Last night, we went to practise with the ‘Serious Freestyle People’, a.k.a. the Paws 2 Music club who meet up every Thursday night at the NZKC Auckland Exhibition Centre in Ardmore, South Auckland.
We don’t usually go because it takes an hour to drive there and an hour to drive back…and I can only concentrate for 10mins max so my human thinks it’s silly to drive so far just for 10 minutes of training! 
So in the beginning, we just train at home or in parks nearby until I have learnt all my moves and know my routine pretty well – but with the competition getting near, Hsin-Yi thought it was time we joined back in, to try out my routine in a proper big ring…
I like going because I always get lots of attention and cuddles from everybody…
…and I get to meet up with all my dancing friends…
Brody the 'Sibebord' (Siberian Husky X Border Collie) - isn't he a beautiful, unusual colour?
...the Airedale
Baxter the Pomeranian
Moss - NZ Freestyle Champion 2007 (and another 'Sibebord'!)
Finnigan the Sheltie
...the Standard Poodle
Bodie the Border Terrier
...and of course, ME!
Well, except I was in for a rude shock…Hsin-Yi said that now that we are no longer in Elementary class, we will have to do our routine without any treats.
What? (GASP!) No food rewards? NO WAY!
I thought she was just joking but no…after about 5 moves into the routine, she still hadn’t given me a single crumb yet!
Well! This was just Not On!
So I went on strike – just stopped and stood there, looking into space…hah! See if she likes that!
Poor human, she was still dancing away like mad by herself, kicking her legs like a demented Can-Can dancer…she looked so stupid!
Well, after a bit, I took pity on her and did a couple more moves…you know, maybe she would have gotten the idea after my first strike…
But what? No?!
She STILL didn’t give me any treats! Well, I put the brakes on again!!
By now, I could see my human was getting desperate – she was giving me lots of Secret Scary Faces while still pretending to be nice by talking to me in a squeaky voice…
Hmm…I may be dopey but I’m not totally stupid – and just to show my extreme displeasure, I jumped up at the end of the routine and gave her a good smack across the head! There!
(you can check out my handiwork in the video…what do you think? Do you think she got the message? )
She was really upset with me and pointed at all those other dogs there spinning and darting around like crazy and said that’s what I should be like…WITHOUT treats…
Gosh, I think she has finally succumbed to Dotty Old Hen syndrome, like Mango‘s human…has she really lost it??
I mean, come on! They’re probably barely even dog – they’re like that ‘Terminator’ thing in the TV box…I’ll bet if you peeled away their fur, you’d only see bits of machine inside…!
So am now not in her good books…anyway, who cares. There’s a nice patch of sunlight in the living room…am off to sleep in that…
* Note from Hsin-Yi:
AAAAaaarrrggghhh! I give up!! If anyone has any suggestions on how to convince Honey to work without food rewards, I’ll be eternally grateful!! 
Anyway, it’s too late for the competition now – am not going to stress about it – will just have to go in there and make the best of it!!
I’ve decided not to do anymore training before competition (nothing we do can save us now anyway!! ) – think we both need a break! Off to the beach this afternoon!
Edited to add:
Thank you SO much everyone for all your tips and suggestions!! They’re great – keep ‘em coming! – and I can’t wait to try them out when the competition is over (and after Honey has had a few weeks’ break!).
I hope everyone isn’t getting the wrong impression that I’m beating Honey up for not “performing” without treats! I DO give lots and lots of praise even if I don’t use food treats (you may not be able to hear this in the video coz of the music!) and I CAN get Honey to do individual tricks & moves without treats – we’re not completely reliant on treats and once she learns a trick, I usually fade the treats and only reward by praise…
The problem is holding her attention for the entire 2 mins of the routine when she is in the big ring, with all the distractions around her, and getting her to respond quickly on cue, which is so important in Freestyle coz you have to follow a choreography and be “in time” with the music – it’s no good if your dog does a Spin or a Bow 5 seconds late, when that part of the music has already passed! So for that situation, it really helps to have a treat to keep her focused and responding quickly.
What I can’t understand is that I can do Obedience with Honey no problem without treats – she can Heel beautifully and do Stays, Downs, Sits & Instant Drops in all sorts of challenging situations – even in the dog park with lots of her friends milling around…I would have thought THAT would be a much more distracting environment where I would need treats more but I have no problems getting her to respond to any basic Obedience command instantly and being rewarded only with praise. I just don’t understand – if she can do challenging Obedience without treats, why can’t she do tricks without treats??
WOW!
Those Sibords are pawesome!
BTW, this Siberian don't do those things!
I have no suggestions to help other than give Honey the treats!
Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
PeeEssWoo: I've got your bakhk girlfriend!
You did just fine. I do not understand the motivation of those strange doggies who will exert so much energy without foodables. I cannot blame you for smacking your mom in the head. That's what mine does to me when I am being a doofus.
I cannot believe she gave you secret scary face. You must have been looking around for somebody to rescue you from scary no food mom!
I still think it was worth the trip. You got a nice car ride and lots of love from the other people.
Slobbers,
Mango
Honey, you really are treat motivated, aren't you! Perhaps that was not the best of times to try to wean you off them. You're lucky your human didn't make you walk home alone, though.
Aww Honey! It really didn't look that bad though, she was still with you and offering behaviors!
I am really struggling with Lance performing in the obedience and rally ring without treats too. At class or anywhere (even new places) Lance has amazing attention and will work for even a little bit of treats. But in the ring, his brain is just gone if I can't start out rewarding eye contact and such. What we have been doing is trying to go to as much fun matches as possible (which is unfortunately not that many) and bring the really really really good treats (his canned cat food). What we do is do a short heeling pattern, then run out of the ring to get cat food. Then repeat. Eventually we will backchain the obedience class- do the last exercise, then run out get treat. then do the 2 end exercises, run out, get treats, the 3 last and so forth.
So far I think it's been helping, but we've only had one real trial since we started. We will not have to wait till August when the trials start up again!
Hi!
The video is great, Honey did fine… they all have 'off' days!
Good job finding my website as well, thanks for leaving a comment… if you wouldnt mind emailing me Brody's routine that would be great
email: kelly_bellynz@hotmail.com, or k.daniel@gc.ac.nz (work).
Thanks,
Kelly & Brody
Oh Honey, your human obviously thinks you are a Big Girl now, and Big Girls can't always have treats. I understand how frustrating it is for you though. What are those other doggies thinking of doing their routines without treats? Doggies should all sick together.
I will keep my fingers crossed for you for the competition. I really wish we could watch you, but maybe another time. Good luck, I am sure you will shine (and Hsin-Yi will have an extra special treat at the end)
Ok, I was puzzled at first but now I am on to her… She was just acting like she did not know how to do anything so the competition would get complacent! You know what they say too, 'bad dress rehearsal means a good show'. I of course have no suggestions since I am no expert, maybe it has just been too fast for her. It is a very ambitious thing to prepare in a relatively short time but then you know you honey so who am I to say!
As for the other doggies, they are much smaller and therefore must be able to go longer between treats! They are like a little Honda and you are a Cadillac that needs to gas up more often
good luck and have fun!
Oh, Honey, you don't need to do things in the same way as other dogs do. You have your own style. So, don't worry. You will be fine at the competition tomorrow. Just enjoy yourself!!
Hi Honey
I don't understand… working for no treats… does such a thing even exist?
The whole point of doing the work is for the treats, isn't it? Or at least the chance to steal the clicker or attack your human's toes.
I think you did the right thing by going on strike, Honey!
No feats without treats! No feats without treats!
Puppy kisses
Sasha
We have similar problems with dogs in agility. They get so accustomed to getting treats during practice, they stop working when we start leaving the treats outside the ring.
So, we start with "babysteps". During practice sessions we have the dogs do a few obstacles….then go outside the ring/get a treat…back in the ring, do a few more obstacles….leave the ring/get a treat…..etc.
Gradually you work your way up to doing a full course, then leave the ring/get big reward. It seems to work well with a lot of dogs. A lot of people use a jar of baby food as a reward at the end of a whole course!
Not sure if that would work with Honey, but I though I'd throw it out there.
However, you've been working so hard I think Honey may surprise you at the competition!
Hi Honey!
I think you are right not to work for nothing!! I would never do tricks without a smelly treat in my face! I think your human needs to wean you off them very very slowly, and maybe not just before a competition! Keep the treats for this one then start practicing little bits without treats and little bits with treats?
And like the others said, bad dress rehearsal means good show! I'm sure you'll be fine Honey!!
Scotty xx
Thanks Scotty -- she would keep the treats if she could! She actually agrees that it's silly to get us to work without treats but those are the rules of the competition and since I'm not allowed to compete in Elementary anymore (coz I came 1st twice last year), I now have to compete in the more advanced levels…which means no food allowed in the ring!!!
How frustrating Hsin-Yi but I have to admit to finding Honey's performance very amusing!
I'm not sure how you get round it. As others have said, practise in a ring with stops to quickly get a treat. Also building up the time between treats. I'm sure you'll find a way and I'll keep my fingers crossed for the competition.
It must be very hard to make that transition. We have no ideas, sorry. But maybe in time Honey will understand that the treat is coming eventually.
Good luck.
Woos, the OP Pack
Amber can only dance if I have a toy or a treat in my hand & she will wait till the routine is over before she gets her reward. She can do her routine till the end fairly well but not great. Tends to be on the slow side sometimes.
Maybe you can try this, start putting pieces treats in your mouth. Show Honey that the treat is in your mouth. Put your mouth close to hers for her to smell if you have to, once she knows it's in there, spit it out & let her catch it. Does not matter if she misses it. Try again, but now stand up straight & point your hand to your mouth to tell her there's a treat in there. Once she looks at your mouth, spit it out as a reward. Now try again but this time start doing blowing noises. The dog will naturally look up at your mouth thinking what's that. Once she does it, spit it out or blow it out & let her catch it.
Now the whole idea of this is, you want her to 'watch' you the whole time AND you want her to think that there's always a treat in your mouth so with practice, soon she will be waiting for the treat to come out even if it's a long routine you're doing. So this makes the dog motivated the whole time & the dog will eventually perform with you & waits till the reward is spat out of your mouth. It works for Amber well but this took some time to train. Not sure if you have time to do this or not before your competition but try it out anyways.
Since food motivates her alot, she should pick this up real fast. What I always do is I always put the treat in my mouth & then make blowing sounds. I make sure Amber's able to hear. She will look up with that attentive look in her face & will perform something for me 1st be it an OB command or trick & then she'll still be looking up in my face, waiting for the treat to come out. Eventually I will give it to her after she's performed at least 3 tricks.
I think from now on, no more treats in hand. Because the dog will know if there's a treat in there or not even if you fake it by pretending that you have one in there. The dog knows. Dogs are really smart. I think they can smell if there is or not. I try to avoid doing this as well because I don't want Amber to keep focusing on my face & not what I have in my hand. Try this, it should work. But remember to take small baby steps 1st. Don't do it too fast or else she won't get it. I hope I have helped.
Melissa
LOL! I made a mistake here:
"I try to avoid doing this as well because I don’t want Amber to keep focusing on my face & not what I have in my hand."
I meant I try avoiding this as well because I WANT Amber to keep focusing on my face & not what I have in my hand.
Would lots of praise work for you, instead of food, Honey? We wish you all the best for the dance competition!
BTW, yeah my Mummy was a suit in advertising. She was in this line all her working life until recently when she decided to take a break from the crazy hours and workload and spend her time resting and preparing for the arrival of the little one!
Honey! you did great for being so confused. Mom uses praise for our treats instead of treats so we don't really expect them. If she really needs us to be good and do our tricks then she will get out our treats and we really pay attention.
We wish you luck on your competition! try the treat at the end for next time. I bet it would be worth it!
Honey -- you are still me hero, I wish I could do the things you do! Striking for doggie treats is certainly a noble cause we all relate too. I bet tomorrow you will feel like dancing again
those sibeborgs were really impressive -- we do not move that fast no matter what the circumstances -- but we do work without treats -- woodorw works for jackpot rope play -- and sweetie works for food jackpot food after -- you just need to start training more without food
woodrow sweetie mj
Hi Honey -- wow, we have to say we were very impressed with the robot doggies, they were really good! Your video did make us giggle -- we'd go on strike too! We don't really know what the answer is we're afraid, but we're sure you will work it out with Hsin-Yi. The main thing is that you do this for enjoyment and don't get stressed about it otherwise it's just not worth doing it.
Tail wags -- JD and Max.
Working without treats!!!!! That surely has to be abuse! Call the ASPCA!!!
Tone! That's what works with me now. The little man's mom has a very serious 'you're working now, don't let me down' tone that works every time. In fact when we were out working today -- her 'tone' had several other dogs obeying her!! It's a very serious voice. I used to get treats -- but now -- never and I don't miss them -- in fact, don't even like them much anymore but I will do anything when I hear that special 'tone' and then the praise 'voice'!
Don't know if that helps at all!
Take care
Clive and the little man's mom
that was just really funny
Ooh, Mum think the sibebords look very cool.
I think Hsin-Yi is being mean to you. You were still trying. I thinks it might help if you got loads and loads of praise after each right move, or almost right move, without a treat insteada at the end of the whole thing.
We not know much about the dancing routines, you much better at that than us, but for my recent kc obediance test that had to be without treats and Mum gotted us ready by introducing a variable reinforcement schedule. Does Hsin-Yi do that? It where one time you do something right you might not get any treat, then the next time one then the next time 2 bits then the next time 10 then not any for the next 3 and so on. It work well for me cos you keep doing things cos you never know when the next one might come.
~lickies, Ludo
tee hee!!we boys thought that was the best honey, we do things like that to our mummy. mummy says she will gets pics of us today helping in the backyard as the sun is out, she also said something about the b word, and it makes us smell nice and pretty after. OHHHH NOOOOOO
I think Melissa's advice is really good! And who knows Honey may just be burned out and ready for a break. I hope it goes well at the show, but if it doesn't just remember to have fun, because that's what its all about. Let us know how it goes!