Animals may give implicit or explicit consent to the things we want to do to them, such as handling for veterinary interventions. The concept of Start Buttons grew out of modern animal trainers’ attempts to give animals a louder voice in those types of conversations. In this seminar, Karolina will discuss the following: 

• How control increases animal welfare

• Other beneficial effects of control

• Increasing animals’ control over formal training sessions

• Implicit consent

• Start buttons – explicit consent

• How to train start buttons

• Why clickers are typically not used when teaching start buttons

• Common mistakes when teaching start buttons

• What to do in emergencies when the start button behaviour isn’t yet solid