Video - Mabel Spinning on Request & Some Health Updates

Mabel can spin on request.  She's so cute.

Check her out.

(Note:  Mabel is a rat with the rex mutation which gives her curly whiskers and fur, but she also has hair loss.  Her fur grows in and then, falls out in patches.)

By the way, I'd been working with her on charging the clicker for several days.  And, unfortunately, she had a lung exacerbation, so she took a break from training for a few days.  So, the first part of the video is from her first session after she returned to training, and the next day, she was just an extremely bright pupil and learned the spin, which is what you see in the second part of the video.


Also, Mabel saw her doctor yesterday.  The doctor was thrilled that she's gained 50 grams since her pneumonia, but she still has lung issues, so she's going to be on theophylline for the rest of her life which reallybums me out.  But, we just will have to deal with it.  At least, she likes the taste of theophylline.

And, on the subject of medicating rats, Dean has just been started on Bactrim for a secondary infection of contact dermatitis.  And, Skip Lee was thrilled to report (Skip is just amazing at medicating rats, so he gets to do all of it  --grins-- )  that Dean avidly reached for the syringe when he clicked, and Dean drank all of his Bactrim quick as can be.  A  couple of weeks ago, I'd done a few clicker training sessions with him.  This is a wonderful consequence of clicker training, easy medication administration.

Now, I need to figure out what Dean is allergic to.  Hopefully, it was a one time issue.  My rats are all on a gluten free diet because of Rose's sensitivity, so it's not wheat.

Does anyone know what the most prevalent rat allergies are other than wheat?

The Doctor Undergoes Clicker Indoctrination, er, Training

Here is a short video of The Doctor's clicker training.

How I Ended Up Using a Chocolate Filled Syringe for Rat Training

I obtained the idea for using a syringe for rat training from this
video

When you watch the video,the first thing you will hear is a high-pitched beeping sound. This is actually the sound of the clicker the trainer is using. My rats would be shivering in fear with such a loud bleep, but it makes me wonder if using my iPhone to beep might not be a good option as a clicker.




Above picture is from www.apopo.org and depicts baby African Giant Pouched Rats being socialized.

The video is from a wonderful organization, APOPO aka Hero Rats. They use African Giant Pouched Rats for mine detection and tuberculosis detection. Apparently, they are working on using rats for finding human victims of disasters (CameRats).

My rats are Rattus Norwegicus (Norway Rats) and, of course, are much smaller and sadly, mine have a shorter life span. But, my little guys should definitely be able to learn a few tricks, if their big cousins can learn how to find a mine and save lives.


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MABS Is Charged to the Clicker!!!!!

Mabel figured it out. She is now distinctly looking for her chocolate reward when she hears a click. I am so proud of her.

So, after her training this morning, I gave her a really big test by having Slytail give her the commands (working on generalization). In the above photo, Slytail is rewarding her for coming when called. Slytail called her and scratched the comforter and gave her the "kissy sound" (she ran for the scratched spot) then he clicked and she beelined for the reward.

My next step will be attempting to shape a spin.

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Clicker Training Progress Report

I think Mabel is starting to understand that she's gets chocolate when she hears a click.

It seems that my clickers are too loud as Mabel and Dean were shivering whenever they heard the click, so I've switched to just making a click with my mouth. However, my timing is lousy with my mouth clicks. I wish there was a real soft clicker.

Mabel has a good "come", so I'm thinking of pairing that with the click and a treat, and then, to teach her to spin on command.

Mabel Update- If you've read my other posts, you may know that Mabel recently had pneumonia which almost took her life. Now, she's doing awesome as you can see in her above picture.

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Reattempting Clicker Training

I stumbled across this blog, and it has motivated me to restart clicker training.

Here's Doctor getting his chocolate fix during training.




In my previous clicker training attempt, I'd found that the syringe worked for providing a very small reward. I'd struggled with the food reward for such a long time that it essentially turned me off clicker training. For awhile, I'd use a chocolate bar with Patches until she figured out how to bite big pieces. Then, it would take minutes for her to finish it, and just don't even think about taking chocolate from a rat. Anyways, waiting for a rat to finish their treat just ruins training.

So, I'm using Hershey's chocolate sauce in a syringe and just giving them a drip of it. Ok, it's not the healthiest, but it's BIG on the motivation.

Also, rats are really really smart. Training them is so similar to when I trained my Australian Cattle Dog, Throck. Throck, once he figured something out, would start testing it. This meant I had to really pay attention, because I may only get one perfect response, and then, he would start modifying his response.

I'm also used to using a lot of visual cues. Hmmm. Has anyone heard the nursery rhyme, Three Blind Mice? Well, they ain't kidding. Rats, also, are essentially blind.

My big take home message from my previous rat clicker training experience is that the individual making mistakes is always me. So, it can be very frustrating, but I'm going to try again. This time, I will try to "Be in the moment" and really listen to the rats (not watch, listen).

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