A few months ago, my husband and I rescued a dog from the pound. She was skin-and-bones and losing her fur from malnourishment. We have spent a lot of time helping her to get healthy again, and now she is beautiful. Her name is Gypsy, and she is a German Shepherd mix.
Now that she is healthy, I would really like to train her with basic commands, especially "Sit", "Wait", and "Heel". But my dog-training book is for food-motivated dogs, and Gypsy is NOT food-motivated. I have tried 5 different kinds of dog treats, vienna sausages, canned chicken, ground beef (cooked), and boiled chicken. She is just not interested in food rewards. At all.
I have also tried the "say 'sit' and press gently on her rump" technique. She locks up, and she is too strong for me to force her to sit.
She doesn't have any -bad- behavior that I want to correct. She is friendly and gentle - wonderful with my 20-month-old son. But my husband and I have both owned German Shepherds in the past, and our experience is that German Sherpherds need guidance and training for their active minds.
Does anyone know of any websites, books, or advice that I could use to train a non-food-motivated dog? I am really at a loss as to where to begin.
Thank you!
Basic Dog Training - Starting Off on the Right Paw
Recommended Answer:You don't need food, you need verbal praise and the voice tone to match.
Start slow, and in short 5 minute training sessions. Use a collar and leash--the sit command should be accompanied by lifting up the leash and back to make the dog's neck go a tad back, making the 'sit' easier. There's a section on the side of the dog's haunch to put your finger in, where the leg meets the body, to push in instead of pushing down on the hips. Pushing the hips just locks some dogs up.
Check online for the book by Barbara Woodhouse, the lady made famous for her line 'Walkies!!!', She describes the right training methods for the dog. She may even have Youtube videos put up. Here's her wikipedia entry.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbara_Woo…
Cesar Milan also covers basics, and he's got a ton of dog whisperer videos on Youtube. He's the 'dog whisperer' and here's his website --
http://www.cesarmillaninc.com/
Some of his training methods are phenominal and they work.
Animal Husbandry And Other Unnatural Acts: A Career in Dog Training
- training a non-food motivated dog is just as simple and easy as training a food motivated dog. every dog is motivated by something, your challenge is finding what Gypsy is motivated by. it could be a specific toy or it could be as simple as a pat on the head. assuming that she's motivated by a toy, you would treat the toy the same as food, hold it above her head to make her sit, then reward her by letting her play with the toy for a while.
have fun training her!!
- I would say you have to find something that your dog enjoys to replace the food treat, which could be a short game, being shown affection, a short walk, etc.
I put it into google and here are some websites that I found:
http://dogtime.com/food-reward-alternati…
http://leerburg.com/pdf/theoryofmotivati…
http://www.sthuberts.org/petpouri/articl…
- There may be other things he likes. Does he like squeaky toys?
But that is not really normal. Ask the vet or a trainer. Dogs are naturally food motivated b/c they have to get food to survive. So your dog may not be non food motivated but not motivated all together.
- Her favorite toy will work some dogs do not respond to treats so toys or just affection will work
sit dont force her to sti with your hand but get infront of her and hold her leash and walk to her to where she will sit if she is looking at you
hope this helps
- Have you tried getting the dog to work for the food it gets in its meals? I am assuming that it likes to eat the food you feed it every day. Instead of pouring the food in the dish and walking away make the dog sit and give it some kibble.
- "Treat" training is not a good way to train your dog. Especially because it has part German Shepard. You have to let your dog know that you are the boss, not that you can bribe her into doing what you need her to do. First of all you should say "(her name), sit" then you should do the placements like what you said about putting her in the sit position and praise her as soon as she gets her bottom on the ground. If she is resisting from you making her sit put your hand on her chest and other hand on her back near her bottom and give a little squeeze and make her sit. There is no reason this dog should be able to resist your strength. To get her to lay down say "(her name), down" then place her in the down position. To do this, grab her two front legs and and the scruff on her neck and gently place her there. You should only say the commands once otherwise she will learn that she doesn't have to do it the first time. If she does not sit or throws a fit say NO very sternly and put her back in the position. Always always always praise her to death when she does the right thing.
- I use Charlee Bears for potty training because they are a little cracker for a little mouth, but all other training is just done with praises. I clap and make a fuss and say "good boy/girl" Sometimes petting and hugging. My dogs like to hear kind things so we work on that. I have never tried the foods you mention, but I know some people use cheese. Some people reward them with a favorite toy. I guess you are going to have to watch her to see what she is responding too. I use different words, sounds, hand signals for each of my puppies, you are going to have to watch her to see what she is responding too.
- You don't have to use food as a reward. Simple verbal praise, pats on the head, or her favorite toy can be used instead. I do not use treats with my older dog, as he becomes way too distracted and doesn't respond to commands when food is involved. A "good boy" is enough to make him happy, as he lives to please.
You have to remember where this dog came from and that she is different from your other dogs. She will learn differently and respond differently in situations, and it might take longer or different techniques to teach her.
It sounds like you and your dog would greatly benefit with professional training.
- yep, you got a GSD! Good for you. GSDs are not treat driven. Mine works for the word 'Good'. So did his brother that I rescued from a chain. Both German Working Line dogs. They adore knowing that they've done what their Pack Leader wants.
You can use a ball or Frisbee as a reward for doing whatever correctly too. To play after the learning session. The DVD tells you about that too.
There's a great GSD training website and they offer a Basic Obedience DVD for around $40. It will get Gypsy trained beautifully and gently in a season. Then you can add hand signals. GSDs are almost born knowing those. And then Distraction training (will stay in whatever command you put them into no matter what is going on around them until you release them from that command) Any dog can be taught all these things.A website that I've spent hours on. Some of the info on the website you won't use because Ed Frawley also trains for Police and Schutzund.
Those dogs are very rare, few and far between, definitely not a pet dog, if any of you are thinking you want to train your dog in those two areas. Don't try it it will ruin your dog. Stress it to the extreme. He tells you why
.http://leerburg.com/obediencetrainingdog…
- I rarely find truly non-food-motivated dogs, although there are a few out there, and GSDs seem to be more prone to it. Will she take treats outside of training? Are you training before meal times? Training while hungry works better. And some dogs that are very soft have a hard time with social pressure, worry about being wrong. With those dogs, you can build their confidence by working on incredibly easy things. You can also train with toys- I do a lot of this anyway. And you can condition treats, by giving a treat and then playing with a toy. You may find that as the dog settles in, she will become more food motivated- I had a hard time with a rescue who had been a stray on the streets- she woudn't take treats either for the first few months, although she did manage to break into the fridge and cabinets!
- Observe her - what gets her excited? Is it a special game? A particular toy? Is it attention from you? You have to discern what she considers a high value reward. Substitue those things instead of food and you will probably get the same results. One of my favorite sites is Peacable Paws, and Pat Miller tries to answer any question that comes her way. There are also groups on Yahoo to help with training which I have found useful. Good Luck
