More info here: http://stalecheerios.com/blog/training-tips/clicker-training-step-1-teach-food-delivery/ The first step of clicker training is to teach the a…
So you first put your rats in some kind of ‘closed’ area to get used to the
click? Because if I let my rats roam freely around they just go exploring
and they lose all their interest in me, even if I offer food!
@CreekValleyCritters Yes, I really like her channel. We’ve chatted some via
e-mail as well. With the rat, a lot of it was learning to learn (for her)
and learning to be a better teacher (for me). Now that she’s figured out
the game and learned some behaviors her attention and focus is much better.
Still, though, she definitely lets me know when my training skills aren’t
up to par!! We’ve been working on fetch recently, which has turned out to
be a lot harder than I though it would be. ~Mary
@CreekValleyCritters Thanks!! I think she’s a nice looking rat too. 🙂 She
has been a challenge to train because she is so high energy and super
curious. If I don’t do a good enough job explaining things and setting her
up for success, she gets frustrated or bored and leaves to go find better
ways of entertaining herself. 🙂 ~Mary
@snappydee99 Hi Dee, Sorry for the delayed reply. I am using chocolate rice
krispies, broken in half. I tried a handful of different foods and found
these worked best. (One of my professors actually recommended using them!)
They are not messy, fairly easy to hold, and easy for the rat to eat
quickly. As well, the rats seem to love the taste!
@kmsampare My all time favorite clickers are the starmark clickers.
However, the plastic box clickers work great too. Most pet stores (Petco,
Petsmart, etc.) sell clickers for a dollar or two. ~Mary
@VTECsqznN2O Yes, I think we’re going to have fun now. We had a bit of
difficulty getting started, but I’ve figured out a lot about how to arrange
the environment so that she can focus and learn.
@cheerioTrainer You will find the same thing with your mice. The hardest
thing is to get their attention. You have to find the right time and place.
Once you have them focused they learn amazingly fast, but their attention
span is short, depending on the mouse, you only have 5 to 10 minutes to
work with them before they loose interest. I suspect you have checked out
‘MouseAgility’s’ channel, she is amazing and manages to train her mice to
increase their focus……..
@cheerioTrainer My mice were the same. At first they had no idea what this
was all about but then suddenly a little light bulb seemed to go on in
their minds and they understood what this ‘game’ was all about. After that
focus and learning was much, much better and they really seemed to enjoy
training time.
Dorien Schouppe
So you first put your rats in some kind of ‘closed’ area to get used to the
click? Because if I let my rats roam freely around they just go exploring
and they lose all their interest in me, even if I offer food!
cheerioTrainer
@CreekValleyCritters I’ll have to try cashew for the rats and mice. Thanks
for the suggestion! ~Mary
kaley sampare
What kind of clicker do you use?
cheerioTrainer
@CreekValleyCritters Yes, I really like her channel. We’ve chatted some via
e-mail as well. With the rat, a lot of it was learning to learn (for her)
and learning to be a better teacher (for me). Now that she’s figured out
the game and learned some behaviors her attention and focus is much better.
Still, though, she definitely lets me know when my training skills aren’t
up to par!! We’ve been working on fetch recently, which has turned out to
be a lot harder than I though it would be. ~Mary
VTECsqznN2O
oooOoooo the possiblities are endless with rats! I am excited for you! 🙂
CreekValleyCritters
What a beautiful rat 🙂
cheerioTrainer
@CreekValleyCritters Thanks!! I think she’s a nice looking rat too. 🙂 She
has been a challenge to train because she is so high energy and super
curious. If I don’t do a good enough job explaining things and setting her
up for success, she gets frustrated or bored and leaves to go find better
ways of entertaining herself. 🙂 ~Mary
cheerioTrainer
@snappydee99 Hi Dee, Sorry for the delayed reply. I am using chocolate rice
krispies, broken in half. I tried a handful of different foods and found
these worked best. (One of my professors actually recommended using them!)
They are not messy, fairly easy to hold, and easy for the rat to eat
quickly. As well, the rats seem to love the taste!
snappydee99
what do you use as treats? Dee
cheerioTrainer
@kmsampare My all time favorite clickers are the starmark clickers.
However, the plastic box clickers work great too. Most pet stores (Petco,
Petsmart, etc.) sell clickers for a dollar or two. ~Mary
cheerioTrainer
@ACDmom1 Thanks! I think she’s pretty good looking, but I’m a bit biased.
🙂 And thank you again for your training suggestions.
cheerioTrainer
@VTECsqznN2O Yes, I think we’re going to have fun now. We had a bit of
difficulty getting started, but I’ve figured out a lot about how to arrange
the environment so that she can focus and learn.
Rebecca Lynch
Beautiful rat and I’m glad you’re making progress! Please keep me posted!
CreekValleyCritters
@cheerioTrainer You will find the same thing with your mice. The hardest
thing is to get their attention. You have to find the right time and place.
Once you have them focused they learn amazingly fast, but their attention
span is short, depending on the mouse, you only have 5 to 10 minutes to
work with them before they loose interest. I suspect you have checked out
‘MouseAgility’s’ channel, she is amazing and manages to train her mice to
increase their focus……..
CreekValleyCritters
@cheerioTrainer My mice were the same. At first they had no idea what this
was all about but then suddenly a little light bulb seemed to go on in
their minds and they understood what this ‘game’ was all about. After that
focus and learning was much, much better and they really seemed to enjoy
training time.
CreekValleyCritters
I find my mice will do anything for a little bit of cashew nut………