Friday, October 3, 2008

Raw Food Diet, Day 248- Tricks are for Kids

Hi guys!

Big Pupi's fancy shmancy folding hula hoop arrived 3 days ago and we've been learning all sorts of new tricks. It scares me a little bit with its bright colors and evil circular shape, so I keep my distance. Big Pupi, on the other hand, isn't afraid of much and he took to it right away. To both of us the hoop means treats and training and we get so excited whenever it appears!

Pupi learned to jump through the hoop in all of 2 seconds because it's so similar to the tire jump in agility. I'm still learning that approaching that spooky thing is okay. The next trick he's working on is a bit more complicated, and he's still in the beginning stages. Mom got the idea for this trick from Niamh, who is learning how to do it herself! It's the doggie hula hoop: first we run out to a hoop lying flat on the floor, get in the middle and SPIN! Neither Pupi nor I are natural spinners. In fact, I don't think we've ever spun in our lives, so mom had to introduce it to us anew. We call it "hula," and we're catching on!

Mom always says that Pupi makes her look good, because it generally takes him 5 minutes or less to pick something up. She doesn't have to do much! Well, it wasn't 2 minutes before he mastered the "go in," which is the command to get into the middle of the hoop. The spinning however, took a whole 10 minutes (gasp!) before he started to understand what mom was asking for, and he's still a bit shaky on it. To mom's surprise, I picked up the "hula" command before Pupi did just by watching his lessons! I am brilliant!! (But it's a selective genius... mainly used for feasting, hunting and breaking into garbage cans...)

Anyway, as time goes on mom will add distance to her commands so Pupi will eventually head way out to the hoop and spin a few times. Hopefully by next week we'll have another video of Pupi being the hooping master and me jumping through that rainbow monster. We'll see. It's still too scary for me now and we have lots of work to do.

Here's a little video of the trick after 15 minutes of training. We do quick 5-minute training sessions whenever mom finds a few minutes to string together. The trick is still in its parts and Pupi is yet to squish them all into one solid command. Pupi also added his own style to the spinning routine, by incorporating a nice little leap in the middle of his rotations. And for your viewing pleasure, you'll also see me - Master of the Meat - working on my hooples hula routine!

**Just a note, mom says "sorry" for the shaky camera. She was training and video taping herself. Also, you'll see mom's hand quite a bit because we train with hand signals. It's SO MUCH easier for us to learn that way!

Music by Bob Schneider

We LOVE learning our tricks and we're determined to have this down before Pupi's next therapy class in a few days. The class theme is Personal Tricks, and he plans to show them all what he's made of. Considering you are what you eat, I'd say that I'm made of feasting deliciousness. It doesn't take a classroom full of dogs to figure that one out.

Putting tasty information in my brain,

Stanislaw

PS- Big Pupi is a super crazy fast learner for almost anything... except "shake." He can weave through poles, knows the difference between Left and Right, but mom has NEVER been able to teach him how to give his paw! This is a great and simple trick for a therapy dog to know and she wants him to learn it. Any advice?

18 comments:

BenTheRotti said...

Hi Stanislaw and Big Pupi,

we LOVED that video! You are so clever. Mum has just fallen in love with you two! She clapped at delight at those last "big hulas" she looked like a performing seal the silly human!

Ben xxx

Note from the performing seal!!

Ben would look at us dumbfounded when we tried to get him to shake paws when we first brought him home from rescue. We tried many things unsuccesfully but eventually got him to understand a kind of upward flick motion with the finger which he will now give his paw for.. its hard to explain verbally but once we get this fundraiser out of the way I will try to get him doing it on film.. i guess you can try it for nothing!

Sue x

Beckett said...

You guys are very clever. I think it's lucky I'm an only child so my mom doesn't have someone to compare my speed at training with. (To be honest, I learn quickly - it's just a matter of whether I *want* to do it.)

Beckett

Mack said...

You guys totally rock!! Paris sends her love and wants me to tell you how PROUD she is of you two! (She can't come to the computer because she is busy getting her nails done).
Wow - we are super impressed!

Asta said...

Stanislaw
What a wondewfu video
Bof you and big Pupi awe so clevew..I love how you hula
good luck, and have a faboolous weekend
smoochie kisses
ASTA

Petra said...

Your video is too cute for words, guys!

Don't worry, Big Pupi will pick up the shake before long. He's too smart not to!

Coco Bean - The Princess said...

Mommy is teaching me how to shake, and she says that i am catching on fairly quiclky for being only 2 months old. She tells me to sit (which i do fairly wellwhen there are "Coco Cookies" involved) and when i am in the "sit" position, she picks up my paw. after about 13-14 times of this when she put out her hand, i would just automatically give her my paw (of course i did this while i was reaching for my cookie)

it shouldnt take lang for Pupi to pick this up since he is so fast to learn all those other wonderful tricks!

Best of luck!

Dughallmor Beagles said...

Hey guys, we Barf too......and we Blog! (but not about Barf) Great job on the blog, we'll visit often.

Niamh said...

Great video guys! Stanislaw, you will be used to the hoop in no time-it doesn't bite and I bet your mom gives you lots of cheese for going near it.

Love your jumping spin, Big Pupi, Very cute behavior. I start my spin from a stand so I don't jump. I want a treat after every spin but now Barbara is trying to get me do two spins for 1 treat. Do the math. Does this seem right?

Your friend,
Niamh

Persephone and Buster said...

Incredible!

You guys are plainly more focused and patient than us Irish terrier terrorist peasant-dawgz.

A proper Kerry Blue terrier would chew the hoop to pieces, eat the treats, and adjourn to the back yard chasing squirrels.

We're impressed!

Persephone & Buster

River said...

You guys are so smart! I have finally learned to 'give me your paw' but my mom can't really say why. She admits she's a terrible trainer. She just kept saying it, grabbing my foot and one day I started offering it to her. Well, she could admit that I'm actually smarter than she is!

love & wags,
River

Molly the Airedale said...

The both of you are super fast learners! We loved the video!
We both offer our paws and this was an easy trick for us! Mom just tapped on our leg and held out her hand and offered treats at the same time and said "paw". We were raising our paws in no time at all! Hope this helps!

Love ya lots,
Maggie and Mitch

Juno said...

Wow!!! Very impressive!! You guys are so goooooooooooood!! We love the video!! Now our mom hopes we can do some tricks...hehehe.

Thank you for your barkday message to Pinot!! You made our day!

Momo & Pinot

Lorenza said...

Hi, friends!
My mom wishes I could do tricks!
I have a bad trainer (she).
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza

Samantha ~ Holly and Zac ~ said...

You two are both doing great and look so cute, that is definately a good trick to learn.

Woofs,
Holly & Zac

Also hope you don't mind... we have included you in our blog roll list. Our person enjoys reading your blog. :-)

Tadpole said...

Stani! You are a GENIOUS! All I've managed to master in 2 years is *sit* - but I do it all the time for a treat. :-)

I'd be scared of that huge color-filled-bear-trap looking thing too. Looks rather frightening to me.

No advice for the "shake" command; I can't learn it either. My girl rescued me and thinks it's because something happened in my "past life" that makes me nervous of people touching my paws. But that's probably just an excuse because she's a bad trainer.

Charlie Daniels said...

Fantastic Hula Hoopering !! :-)

Cheers

Charlie

PeeEss: Where are the grass skirts? ;-)

Biggie-Z said...

Nice hula, boyz! My Momma just got the idea to teach me to jump through a hoop, she was all out of new tricks before and it was getting sort of boring. We were all just working on teaching me NOT to guard at times when I really wanted to guard, and it was bOOOOOring!

I an do a spin (clockwise) and twirl (counterclockwise) but I don't jump while we do it.

Your Mom seems to have the training thing down, but here's a tip for "shake" - my Momma calls it "paw" and she holds her hand down really low and opens and closes her fist as the hand signal. I think she maybe tried it while I was lying down first, and she'd hold her hand and pick up my paw from underneath, and then click and treat. It wasn't that easy for me, either, because my humans taught me never to put my paws on things because I'm too big to jump on people and I'm not allowed on furniture.
Is Pupi comfortable just holding hands? Before we did "shake" or "paw" I was very comfortable with my humans holding my paws.

Good luck!
Biggie

Amber-Mae said...

Heya guys!

Wow! Very nice trick! I enjoyed watching you both performing in the video.

Oooh, I know therapy dogs will need to learn many types of tricks especially like shaking paws ofcourse, say 'Hello' either by barking or by putting its head on the patients lap or the side of the bed. Pupi can also learn to cross his paws & one more very interesting trick I think patients would love to see is him catching rings that are being thrown to him. The patient will have to throw rings & Pupi will just have to sit there in front of them while the rings go thru his head. I know many patients will enjoy this & it's very entertaining to watch & it will certainly put smiles in their faces!!!

Here are some Amber Tips on how to learn the 'Shake' trick easily:

1st Step: Do a test on which paw he uses the most. This is important becoz some dogs are left handed while others are right handed just like the hoomans. So the dog must be comfortable when asked to give a paw. Just taunt Pupi with a treat on the floor. See which paw sticks out 1st. If he used the left paw, then train him the 'shake' trick using the left paw. If he used the right one, then train him that trick using the right paw. Then now we can get started!

2nd Step: Put him in a sit position. Pick up his paw whilst saying "Shake", let go, praise immediately & pop a treat in his mouth. Just hold up his paw for a second long & then release. Do this for about 5 repetitions & take a break.

3rd Step: Do the same thing again like in Step 2. Later, instead of picking up his paw, tickle the back part of his paw. He will lift his paw when doing this. The moment he does, say "Shake", praise & reward. 5 repetitions, take a break.

4th Step: By this time, he should have gotten it already but maybe still not very sure. Always guide him if he makes a mistake. Put your hand out & ask him to "Shake". The moment he lifts his paw, praise & reward. Doesn't matter if he doesn't put his paw on your hand yet, just as long as he's got the idea that he's supposed to lift his paw up when you say "Shake".

Later, maybe after a few minutes or maybe after a day, it will click in his mind. I remember I mastered it after 10 minutes of training. I was 3 months then...It's not a hard trick to learn & all doggies will be able to get it after a few minutes.

Good luck to you & if you need any more tips or help, just ask any of us! We're always here to help. Wheeee!!!

Butt wiggles,
Solid Gold Dancer

Pee/s: Check out mah new post!