Newton's Cradle

caninehorizons

Experienced Member
Several years ago, I taught my Standard Poodle Sydney to work a Newton's Cradle. I'm now starting to teach it to my 3-year-old. Joey's nose is so much bigger than Sydney's he has trouble getting the ball rather than the string . . . but this is only his second lesson. This is a fairly easy trick to teach . . . mainly, the dog has to know to hold (anything) and release on cue (or a click) and has to be aware of the weight of the cradle so s/he doesn't pull it off the desk. Video at YouTube:
 

running_dog

Honored Member
Wow that is really good! What amazingly delicate control your dogs have! Love it.

I think Zac could learn this trick but Gus... well Gus has such a cavernous maw that he often loses things in there, he'll often find a lost treat in his jowls a few minutes after I gave it to him! Although he is pretty sophisticated about spitting food out that he thinks is substandard so maybe he could learn after all... another one for the wish list!

Thanks!

By the way I've never seen your dogs before and they are gorgeous. Are they both poodles? If so I didn't know poodles come in mixed colours, Joey's really striking.
 

kassidybc

Experienced Member
That's really cool! Your dogs are so delicate with it! My dog doesn't like the feeling of metal in her mouth, so she probably wouldn't be able to learn this, but that's really impressive! Great idea!
 

caninehorizons

Experienced Member
Wow that is really good! What amazingly delicate control your dogs have! Love it.

I think Zac could learn this trick but Gus... well Gus has such a cavernous maw that he often loses things in there, he'll often find a lost treat in his jowls a few minutes after I gave it to him! Although he is pretty sophisticated about spitting food out that he thinks is substandard so maybe he could learn after all... another one for the wish list!

Thanks!

By the way I've never seen your dogs before and they are gorgeous. Are they both poodles? If so I didn't know poodles come in mixed colours, Joey's really striking.
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LOL - Gus sounds like a character! The trick isn't difficult to teach - so long as the dog will take and hold any type of item and is not so boisterous that they yank the light-weight cradle off the desk. Plus, the dog's mouth has to be dexterous enough to get hold of the tiny ball. This should be a simple trick for a small dog.

Thanks for you kind comments. Yes, all the parti-coloreds in my videos are Standard Poodles. (YouTube Channel: Canine Horizons) The parti was one of the original color patterns in Poodles and has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in since 2000.
 

caninehorizons

Experienced Member
Great trick, I would never have thought of that.:)
Ahh I can see my spaz Piper grab the whole thing and run around the house like the crazy girl she is.

Oh and I would love to see some pictures of your dogs.
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Thanks! That's so nice of you!

These are the dogs that have been in most of the movies we've made. Movies that incorporate the training I've done with them. Scotty (3), Joey (3), Jyah (deceased), Sydney (13)
1-1-13 just groomed x.jpg
We have two websites plus a YouTube channel (Canine Horizons) www.caninehorizons.com and www2.caninehorizons.com.

I haven't been on the dogtrickacademy forum for several years and look forward to seeing other people's videos and ideas.
 

southerngirl

Honored Member
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Thanks! That's so nice of you!

These are the dogs that have been in most of the movies we've made. Movies that incorporate the training I've done with them. Scotty (3), Joey (3), Jyah (deceased), Sydney (13)
View attachment 3093 We have two websites plus a YouTube channel (Canine Horizons) www.caninehorizons.com and www2.caninehorizons.com.

I haven't been on the dogtrickacademy forum for several years and look forward to seeing other people's videos and ideas.
They are all so beautiful. I love all of there coloring, I'm used to seeing solid colored poodles.
I'll go chick out your websites and Youtube channel.:)
 

running_dog

Honored Member
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Thanks for you kind comments. Yes, all the parti-coloreds in my videos are Standard Poodles. (YouTube Channel: Canine Horizons) The parti was one of the original color patterns in Poodles and has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in since 2000.
I love your parti-colored poodles!

One of my dog walking friends has a brown standard poodle so I am kind of interested in them, you can see Harvey with me in this video, he's a bit obsessive and lacks self control:
 

running_dog

Honored Member
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I enjoyed the video - nice training!
Thanks, I actually hate watching me training on videos because I can always see things I wish I'd done differently, it's a good job dogs are so forgiving of mistakes!

Have you ever tried anything like the trick I outlined at the end of this thread? I'm convinced it is possible but maybe not with my dog. And sorry I've derailed your Newton's cradle thread O_o, I'm afraid derails are a bad habit of mine.
 

JazzyandVeronica

Honored Member
Oh my gosh! I just want to say I love your dogs and the training you do with them is amazing. I've scoured your website when I was learning about B&T and working with teaching my dog some body parts and I was very, very impressed...and I wish I had something I could ask you to sign! :X3:
 

caninehorizons

Experienced Member
Thanks, I actually hate watching me training on videos because I can always see things I wish I'd done differently, it's a good job dogs are so forgiving of mistakes!

Have you ever tried anything like the trick I outlined at the end of this thread? I'm convinced it is possible but maybe not with my dog. And sorry I've derailed your Newton's cradle thread O_o, I'm afraid derails are a bad habit of mine.
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I'm sadly ignorant in using social media - do you mean by "end of this thread" the "execute previous list of behaviors" cue? Is what your talking about any different than, say, "mail a letter" where the dog does an entire sequence on one cue (which, when trained, was taught using different cues for each step)? Or, do you mean that the trainer gives the dog a list of known cues not previously linked, say "execute", and then expect the dog to perform them in order?
 

caninehorizons

Experienced Member
Oh my gosh! I just want to say I love your dogs and the training you do with them is amazing. I've scoured your website when I was learning about B&T and working with teaching my dog some body parts and I was very, very impressed...and I wish I had something I could ask you to sign! :X3:
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Thank you for such kind comments!! That's so nice of you! I would love to see videos of how you have used body targeting. It worked worderfully with Jyah and Sydney. I'm now teaching body targets to Joey and Scotty (both three) who have entirely different personalities than their predecessors. It'll be interesting to see it they respond as well.

Love Jazzy's pink coat and booties!
 

running_dog

Honored Member
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I'm sadly ignorant in using social media - do you mean by "end of this thread" the "execute previous list of behaviors" cue? Is what your talking about any different than, say, "mail a letter" where the dog does an entire sequence on one cue (which, when trained, was taught using different cues for each step)? Or, do you mean that the trainer gives the dog a list of known cues not previously linked, say "execute", and then expect the dog to perform them in order?
I am sorry I could probably have explained better. If you click these words they are linked to a discussion of your second suggestion of what I might mean : the trainer gives the dog a list of known cues not previously linked, say "execute", and then expect the dog to perform them in order.
 

caninehorizons

Experienced Member
I am sorry I could probably have explained better. If you click these words they are linked to a discussion of your second suggestion of what I might mean : the trainer gives the dog a list of known cues not previously linked, say "execute", and then expect the dog to perform them in order.
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I watched the video . . . a talented dog and a skilled trainer. In this sequence, it appears to me that the trainer is using distraction techniques/dialog (like an illusionist) to make his audience see things he wants them to believe. The dog could be trained to go around people/objects (that are there) and sent off by the trainer to do these in a pre-ordained order upon the word "execute". The trainer's body position could also be giving the dog cues as the sequence is in progress. However, I do believe that some dogs are capable of doing a sequence of known cues not previously linked.
 

JazzyandVeronica

Honored Member
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Thank you for such kind comments!! That's so nice of you! I would love to see videos of how you have used body targeting. It worked worderfully with Jyah and Sydney. I'm now teaching body targets to Joey and Scotty (both three) who have entirely different personalities than their predecessors. It'll be interesting to see it they respond as well.

Love Jazzy's pink coat and booties!

Well, actually I'm Jazzy :X3:, the dog is Veronica-Lynn :p:D

I'm new to the whole training thing; Veronica being the first dog I've done more with than just basic manners.

Here's a video of us learning some of our body parts: I was all over your site and I was also very lucky to have an amazing B&T trainer that I met over the internet willing to take me under her wing and walk me through allot of stuff.

Here's an example of our trying to use targeting to teach a trick (again I'm just learning so I'm sure it's full of mistakes...but it's a work in progress!)

You're one of my training heroes, I can't believe I'm talking to you! :cool:
 

caninehorizons

Experienced Member
Well, actually I'm Jazzy :X3:, the dog is Veronica-Lynn :p:D

I'm new to the whole training thing; Veronica being the first dog I've done more with than just basic manners.

Here's a video of us learning some of our body parts: I was all over your site and I was also very lucky to have an amazing B&T trainer that I met over the internet willing to take me under her wing and walk me through allot of stuff.

Here's an example of our trying to use targeting to teach a trick (again I'm just learning so I'm sure it's full of mistakes...but it's a work in progress!)

You're one of my training heroes, I can't believe I'm talking to you! :cool:
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Hey Jazzy! WOW! I absolutely loved your videos! I'm so impressed by how well you laid the framework so that Veronica never had to guess what you wanted but rather understood what was required at each step in the sequence to the ultimate goal. You "explained" it to her with targets that she already knew. Brilliant job!

When there's an option, I so much prefer "explaining" to my dogs (by using pre-trained targets) each step of the process rather than rewarding him/her for closer and closer approximations of a goal behavior. To me, it's like putting out 12 blocks - each a different color - and telling a person to "get me the one I want" and only rewarding the person when they got near the chosen block. It's so much easier to say "get me the blue one" - having originally taught the person the names of colors. :)

Really nice job with the video and presentation too!
(Sorry about the name mixup but with a 50/50 chance of getting Veronica's name right, I thought Jazzy was a good guess. :rolleyes: )
 

JazzyandVeronica

Honored Member
Thank you so much CH - It means so much coming from you :X3: But honestly I think I got lucky in plotting that trick out! Most others I struggle so much with, especially with issues of motivation and reinforcement. I only recently realized that I assume V. knows more complicated behavior chains before she does, and I've only recently accepted that I have to respect her aversion towards repetition.

But I understand and agree with your point about explaining - it works much better for V. She is not a dog that throws out behaviors...she gets easily frustrated if she isn't getting something, I'm not really all that skilled in shaping.

Thank you for the encouragement, it's always a work in progress!! I really love the movies you make with your dogs!
 
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