behavior” was coined by Eva and Emelie in the early 2000s and spread widely through their “Animals in Control” collaboration with Peggy Hogan.
What are Startbutton Behaviors about?
In a startbutton contingency the learner gets to control the pace and progress of the procedure. Eva and Emelie (Carpe Momentum) first developed this strategy in the late 90s for teaching “happy and confident” behavior around noise and movement for their agility training – which, by the way, is what lead Karen Pryor to contact them to write Agility Right From The Start and later speak at Clicker Expo. However, they and their students quickly noted benefits for working like this in a wide variety of settings.
Over the years, E&E expanded their use of these techniques, where the learner initiates a predictable sequence of events, to all possible areas of training with learners of various species, including human beings. In 2015 they joined forces with horse trainer Peggy Hogan (www.clickertraininghorses.com) who had developed very similar strategies in her work with horses, and together they developed the lecture Animals in Control for Clicker Expo. That lecture covered request behaviors, choice behaviors and this concept of learner initiated predictable sequences, launching the term “start button behavior” further into the world. If you haven’t already watched “Animals in Control” we highly recommend it as a framework for the concept of startbutton behaviors!
LINK COLLECTION RELEVANT TO START BUTTON TRAINING:
The webinars and podcasts listed below can also be found in RESOURCES together with all other Eva material.
Webinars specifically focusing on “Startbutton Behaviors”:
ABC247: Eva Bertilsson, Emelie Johnson Vegh & Peggy Hogan – Animals in Control
Start buttons – what, why and how! An introduction
Webinars on related topics:
ABC247: Chirag Patel – Bucket Game, Out of the Bucket (with Eva Bertilsson)
ABC247: SWEDISH Snälla Händer – Kul med Hantering
Podcasts specifically focusing on “Startbutton Behaviors”:
Drinking From the Toilet – Start Button Behaviours
ATA – Carpe Momentum; Animal Training flow-charts & choice/control
Hälsans Hundar – Frivillighet och startknappar
Podcasts on related topics:
SWEDISH Hundpodden VBV – Frivillig Hantering (Lyssnarfrågor)
SWEDISH Hundpodden VBV – Frivillig hantering – Fear free training
SWEDISH Hundpodden med Kicki och Fanny – Frivillig hantering & kloklippning för din hund
Additional recommendations:
Peggy Hogan – Blogpost about Start Button Behaviors
Eva Bertilsson – Blogpost – MANDS in non-human animals
SWEDISH Eva Bertilsson – Blogpost – Kommunikationsträning, MANDS
Live chat with Eva, Emelie & Peggy- Animals in Control!
Do check out “Animals in Control” partner Peggy Hogan’s horse training!
www.clickertraininghorses.com
https://www.facebook.com/Peggy-Hogan-The-best-whisper-is-a-click
Join these startbutton relevant facebook groups hosted by Eva:
Startbuttons and more
Choice Control Communication
And if you speak Swedish/Scandinavian, we highly recommend joining KUL MED HANTERING – Eva’s paid membership group for all species where husbandry is the main topic, and where startbutton contingencies are frequently discussed!
Where else can you find Eva and Emelie?
Read more about them in the Carpe Momentum segment
Visit their website www.carpemomentum.nu
www.facebook.com/carpemomentum
Contact information:
You can reach both Eva and Emelie at info@carpemomentum.nu,
you can contact Emelie directly at emelie@carpemomentum.nu
and as usual you can contact Eva Bertilsson at eva@carpemomentum