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?
Great routines!! You guys are so smart!!
ReplyDeleteI'm not experienced in any of this, but I have picked up a few ideas from other blogs. One thing that obedience and agility competitors do is have a reward outside the ring, So they learn that there is a reward, but it comes after exiting the ring. You have to build up the duration just like with anything else, but I think it works pretty well.
An example for how it work is this. If your routine is spin, weave, roll over, pivot, back up and then bow you could do this. Take your dog to your dance area, ask them to spin. Tell them okay, good dog, then run to the side of the ring and give a treat or play with a toy. Then go out, ask them to spin, then weave, then say okay and run out for the reward. Next time do spin, weave and roll over before rewarding, etc. It's sort of like chaining the whole dance together, one movement at a time. It will probably take time to build up the duration, but it apparently works great for obedience and agility. I hope this works! If I think of anything else I'll let you know!
Thank you for your suggestions, achive1dream! That's exactly what we have been doing. When practising parts of routines, we have no trouble working nicely even if Mum doesn't have food on her. But, when she videos our whole routines, her movements, behaviours, and voice change, which makes us loose motivation. So, we think it is Mum who needs to practise to learn to do things the same way in every different situation! Also, as you suggested, we need to build up the duration that we work without getting a reward.
DeleteAlso, we have started to train using a Treat & Train remote treat dispenser like this.
https://youtu.be/EAaFFYHQZjw
We hope it helps!