"KNOCK IT OFF!"
..or "the statue game"

THE METHOD I'M USING

Another game which is enjoyed by llama and onlookers alike! The idea is to knock lemonade bottles off upturned buckets, moving in sequence from bucket to bucket. The whole procedure starts with targetting a bottle, and progresses through nudging to shoving and on to overbalancing it. I use a clicker for this training working onto a variable schedule of reinforcement when more than one bottle is required to be knocked off. The progression to more than one bucket is gradual, one being added at a time. I have found it beneficial to always have the llama progressing down the line on the (=his) same side, in Oscar's case, his right hand side.

If you can add anything to my work or have any questions or comments, please e-mail me.

HOW WE'RE DOING

The story so far: So far, I've played this with just Oscar . The bottles go down fast, but so often one is skipped..am working on this. Does he not see them or is he simply not conscientious?

Oct 23rd '08

RECENT NOTES ON PROGRESS

I returned to this game this week after a gap of several months. Oscar remembered it as though he'd played it yesterday. He still tends to miss out bottles though and occasionally doesnt push hard enough to get the bottle to tip over. He loves this game; I have to tie him whilst I am setting up the course, else he has them down more quickly than I can put them up.

I wrote previously:

" Oscar is still missing bottles out. Whether or not it's because he cant see them is debateable. I suspect he just wans to get to the end of the line (currently seven) quickly! I've tried rewarding at various knock-overs, effectively giving a variable schedule of reinforcement (so necessary in my work) ..but to no effect."