Readers were introduced to Boo, a male grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horriblis), in the Winter 2018 and Winter 2019 issues of the IAABC Foundation Journal. Born in 2002, Boo weighs around 550-600 pounds in the spring, and up to 750-850 pounds in the winter before hibernation.
We came to take care of Boo after he and his brother Cari were orphaned at approximately 5 months of age, when their mother was shot by a poacher. They were initially housed at a habitat on Grouse Mountain. B.C., Canada, while a new, state-of-the-art 20-acre habitat at Kicking Horse Mountain, B.C. (KHR) was built. Since 2003, Boo has resided in this sub-alpine mountain habitat enclosure, the largest of its kind for a single brown (grizzly) bear.
2019 marked the third year of our training program with Boo, which was officially introduced June 19, 2017. Our initial goal was to have a reliable method to get Boo from his main habitat into his holding area in case of emergency, and to reduce the frequency of stress behaviors we had observed when he needed to be locked into this space. Additionally, we intended to progress toward having him voluntarily participate in routine veterinary procedures, such as dental checks and injections.
Safety measures
Training sessions were always conducted with secure barriers between Boo and the people working with him. Each training scenario had its own specific safety setup. When working on targeting behaviors we worked at “den corner,” the first point of contact as we drive up the road on the east side of his enclosure. This area offers a large, flat area for training, with an 8-foot electric fence as a safety barrier. This is also his isolation area, a 1-acre area for holding if repairs need to be done in the habitat, or in the event a human or another bear enters the enclosure.
The holding area is an approximately 20 x 20-foot space with 12-foot metal fences, and we work from the roof of his attached winter den. Electric fences run the perimeter of this area. This is where we work on recall training as well as the sliding door (slide) empowerment training.
Boo in his holding area
Training resumes
Our plan for 2019 was to continue working on the fluency and reliability of the behaviours we had taught in the previous two years, particularly emergency recall, slide empowerment, hold, wide mouth, and target training. In 2018 we had started on voluntary injection training, only to adapt the end goal to allow us to apply a topical medication when it became apparent we needed to treat lice he had contracted that were making him obviously uncomfortable. This year we restarted our original goal. Voluntary injection training would involve Boo accepting an injection in the rear leg through a mesh fence. This had previously only been administered via blow dart, a method that was very stressful to both Boo and his caregivers. Our biggest obstacle was to get Boo to feel comfortable being trained through the mesh of his holding area. Although we had made great strides in his comfort in this space, he was accustomed to us being above him on the roof of the building, not at his level.
Boo and the author
To increase his comfort with us being in close proximity to him, we decided to switch it up. We let Boo stay on the outside of the holding area (with access to his 20-acre habitat) and had the trainers locked into the holding area. Allowing Boo to have choice and control over his participation made all of the difference, and within one session we had him approaching the mesh to take juice out of a bottle. He was initially nervous of this new training setup so we worked through the season to make him comfortable by practicing it with his most fluent behaviours.
We had another breakthrough with scale training this year, surprisingly, by lowering the value of the reinforcer. In the past we had always used fish as the reinforcer for successful weighing. The challenge became that the fish was high enough value that Boo would immediately take it to a nearby cache spot to savor, making it difficult to get an accurate reading on the scale. By lowering the value of the reinforcer to Milk Bones, Boo stayed more engaged with the training session and we were able to get him to stand and hold position on the scale to get the most reliable weight reading possible.
On June 3, 2019, there was an accident on the highway about an hour west of us; a large truck carrying fresh salmon from the West Coast had rolled, dumping much of the cargo, making it unsafe for human consumption. The unfortunate event ended up benefiting Boo and the training team because we were able to acquire approximately 500 pounds of fresh salmon for free. This allowed us to have consistent access to one of the highest-value reinforcers for conditioning a positive response to the holding area. Those quantities allowed us to practice slide empowerment training on average twice weekly, and we made huge strides in how comfortable Boo seemed when locked into his holding area.
Boo gets his first whole salmon!
Locked in for winter
Oct 29, 2019 – Refuge manager, Nicole, was unable to locate Boo in his habitat throughout the day. This is almost always the initial indicator it is time to get him locked in to his holding area and artificial den. For safety reasons, we need Boo to spend the winter in his holding area with the den we provide. The larger habitat is enclosed with an electric fence and is not able to be properly maintained once the area gets heavy snowfalls of winter.
Oct 30, 2019 – At 9 am Boo did not show up for his morning supplements. Nicole rang the emergency recall bell but did not see any movement within the habitat. She began cooking bacon on the den roof, the one thing that reliably seems to get Boo out of bed. She continued to ring the recall bell every five minutes for a full hour until he showed up at the top of the hill. He took about 20 minutes to descend the hill and get to the outside of the holding area, a descent that would only take a few minutes in the summer.
Boo hesitated outside the holding area door for another five minutes, until Nicole said “Okay, buddy, it’s time,” and he proceeded through the gate. She closed the gate behind him, and Boo was rewarded with regular food plus a few pieces of freshly cooked bacon. He did one half-hearted bluff charge when she lowered the final drapes over the gate. However, for the first time there was no human-directed aggression or angry digging during or after locking him in. This year was the first time that the lock-in procedure only took one person to successfully accomplish.
Hibernation/torpor begins
November 17, 2019 – Once Boo enters his den for 24 hours straight, he has officially begun his torpor state. Most refer to this period as hibernation, but there is a difference between the two. Torpor is the term used to refer to the dormant state bears enter during the long winter months. Boo will stay in his den for approximately four months but has gone as long as five months.
Boo is monitored by an infrared camera located within the ceiling of his den and a thermometer in the den to read temperature and humidity. He is checked on daily, and any activity recorded is put into a digital observation sheet. The surveillance system is run by solar power backed by batteries.
When spring arrives, bringing warmer temperatures, Boo begins to stir in the den. Each day with increasing activity inside the den he prepares to exit his den by licking and biting his paw pads to toughen the skin up. Once Boo has emerged from the den, he is in what is known as walking hibernation. This is when bears leave their den and are active, but their metabolic process has not returned to normal. This stage can last two to three weeks, and bears voluntarily eat and drink less and naturally excrete less.
March 17, 2020 – Boo wakes up to a very different world.
Credit: Nicole Gagnon via ViralSnare
Conclusion
When we started Boo’s development program three years ago, our goal was to test the success of a trusted relationship and choice-based empowerment-style training with a grizzly bear. We believed that not only was this type of program more humane, but it could ultimately lead to important health and safety advancements and less stress on both the bear and the trainers and keepers.
Teaching Boo he had choices and, ultimately, to willingly perform a behavior that he initially didn’t want to do was immensely gratifying for the whole team. The final seasonal lock‑in went from being an incredibly stressful event three years ago to something much more routine. This was all the more remarkable because, while we practiced and maintained behaviors throughout the year, we truly only got to test the final lock-in three times – once each year.
To see the progress he made from year one, when it took at least two trainers and was accompanied by Boo’s excessive stress-exhibiting behaviors, to year three, when one trainer was able to achieve it with very minor protest from the bear, felt like a remarkable result. Ultimately, it supported our theory that, with patience, practice, trust, and transparency, we can achieve unprecedented positive returns. This bodes well for important future advancements for injections and blood draws, and for ensuring a happy and healthy bear.
Boo in the snow. Credit: Neil Weisenberg
Follow Boo’s training at:
https://www.facebook.com/cindypeacockanimaltrainer/
https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=boo%20grizzly
Cindy Peacock, CBCC-KA, CPDT-KA, KPA CTP, is the lead trainer at Kicking Horse Grizzly Bear Refuge in Golden, British Columbia. She is also the head of behaviour for Chasin’ Tails Dog Care Center in Calgary, Alberta, and offers private animal behaviour consulting in Western Canada as well as online. Cindy holds regular seminars and webinars on multi-species training and dog behaviour.
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Mike is an emerging animal behaviorist sitting in Minnesota in the US. He carries an MSc in social science research methods (U. of Kentucky) and brings a passion for understanding how the methods we favor shape the knowledge we privilege. Coming from careers in teaching and non-profit program evaluation, he found companion animal behavior by accident helping anxious feline friends in a unique shelter in Ohio. It is a privilege and a joy to combine these and advance the journal in this exciting time of growth.
Alexandra is a certified dog behavior consultant and holds a PhD in neuroscience. She has spent over a decade in academic research and is author of numerous scientific articles on different aspects of brain development, including olfaction, neurogenesis, and memory formation. Her work as a behavior consultant focuses on creating trusting relationships between humans and their dogs through communication, respect, and science-based knowledge. Alexandra is very dedicated to promoting more science within the dog training world. She supports dog guardians and professionals to build a solid understanding of scientific principles and provides guidance on how to apply these to life with dogs. She runs Canine Mindscape in Alicante, Spain.
I’m an Argentinean-Italian dog trainer and CSAT who spent eight amazing years in Brazil learning and working with dogs. Now based in Europe, I volunteer with the IAABC as a translator and, in my free time, help rehomed dogs settle into their new families. I love bridging languages—and hearts—between people and their dogs.
I’m a translator, editor and journalist, as well as canine educator for children and families, specialized in canine body language. I am part of the IAABC Family since 2019, as Language Director at the IAABC and Translators Team Lead at the IAABC Foundation, at the moment. I volunteer at local shelters and promote bite prevention and animal welfare at schools and events all over my country, Uruguay.
I’m a Chilean veterinarian and certified dog trainer, based in Madrid and working at a veterinary clinic. I’ve been volunteering with the IAABC and the IAABC Foundation for over seven years. In my free time, I help dogs and their guardians strengthen their bond, and I love spending quality time with my own dogs.
Master’s Degree in Natural Sciences, with a strong interest in environmental sustainability and the protection of natural ecosystems. Passionate about writing and science communication, she collaborates with multidisciplinary teams on research projects, such as Equine International, and with non-profit initiatives in the environmental and cultural fields. She is writing for different magazines, including IAABC Foundation. Her major goal is to improve horse’s welfare through behaviour research and empirical practice.
Adrienne Hovey is the copy editor for the IAABC Foundation journal and the owner of 
I believe that knowledge from a wide range of disciplines fosters a more empathetic, curious, and engaging world. I am passionate about social, environmental, and minority rights issues (both human and non-human), and this has invariably led me down the road of multi-species anthropology. Perpetually curious about the world we live in, I hope to contribute towards making the world a kinder place for all of us earthlings to live on!
Beckie Wheldon is based in England, UK, and has been supporting the IAABC Foundation Journal team as a volunteer journal content editor since early 2025. She has a BSc (Hons) Animal Behaviour and Welfare, and has recently completed a MSc Clinical Animal Behaviour. With a passion for both practical and theory, Beckie is proud to be a part of the journal submission journey and support the process of applied animal behaviour information and research getting from our writers to the readers. As her full-time career, Beckie is currently part of the UK veterinary charity, PDSA, as a Learning and Development Business Partner for Veterinary, where she supports the professional development of people in their Veterinary Hospitals. Her last position was with the rescue charity, Dogs Trust, as a Canine Behavioural Welfare Manager, where she worked on embedding evidence-based behavioural welfare best practices throughout policy and practices, with both internal and external professional stakeholders, such as the police and military. With a varied background in kennels, caregiver education, and charity dog training classes, Beckie is also an accredited Animal Training Instructor (APDT UK) and an Associate Clinical Animal Behaviourist (APBC).
Erin Jones, PhD, IAABC-ADT, CDBC, CPDT-KA, CANZ-ATI, CANZ-ABC, is the Journal Director of the IAABC Foundation Journal. She holds a PhD in Human–Animal Studies, an MSc in Anthrozoology, a PG Dip in Animal Welfare, and a BSc (Hons) in Anthropology and Psychology. An international presenter, editor, writer and mentor, Erin’s writing bridges research and practice with a focus on the intersection of philosophy, ethics and dog-centered behaviour practice. She is the author of Constructing Canine Consent and co-editor of Topics in Non/Human Coexistence and numerous academic and trade journal publications.