deadpoetmeetsafangirl:“At the end of that long dream, I finally made a choice. That even if I turned back time, a hundred different ways… I would choose to meet you again.”- Crash Landing On You
Clara trusts me enough to show me different parts of her body like her belly. show me her mouth and allow me to touch all of those teeth. —right? can you turn and show them all of your teeth? good job!— So we work really hard on being able to look over their entire bodies, and progress those behaviors to things like voluntary blood draws, ultrasounds, teeth brushing, and radiographing. —right? yeah!— But the biggest thing is we find what they find reenforcing and they show us that. and that includes hugs. —right?— And Clara has shown us that she really seems to enjoy tactile, so I give her this hand signal and she will show me what part of her body she wants rubbed. So, right now she wants a big noogie —right? good.— and sometimes what I will do is I’ll make her head a little pancake. or then I’ll rub her side and then she snuggles right in. —huh? huh! good girl thats very nice, good.— And then like I said, she would climb right on my lap and allow me to continue giving her tactile.
Functional cooperative care to keep zoo animals cared for and safe always melts my heart!!!!
Tori