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DJ Trix Inner circle 1197 Posts |
Well I have had my doves for about one and a half years now and love them to death! I Have been using Perrier bottles as dummies for the birds when practising so I am not "overworking" them too much! I only load them and produce them 3 times each per day. I am starting to see now that I am getting the feel for the bottles more so then my birds hahahahah (somedays I might produce these small Perrier bottles 100 times.... EACH). I wanted to know if it were time now that I could drop the bottles, practice less and just get the feel for my doves. But I wanted to know how many times loading and pulling and opening, is just too much for them? How many times on a practice day will you all load these guys up?
I am speaking Dove From Silk here if anyone is unclear on what kind of load I am talking about, I use General Grant Holders! |
Dave Scribner Assistant Manager Lake Hopatcong, NJ 4849 Posts |
DJ, I practice loading and producing in 15 minute periods. It's not so much the producing that effects them but the time spent in the pocket.
Personally, I would start weening off the bottle ( as a new grandpa, I couldn't resist that line) Anyway, practicing with the birds is the best way to get them used to what to do. I've never heard of using a bottle as a substitute but it sounds like a good idea to work out the bugs in a new routine. After that, I'd use the birds themselves as much as possible.
Where the magic begins
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DJ Trix Inner circle 1197 Posts |
WOW DAVE,
I posted that, went to read it and you had responded already! Thanks so very much! So I have 2 birds, And at this exact point in time I am only working pocket steals, no sl**** stuff of fancy invisible holder stuff. You say load them produce them and give them like a 15 minute break while I work with the other bird? Well how many times a day can I do this? Like say I practice for 1 hour in the morning and 3 at night is this overworking them, (I know that would be ridicules to work a production that much every day of the week, but I want to ask for more so I know if that is ok) I feel like these guys don't love this yet Thanks Dave, DJ I just want them to be ok and learn to have fun with it. |
tpdmagic Elite user 459 Posts |
When I was practicing my bird act I would practice the whole routine with birds and all 3 times in a row. My bird act is 7 min. After that I would give them a break for about 30 minutes while I watched my tape of the past rehearsals. Then I would do it again. The same process 3 total times a day. Now the one thing to keep in mind with doing a dove act, is to make sure that you use the same bird for the same trick, same pocket, same steal...act. They get to know what to expect and become comfortable doing it. I use the same birds for the same steals. I have different color leg collars on them so I know which bird is which. The one thing that Dave mentioned which is so true is not to keep them in your pockets to long. When I am doing a show I load them minutes before stepping foot on stage. I don't want them to be overheated before going on. Remember that when you are wearing a jacket, a vest...etc. that gets kind of warm for them. I also warm them up and play with them about 15 minutes before I load them this way they won't be to excited (usually that is only if I am using a new or back up bird) I hope this has helped if you have any other questions feel free to pm me.
tpdmagic |
Dave Scribner Assistant Manager Lake Hopatcong, NJ 4849 Posts |
Good advice from tpd. I don't know if there is a specific number of times to practice. You're doing 2 things when you rehearse. First, getting the effect to look natural to make yourself comfortable and second, to make the birds feels comfortable. Producing them 100 times as mentioned would be a quite excessive however. I watch the reaction of my birds. When they start to look tired, or don't flap their wings, I start and give them a rest. Another sign is if you do a hand toss and the bird tends to drop down instead of fly across or up, it is getting tired. Keep a small spray bottle of water with you and when the birds get tired, give them a little spray and set them on a perch. They like it, it cools them down and gives them a chance to preen.
Where the magic begins
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Rupert Bair Inner circle ? 2179 Posts |
Were do you get General Grants products from?
Matt |
DJ Trix Inner circle 1197 Posts |
Well I luckly managed to get them direct from him through his e-mail. He doesn't usually do this but he might. you can get them from Denny and Lee but they don't have all the products!
DJ |
Bob Sanders Grammar Supervisor Magic Valley Ranch, Clanton, Alabama 20504 Posts |
DJ,
It is refreshing to hear a magician who is considerate of his stage partners. To me all the stage animals are. Animals do learn from repetition. However, we all get tired of that. Something I do agree with from the earlier advice was using the same harness from the same pocket always. That way the loop is perfect. Something I don't do anymore is always use the same bird there. I frankly have not seen that it really matters. As long as doves will come back to you and stay put, they have graduated college. Therefore, for the "what it's worth department" I often don't rehearse with the same birds that go to the show. I feel like it does several good things. It cross trains all the birds. It saves the birds with the prettiest feathers for the shows. And nobody gets over-worked. It is also only fair to confess that I have a lot of doves. Pieds that are used in rehearsal seldom go to shows only because they are not solid white. But birds that are in poor feather for stage stay just as busy as the others. The only birds that really escape magic work have babies to feed. To really answer your original question, rarely would any bird get put into a harness more than three times a day. Rehearsal birds don't do shows that day. I save the birds in best feather for the shows. (A ball of gym socks makes a good fake dove for practice.) Enjoy your doves. They make good partners. Bob Magic By Sander |
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