Over the last month or so I have started to play a game with our little dog. She loves her couple of treats a day. Just to make the moment last a little longer for her, and to give her something to work for, I chop them in four and play 'which hand is it in' with her.
To begin with, she got it right every time, and was quite rough pawing at my hands. A month on this has changed. She knows I am going to give her treats. Sometimes a treat in both hands, sometimes just one.
What has happened over the last week is interesting. She continually chooses the 'wrong' hand. Usually up to three times. She knows the treat is in the other hand, but keeps asking for the 'empty' hand!
This is deferred pleasure, and takes a lot of 'wont' power to execute! This is why we could never train our dog with treats. It is a fun game. I wonder when she will get to 4-5 asks of the 'wrong' hand!
At first I thought she was just getting it wrong. Very soon I realised she was getting it 'right' for herself.
She likes the game to last longer.
She is nearly fourteen years old, so don't say an old dog can't learn new 'tricks'.
... She doesn't like it when I have a treat in both hands! The deferred pleasure doesn't work! She decides for a few moments which hand to choose, then goes back to playing the 'I know it's in the other hand so I will wait for it game'.
To begin with, she got it right every time, and was quite rough pawing at my hands. A month on this has changed. She knows I am going to give her treats. Sometimes a treat in both hands, sometimes just one.
What has happened over the last week is interesting. She continually chooses the 'wrong' hand. Usually up to three times. She knows the treat is in the other hand, but keeps asking for the 'empty' hand!
This is deferred pleasure, and takes a lot of 'wont' power to execute! This is why we could never train our dog with treats. It is a fun game. I wonder when she will get to 4-5 asks of the 'wrong' hand!
At first I thought she was just getting it wrong. Very soon I realised she was getting it 'right' for herself.
She likes the game to last longer.
She is nearly fourteen years old, so don't say an old dog can't learn new 'tricks'.
... She doesn't like it when I have a treat in both hands! The deferred pleasure doesn't work! She decides for a few moments which hand to choose, then goes back to playing the 'I know it's in the other hand so I will wait for it game'.
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