Spin Pepper Spin! (Pic Bonus!)

[PeppersMama]

So im trying to teach pepper to “spin”. Either im not doing it right, or hes not getting it. Usually i take his treat, and then i put it in front of his face and tell him to spin while i make him spin by making him follow the treat in a circle. but he will only do it if theres a treat in my hand. he wont do it if i dont have the treat. i have been trying to teach him this for like 5 days lol. everytime he gets a treat i try to do this, and i sat down for a full half hour with pellets as treats doing this over and over (im sure he got dizzy! lol!)

 

Any tips? Is he just not really trainable? maybe hes TOOsmart? lol! am i just being impatient?

 

1) No I will not come down from here!

2) Nope Still not coming down!

3) What? You have a treat? okay maybe i will come down!

 

 

 

[bunnytowne]

Awe thats cute those pics  heheeha.    The spin.   Well I haven’t had much luck either.  Cotton gives up thinking i am teasing him.

[BinkyBunny]

The very moment he makes the slightest move in the right direction, you give him a treat and make a click noise at the same time. And then once he gets the “move in the right direction” then you can slowly expand it. But try to reward him first for the baby steps and the make the rewards farther apart so that he eventually makes a full circle to get the treat. Does that make sense. But if you associate a click noise with the treat, he will understand that the click means he’s done the right thing and the treat is the reward for that.
Hope that makes sense.

[Beka27]

rather than using the treat you could train with a target. you move the target and that is what he needs to interact with. i made one by taking a pair of chinese restaurant chopsticks (still connected at the end) and pushing it thru the holes in one of those little jingle cat balls.

[PeppersMama]

BB: yes thanks that makes a lot of sense! and its not so much for him to try to understand at once so maybe this will help!
Beka: I will try this too, so that way hes not getting so many extra pellets and treats! lol hes already getting a bit chubby!

Thanks guys

[Beka27]

well, you use the treat in conjunction with the target. if he touches the target, you click and he gets a treat. if he ignores the target, nothing happens. if you spin the target and he follows, click as he is doing it and then immediately give a treat. the goal is that eventually you can phase out the target and just say the word.

this is helpful with shy bunnies.  you can put the target a few feet away from you and have the same effect as if he were coming up to you and doing it.

[Kokaneeandkahlua]

Nice idea on making a target Beka!!

Keep us posted on the spin! I’m still working on it with Rupert too!

[jerseygirl]

Hey Pepper! What shampoo do you use? Your hair is oh-so-shiny!

[(dig)x(me)x(now)]

That is one gorgeous bun!

Just be persistent with the training and he’ll probably get it eventually. Not bad for only 5 days! Frankie doesn’t like to do it if he knows I don’t have a treat, either! Haha. Sneaky buns.

[BinkyBunny]

Yes, the target stick is what I trained with in my clicker-training class. And like Beka’s, they were all home-made. We used long wood sticks, with a little cat ball (with bell). It made all the difference because the bell catches their attention and helps you move them gradually in the direction.

[BunnyLiz]

O what fun it would be if they would spin for a treat on a regular bases! im gonna try it lol

[PeppersMama]

thankyou everyone! this helps alot!

[Cassi&Charlie]

Hah! I have purchased my catball, I have a stick & soon I will have the free time!
Bunnyliz I agree, if they spun on command for treats, my buns would be soo overweight because how can such cuteness be resisted?

[Rachel]

Hi ther, i’ve trained Benny by using my hand as the target.

First i got benny to come and touch my hand. He then learnt to follow the hand. Eventualy benny learnt to turn in a circle when i gave him the hand signal.

Here is a link to a video of him doing his trick: Bennny’s tricks

[PeppersMama]

that is sooo cute catray!! i hope i can get pepper to do that with some patience! I forgot to order the clicker with my cottontail cottage and willowrings i ordered yesterday! i wish i wouldnt have forgotten!

[Cassi&Charlie]

Haha, I oove it how Benny grabs the ball half way through the circle, just in case…is that a clicker youhave? Where did you get it…woden? I really have to go to Woden.

[Rachel]

I got the clickers from ebay.

[BinkyBunny]

Wow, great training!! Smart Bunny!

Peppersmama – We’re shipping out your order on Monday, so we can add that to your order if you want. I’ll email you about it.

[jerseygirl]

BB, you are on the ball! That’s what I call above and beyond customer service!

Catray, Benny is so clever and he seems so eager to do the tricks. What a great intro to your bunny! Welcome to BB!

[Moonlight_Wolf]

I taught Fern to spin doing what you did PeppersMama, except after a few days I made it so I would put my hand with the treat behind fern, she would look for it and do a semicircle, find where it was, and when she was done with her semicircle I would bring the treat back to the original point (still in my hand). eventually she learnt that the treat would always go behind her then back to original place. So I would just hold treat behind her, she would semicircle and then I would bring treat back to original point. I did this for a couple of days then I did it without the treat in my hand. Then soon enough Fern would spin when I just said spin!

By the way catray I love your accent, it reminds me of my mom’s accent, she has an accent similar to yours.

[PeppersMama]

Oh wow BB! That would be great!!! Thankyou!

Moonlight: i will definately try this out too, thank!

With all these suggestions hes gotta get it sometime!

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