Yes! Mint can dance without food!!

Mint again!

Tonight at our weekly dance training I proved that I can dance well without food!!

See?

It is not fun dancing a whole routine without treats!

Mint here again.

Cinnamon and I have been practising our dance routines in preparation for an upcoming international video competition. But, to tell the truth, it is not fun at all!!

Yes, I like performing with Mum, but that is partly because I can get a lot of treats just like when learning or practising tricks. But, Mum doesn't give me any treat when videoing a routine. And, my brain stops working if treats stop coming.

This is one of my videos recently filmed. 

As you can see, if treats stop coming, I start to wonder why I can't get treats, and I become unable to think about dancing. For example, leg weaves and paw lifts are very easy tricks. But, I cannot do them well in a routine without treats in Mum's hand or pockets.

Cinnamon has been having her own problem too. In her case, she can't stop barking if no food is coming! 

If she doesn't bark, she gets worried about the environment and keeps looking around during a routine. 

Does anyone know a good solution?

Mint is a Trick Dog Champion!!

Woo-hoo! I, Mint, have earned the Trick Dog Champion title!!

I didn't think I could make it so fast. But, it turned out that I had got a pretty good variety of tricks already. All I had to learn for the title was the Shell Game, where I had to find one with food hidden it it from three plant pots that were placed upside down.

This is the video that I submitted to earn my Champion title.

Is it Cinnamon's turn next?

Mint is a clever Beagle!!

I, Mint, am sorry we didn't post anything for such a long time!! We have been very busy for the last year, but finally we have got time to write a post here.

As you may know if you follow our Facebook page "Cinnamon and Mint the Beagles", we have been working very hard in every sport we do. We have been doing really well especially in Agility this year. We have been working very hard in Canine Freestyle as well, but we haven't had as significant achievements in the sport recently as we did two years ago. Mum has stopped competing in Obedience and Rally-O with Cinnamon, because she gets very nervous in the ring of the sports. Her anxiety in and around the Agility ring has improved a lot and now she rarely reacts to other dogs in Agility venues. Mum thinks that is because Cinnamon loves and enjoys Agility so much. In fact she has had two wins in Agility Championships this year and graduated from Jumpers C and Starters, and now she is competing in Jumpers B, Novice, and Intermediate. I have been doing well in Agility too, but I am not as fast as Cinnamon, so I haven't been able to graduate from Jumpers C yet.

Well, have you seen the title of this post? Yes, it's about how clever I, Mint, am!! Do you remember that we worked on "One New Trick A Month Challenge" three years ago? Wow, three years ago!? It's been a long time since! After that, we continued to learn new tricks but not as many as we did in 2012. Also, Mum has always said "Cinnamon is very clever and quick to learn new tricks, while Mint is very clumsy although he does them diligently once he has learned them". I thought that it was an insulting comment on such a clever boy like me. So, I decided to start performing my clever tricks to earn "Trick Dog" titles.

Do you know a world's famous dog trick instructor, Kyra Sundance? Her books about how to teach dogs tricks are very popular around the world. Recently we found out that her programme "Do More With Your Dog!" offers "Trick Dog" titles, and Mum decided to try them with me. When Mum told me about it, I was very excited because she chose me over Cinnamon!! Yes, she knew that I was a clever dog as well!! Yay!

Under the "Do More With Your Dog!" programme, there are five trick dog titles, "Novice", "Intermediate", "Advanced", "Expert", and "Champion." So far I have earned from "Novice" to "Expert". So, my next challenge is "Champion"!!

This is a video of tricks I performed to earn my Expert Trick Dog title.

Was it a success or a failure?

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

Sorry I had a long break from blogging again. I repeatedly asked Mum to help me post something but all she did was say "Yes, I will when I have time". But, finally she had some time to help me today.

Well, l meant to post a video of a new trick every month, but Mum was not cooperative enough, and neither of us learned any new cool tricks last month. So, today I will show you something we tried for the first time instead.

Have you heard of Rally Freestyle Elements (also called Rally FrEe)? If you know Rally Obedience (also called Rally-O) and Canine Freestyle (also called Paws n Music or Heelwork to Music), you could guess what it is like.

Rally-O

In Rally-O you need to do exercises described in signs placed around a course. In Canine Freestyle you dance (do tricks) to music. Rally FrEe is something like a fusion of both. You are required to do exercises described in signs at stations on a course, but the exercises are more like dance moves and you will do them to music. There are also Free Choice stations, where you can do any move of your choice. Also, in Rally-O you don't only need to do every exercise correctly but also finish the course as quickly as you can. But, in Rally FrEe your run is not timed, although you may want to finish it before your music finishes of course.

Mum was very interested in this new dog sport but didn't have a chance to do it until recently. In early March our dog dancing team ChoreDOGraphy Connection and a few other people and dogs did Rally FrEe for the first time in New Zealand as a demonstration at a Rally-O Championship held in Mangawhai. Because it was a demonstration, we had been given the course a few weeks in advance so that we could practise before demonstrating in front of an audience (Normally the course is given to competitors a week before the competition so that they can decide what moves they will do at Free Choice stations). However, Mum was very lazy as always and we didn't practise it to music at all until the demonstration. So, now you can guess how it went, can't you?

Well, Mum says that I was very naughty, but I think I did well, considering the lack of practise. At least I really enjoyed it!! Here is a video of it. (The music stopped in the middle of the run because of flat battery but never mind!)

I think you can see how much fun I was having doing it. What do you think? Was it a success or a failure?