Both Mint and I are learning

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

Yesterday Mint had his first tricks lesson with my dance instructor who had taught me in my beginners dancing class late last year.

The instructor had been so busy with her work that for a few of months she hadn't been able to come to Ardmore New Zealand Kennel Club Exhibition Centre where I practice dancing every Thursday. Yesterday I met her for the first time since the national dog dancing camp in February. When my Mum told her at the summer camp that we were going to get a new Beagle puppy, she said that we should start training the puppy as soon as possible once we got him. But, she didn't have a chance to show us what to do until yesterday.

To start with they did 'Nose Touch' using a clicker. In 'Nose Touch', the handler lures the dog with some treat in one hand and does click-and-treat as soon as the dog touches the hand with his nose. Mint did it very well, so they proceeded to the next step, 'In Front', where the dog gets click-and-treat as soon as he comes and stands in front of the handler. In this exercise, the most difficult part for many dogs is that he has to stay standing instead of sitting in front of the handler, which is what dogs are usually taught to do.

Usually, in 'In Front' exercise, the handler throws a treat to make the dog go there to get the treat before coming back to the 'In Front' position. But, my Mum told the instructor that she didn't want to throw treats, because she didn't want Mint to learn picking up food from the ground. It is said that dogs recognise the difference between picking up food from the ground after a click and doing the same thing without any cue, but Mum believes that Beagles don't think that way. She thinks you should never allow a Beagle to pick up food from the ground. So, she is always very careful not to drop a treat when practising dancing or tricks with me, although in every training session she still drops one or two pieces of food, which I happily pick up and eat.

Yesterday the instructor came up with a really good solution. She suggested teaching Mint targeting first and making Mint go to the target and come back. In yesterday's lesson they used a little frisbee as a target, and it worked pretty well although he may need some more practice to figure out what he is expected to do.



At Ardmore I did some social obedience training in addition to dancing. I practised heeling on a slack lead, meeting another dog without barking, staying, recalls, and some other exercises. I think I did very well, but my Mum was not completely happy because I tried to jump up several times when I shouldn't. She thinks I need a lot more practise. Phew...



While I was doing obedience training, Mint was playing with a cute girl. He looked so happy!

I did it!! I won a prize!

Hi, it's Cinnamon!

I did it, I did it!! I was chosen as the winner of Niamh’s Train Your Dog Photo Contest! Can you believe it? I couldn't when I heard about it, as I hadn't got many votes in the readers' voting. But, it is TRUE!! Mum and Dad are SO happy too! See the result here.

This was my entry photo.

The judges thought this photo showed the relationship between Mum and me very well. What do you think? I really love practising tricks with my Mum. I wish I could practise more with her, but Mum says that she hasn't got time for it as she has to do things for her work.

As you know, I also entered the Hound Dogs group at the Mango Minster 2010 Dog Show. Although I couldn't get any prize in the show, I got this official Competitor logo as a proof of my participation! Doesn't it look cool?



I hope everyone has a great weekend!!



P.S.

I am back to my normal self now! Thank you for your concern about my sickness.

My entries to two more photo contests ... and good news!

Hi, it's Cinnamon!

Today's post is about Mango Minster 2010 again! In my last post I showed you my entries to the Mango Minster Dog Show and Biggy's Dog Pile Competition. After that, I also entered Niamh’s Train Your Dog Photo Contest and Tucker's Sit Stay Competition.

This is my entry to the Train Your Dog Photo Contest.



As you know, I started dance training last October and finished a beginner dog dancing course in December. Now I am working on my very FIRST routine. My entry to the Train Your Dog Photo Contest is a shot taken in Roberta Reserve in Glendowie. At that time I was practising to raise my paws in accordance with the movement of my Mum's feet. Although I can do marching legs (a similar trick, but in the position face to face with my Mum who raises her knees instead of putting her feet diagonally forward) very well, I sometimes get confused when I am doing this new trick shown in the photo.

As you can see in the photo, we use a clicker and treats when we practise tricks and dancing. I love practising new tricks. The harder the trick, the more exciting the practice!!


This is my entry to the Sit Stay Competition.



As some of you know, I am not a great sit-stayer. I find staying still very very hard. I would rather just keep moving and get going! But, I like sitting on my biggest stuffie friend, Ben. He's always been with me along with Cookie since I was a puppy. He never complains about whatever I do to him. Because he is so big and I am so small, my attacks on him seem nothing more than light patting for him.


Well, today I have GOOD NEWS!! My dad's new camera came back from Japan! The camera was sent to Japan after a SD card got stuck in it and was unable to be taken out. When the problem happened, Mum took the camera to a camera shop, but the staff there couldn't take it out either. Because the camera was bought in Japan last September, it was still under its warranty in Japan, but not in New Zealand. So, Mum sent it back to the manufacturer's service centre in Japan.

We were so impressed by services of the service centre. They were so quick and efficient! As a result of a check done at the camera's service centre, it turned out be the SDHC card, not the camera, that had broken! Nevertheless, the service centre's staff did a thorough checkup for free and confirmed that everything in the camera was working correctly.

Now my dad is so happy! And, so am I!!

Cinnamon's dancing lesson #1

Cinnamon started practising dancing at beginner Heelwork to Music class about a month ago. I wrote about her first class in a previous post. Today I would like to report how her training is going.

In the first lesson Cinnamon learned some basic skills, such as touching/following my hand and standing in front of me face to face, and in the three subsequent lessens she learned several other basic skills, such as turning/spinning, weaving through and around my legs, bowing, shaking hands/paws, and going through my legs forward and backward.

The following video filmed in the fourth lesson last week shows some of the moves she has learned so far.



We are still practising simple moves only, but I think consolidating basic skills is always important no matter what your are learning.

Go for it! Becoming a dancing Beagle!

Cinnamon has joined the beginner Heel Work To Music class at Manukau Dog Training Club.

She had been doing agility until she was diagnosed as having Hip Dysplasia (HD) about a month ago. Although she has had a series of injections to heal and repair the joints, her gait hasn't got better at all. But, for Cinnamon, who loves to perform, normal dog life like simply eating well, having regular walks, and enjoying lots of naps during the day would be so boring that I reckoned that training her for dog dancing would be a good idea. In dancing we can choose moves that won't hurt her hips.

The class we go to is held at the same venue on the same day as the famous great canine dancer Honey the Great Dane practices her routines. But, our beginner class starts an hour earlier than her advanced class. In the beginner class there are five dogs, Ricky, Inka, Mozzy, Coco, and Cinnamon. I am going to introduce our classmates in a future post.

In the first session yesterday we learned the basics such as how to use a clicker, how to recall the dog and then make the dog stand in front of you immediately, and how to make the dog follow your hand.

Using a clicker was nothing new to us, as we had been doing clicker training for about six months already, but what I found difficult was to make Cinnamon stand in front of me as soon as she came to me. I have always taught her to sit when she comes to me, so she always sat as soon as she came back to me yesterday. If I said 'Stand', she stood, but only after sitting. Or, if I held some food in front of her face when I called her, she stood right away without requiring me to say 'Stand'. We are going to practice this one for the next two weeks so that hopefully by the next class we will have mastered it (There is no class next week, because our instructor, Jan, will be away).

Practicing to stand in front


Practicing to follow a hand


Cinnamon was a model dog in the class

Where have the sheep gone?

Thank you for your warm messages on my last post. I am learning a lot from you all!

Yesterday we went to Cornwall Park which we hadn't visited for a while. One of the reasons we went there was to see the sheep there. Although New Zealand is known for its large population of sheep, we rarely see and touch them, living in the largest city in the country.

We used to go to the park very often when Cookie was young. But, the traffic along the road that we use to get to the park gradually got more and more congested, and finally we stopped going there.

Yesterday, as soon as we arrived at the park, we headed for the fields where we had always seen sheep when we frequented the park. But, there was no sheep, to my disappointment. So, we walked around looking for sheep and found only a few of them near the top of a small volcanic mountain called One Tree Hill, which is the main feature of Cornwall Park (There used to be a tree on top of the mountain, but there isn't anymore because the tree was cut down after Maori activists damaged the tree as a protest).

No sheep...

Found some sheep near the top of One Tree Hill

There is no picture of Cookie and Cinnamon at Cornwall Park, because I was so busy trying to stop them eating cows' droppings!!

It is Saturday today, which I looked forward to after a very busy week, but unfortunately it's been raining all day. So, we did some exercise on Standing in the house. This is how it went.

I hold some food in my hand when I give Cookie a command, because he is so food-motivated that he doesn't do anything if he doesn't see any food in my hand. After watching this video, I noticed that I had been giving him reward before, or almost at the same time as, clicking, which I think I need to correct.

Although Cinnamon can Stand if I put my hand in front of her nose, she still can't do it if I give her a vocal command only.

Clicker training - nose touch 2

Some of you may be wondering how our clicker training is going, as I haven't written anything about it since I reported that we'd started clicker training.


After Cookie and Cinnamon became good at touching my hand (so called 'nose touch'), I tried it using a target stick instead of a hand. But, after a while, we noticed that the ball-shaped target was too small for Cookie. Especially at night, it seemed difficult for him to see it. So, I covered it with a yellow ball.



Also, I found a new way of using clicker training. Cookie is not an enthusiastic walker, as some of you already know. He often turns around to head home after only a short walk in the neighbourhood. But, now he can walk a longer distance with help of a clicker.

Cookie loves clicker training, because he knows he can get treat when clicked. So, I started using it during walks. When he looks unwilling to walk, I say 'Touch'. Then, he happily walks forward to touch my hand. Once he realises that I have a clicker in my hand and treats in my treat pouch, he walks willingly with his attention on me, not on food, because he knows he can't get treat until he looks at my face. As such, clicker training has changed my life easier, at least with regard to walking Cookie!

Clicker training has been working for Cinnamon, too. Her heeling has improved significantly with the nose touch technique.

Clicker training - nose touch

A clicker, a target stick, and a guidebook of clicker training I ordered have finally arrived and we have started clicker training!

The guidebook I bought is written in Japanese, which means I had to have it sent from Japan to New Zealand by international mail. Do you wonder why I don't use books available here in New Zealand? That is because most guidebooks written in English don't have many pictures like Japanese guidebooks do. Before ordering the Japanese guidebook, I went to the library and looked at several books about dog training, but they all were full of text, including the one I borrowed ("The Only Dog Tricks Book You'll Ever Need"). It was a very good book and I enjoyed reading it. But, I wished there had been much more pictures!

Among other things, what I was surprised at about the Japanese guidebook is that it demonstrates how to cut commercial dog treats into smaller pieces, showing different pictures for different sizes of dogs! For example, it recommends to cut an original piece of a particular product into two for large dogs and six for small dogs. So precise!!

Well, going back the training, the first step in clicker training is the nose touch, according to the guidebook. Its purpose is to make your dog learn that he can get some treat right after a click. The process is: 1) Place your hand at a short distance from your dog, 2) Click, if the dog comes and touches your hand with its nose, and 3) Give a small piece of treat. When you give your dog a piece of treat after a click, you can throw it instead of letting the dog get it directly from your hand. Although you may wonder that it might teach your dog that he can pick up food on the street, it won't be a problem as long as the dog is picking up food thrown right after a click, because he will learn that he is allowed to pick up food when he hears a click. Also, your dog can't get treat if he bites or mouthes your hand.

Both Cookie and Cinnamon did the first step very well. So, we are going on to the next step this weekend.

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At Waiatarua Reserve on Thursday