The MulesOnly Training Challenge

So, our MulesOnly group has come up with a training challenge for those interested in trying.One of the list members put up a list of possible tricks we could try. We had to all pick the same trick and it had to be one that our mules had never done before. That was easy for me as the only trick I've trained Louie to do is bow. And I didn't follow through and complete his training on that. We all decided on trying to teach our mules to fetch. Eight list members have comitted to giving this a try. We have 30 days to train and at the end of 30 days we each will submit a video of our results to the list. No prizes involved. Just something fun to do.

So, today was my first day of training to fetch. I chose one of the dogs toys as the object for them to fetch. It is big and bright enough to be easily seen and should be easy for them to pick up. It is a tennis ball with a rope strung through the middle of it. The bad part about picking one of the dogs toys is that I had to leave the dogs inside while I worked with equines as Lance knew I had the toy and was more then willing to do some fetching for me!

When I went out to the paddock, Marie was actually the first one to come up to me. So, I decided I'd work with both of them. It would be interesting to see the difference in how each learned and reacted. I will be using treats for rewards. But, I don't use a clicker. I just tell them they are "good" when I get a correct response. I just started by getting each one to target the ball. They both did this willingingly and quickly. I got as far as tossing it on the ground and both would target it there. Louie actually mouthed it a bit. Marie just targeted it. Both picked up the idea at about the same speed. I only worked with them for about 20 minutes but was pleased with how they did. Neither is totally solid with the idea but have a notion of what is getting them the treats. Both have to learn that mugging me for the treats will NOT get them anything. A few times when Louie was unsure, he made attempts to bow for me hoping that would earn him a treat.