From the time I added new words (Coffee, Help and hike), Maizy has seemed a bit overwhelmed and I wonder if she'll ever get it. As a teacher, I know that learning is never linear... just some upward line. That line has a lot of peaks and valleys. But I swear, we have more valleys than peaks!
If you are following online on my data keeping, you probably wonder if I remember to write it all down or just skip days. Truth be told, I do NOT! She has days on end with no words! It's so frustrating.
I know Maizy is smart. She's almost "Mabel-smart" (hey, Mabel could triangulate math!). She takes to things so quickly and I guess that makes this journey all the more frustrating.
I'm sticking to the advice of waiting a week or so before adding new buttons, even if she is not interacting with them. Keep modeling - I'm so freaking tired of announcing my exits and dining habits. Keep target training.
I thought I had an original idea the other night. Maizy loves to watch tv. I've never had a dog give a flip about television. The bad part is: There cannot be a dog on tv... Maizy barks her freaking head off. Jeez, she's loud for a little dog! But I put Bunny, Bastian & Stella videos (google those names with "talking dog" if you want to be amazed!) on tv while I was getting ready for bed.
After one of our videos played on accident, Maizy was scream barking at herself! I was kinda dreading what was next. To my surprise, she watched intently!!! The next day, we had a record breaking FIVE button presses! Turns out, watching other dogs interact with their buttons is a recommended training technique. I'm not so smart after all!
Since that day, we've had one a day and NONE today... and yes, we got new buttons yesterday! We are up to 12 now. So I guess today's regression is expected. But is sure is disheartening to deal with.
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4 comments:
that was interesting to read how you used the tv to learn... we have a tv-owl too, but he love only b&w movies ;O)
We're sure Maizy will learn more buttons and be using them more soon. We went back and read that amazing and scary story about Mabel and her math skills.
I guess cats wouldn't do as well because they would lack motivation, and that wolves wouldn't do as well for the same reason. I know of experiments in which wolves failed miserably at taking and understanding human direction because they're not wired to communicate with humans or to even value human approval.
How old is Maizy, by the way? Seems like she must be getting up in years by now.
Hey Snowy, happy to see you here! You would be surprised by some of the cats that "talk" via buttons! They are way more talented than Maizy!
Maizy is a Christmas baby (26th) and is 4 1/2.
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