Agility

by Rodents rock! Wed 13 Jul 2016, 9:06 am

Hi everyone, I've seen some videos of mice that are trained in agility courses. It's really amazing to watch! Has anyone here ever tried training any of their mice in agility? I was thinking of trying it with Mickey. You can make the agility course from popsicle sticks, so it would be low cost. And I was thinking it would also be a good way to spend time together. Let me know your thoughts on this. Mouse28

by Peachy Wed 13 Jul 2016, 9:51 am

I think that sounds fun! I trained my boy to run through a toilet paper tube, it didn't take him long to catch on. Razz

by EverythingAnimal Wed 13 Jul 2016, 10:16 am

I considered that with my girls but never tried it, mainly because if they are out of their cage they are not food oriented at all, and are just too curious of their surroundings.

by Rodents rock! Wed 13 Jul 2016, 1:05 pm

From what I've read online, people say that mice catch on quick. One lady said that she had more success training bucks then does. But I was thinking maybe that has to do with bucks living alone and depending solely on their human for attention. Just a thought. This weekend I'm going to build some agility equipment and give it a go! I would imagine teaching them one thing at a time would be best. Then once they get that, add another thing. When I get the agility course built, I will share photos. I hope Mickey can learn it - but even if he doesn't I think it will be fun for him to play with the equipment. Time will tell Walk

by River Wed 13 Jul 2016, 2:16 pm

I had one mouse who - goodness knows how - came into my home already knowing a trick or two, I did make her agility courses! I got most of them off YouTube as well.

by CinnamonPearl Wed 13 Jul 2016, 2:33 pm

I was going to before I got mice, but I never did cause I don't really like training animals much. I don't know why; I just find it boring. My girls don't even know their names.

by EverythingAnimal Wed 13 Jul 2016, 6:24 pm

Wow, that's surprising, ThePetekeyPrep, how did you figure out that she knew tricks?

by River Wed 13 Jul 2016, 6:31 pm

EverythingAnimal wrote:Wow, that's surprising, ThePetekeyPrep, how did you figure out that she knew tricks?

It certainly is - there must have been an employee who was good with mice. Who knows?
I had watched some videos of mice doing tricks, and my sister asked if my mice did that, so I tried, more jokingly than anything and wouldn't you know; she did. She was full of surprises in her time! I miss that mouse.

by EverythingAnimal Wed 13 Jul 2016, 6:57 pm

I would totally do that if I worked at a pet store; teach all the mice tricks and call it "The Mouse Circus" to get people to start seeing mice more as good pets and not nasty critters.

by Bthny Wed 13 Jul 2016, 9:01 pm

I've done some training with my girls. They're smart and can catch on quick, but long courses take a lot of time to teach, so I usually just take them through a few obstacles because training is just as good for their brains as it is physically. If you have any specific questions, I can try to answer them as best as I can!

by Rodents rock! Wed 13 Jul 2016, 9:30 pm

Bthny wrote:I've done some training with my girls. They're smart and can catch on quick, but long courses take a lot of time to teach, so I usually just take them through a few obstacles because training is just as good for their brains as it is physically. If you have any specific questions, I can try to answer them as best as I can!

Thank you for that, I'm sure when I start I will have questions! I stopped tonight after work at Michaels to get some supplies to make the agility equipment. I will probably make 5 - 7 pieces of equipment.

So, is it best to work with one piece of equipment till he gets that one down and then start on the next piece, and so on? That was my plan. Smile

by MouseLover Thu 14 Jul 2016, 11:26 am

I saw a mouse agility thing once where they lined up a bunch of mugs, and the mouse was jumping through all the handles, it was so cute Smile

Once you've trained them up a bit, you should make a little video, I love watching things like that Very Happy

though I don't know if I'd have the patience to try myself hehe.

by stephlisa Thu 14 Jul 2016, 12:01 pm

I tried to train Colin to jump through a mug handle...it was the cutest thing, although he's not very food motivated out of his cage so it was hard to work out how to reward him - I've still not worked that one out :S

by Bthny Thu 14 Jul 2016, 6:14 pm

Rodents rock! wrote:So, is it best to work with one piece of equipment till he gets that one down and then start on the next piece, and so on? That was my plan.

Yes, definitely! If you have a set course you want him to go through, you can just add on pieces as he learns what to do. If not, just work on one, and then move on to the next, while continuing training sessions with familiar equipment so he doesn't forget them.