Be sure to stop by Parker's blog for an update on his condition. He was scheduled to come home last night and is hopefully starting to recover. We hope it will be smooth sailing from here on!
Here is our update on less serious matters... its Tricky T-day and Ludo's theme this month is to learn a helpful trick! So Moose is learning to pick up his toys. Our first session was two weeks ago and I think, in all, we have had 6 training sessions in that time (things have been busy so we are a bit behind!). He has come a long way in that short time though! In our first post about it I explained a little about how we started and it involved me sliding the basket under him as he dropped it. He gradually figured out that he should drop it in there though it was (and still is) far from perfect. There were lots of 'missed drops' where he would drop it next to the basket over and over again before finally moving one extra step or turning his head a little so it would drop in the basket. I had trouble helping him refine this but with patience he has gotten there on his own! There has also been some 'cheating' where he tries to take a toy that is already in the basket and drop it in and I have discouraged him from doing it, but last night he was really trying even harder to cheat and I am hoping this is an 'extinction burst'. This is where thee 'trainee' tries an unrewarded behavior even more before giving up on it. I have also noticed that he is faster to pick up his favorite toys and this cheating gets worse when he has already dropped his favorites in the basket so maybe it is just that he wants to play with them too ;-)
I think it would have been best to start by training him to drop a toy IN my hand but since he will bring things to me I figured that was close enough. However, it would have helped me narrow things down for him and in the end it might have taken less time and he might have succeeded more often.
I have now moved the basket to 4 different spots and in the last session I sat a little further away from the basket and the next step will be to move the basket to where it normally sits and for me to move further away. Ultimately I am hoping to advance to the point where he will put several toys in the basket after a single 'pickup your toys' command. If we keep it up I think we could have this down by the end of the month!
I'm sure you've mentioned this before, but what are you using for rewards? I have some liver treats that Jack loves, but I don't want to give him too many (calorie-wise!)
Oh, Moose is so good! I know he dropped a few but he really seems to understand what you want him to do at least - (and it's so cute when he tries to cheat! :-) )
It's funny but Honey and I have veen working on a similar trick too! But it's been very slow going in Honey's case - I really felt that she wasn't making the connection of dropping the toys INTO the basket at all (unlike Moose) - she was just randomly opening her mouth after picking it up. So in the end, I decided to change the way I was teaching it (following advice from Flip!) and taught her first to target and place the the toys on a specific surface (higher up so closer to her head at first) and then gradually transform that into a basket on the floor. This worked really well for us - I've just posted a video of this for Tricky T-Day too if you're interested!
Oh - just remembered, I haven't answered your question about corrections yet - sorry! Will get back to you asap.
Moose, you're such a smart boy... but not as smart as me... cause I have trained momster to do the toy picking up! BOL! Ok ok... I'm just a widdle bit jealous of you... just a widdle giant bit!
Oh Moose! She's making you work? I hope you're at least getting the VERY best in treats. You deserve them.
ReplyDeleteBolo
That is SO COOL! Now our momma is going to make us have school at home to learn that cuz we leaves our stuffies all over the place fur her to pick up!
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you've mentioned this before, but what are you using for rewards? I have some liver treats that Jack loves, but I don't want to give him too many (calorie-wise!)
ReplyDeleteOh, Moose is so good! I know he dropped a few but he really seems to understand what you want him to do at least - (and it's so cute when he tries to cheat! :-) )
ReplyDeleteIt's funny but Honey and I have veen working on a similar trick too! But it's been very slow going in Honey's case - I really felt that she wasn't making the connection of dropping the toys INTO the basket at all (unlike Moose) - she was just randomly opening her mouth after picking it up. So in the end, I decided to change the way I was teaching it (following advice from Flip!) and taught her first to target and place the the toys on a specific surface (higher up so closer to her head at first) and then gradually transform that into a basket on the floor. This worked really well for us - I've just posted a video of this for Tricky T-Day too if you're interested!
Oh - just remembered, I haven't answered your question about corrections yet - sorry! Will get back to you asap.
Hsin-Yi
That is so nice helping pick up the toys. Hope Parker comes home soon so he could take them all out again
ReplyDeleteBenny & Lily
Moose! You look super shiney today. Did you have a bath?
ReplyDeleteMost excellent job. I know that last one was hard to figure out, huh?
Slobbers,
Mango
Moose, you're such a smart boy... but not as smart as me... cause I have trained momster to do the toy picking up! BOL! Ok ok... I'm just a widdle bit jealous of you... just a widdle giant bit!
ReplyDelete