My pup is not a food driven pup I am trying to train him and when I give him a treat (I have tried various kinds) he just sniffs it and goes back to playing and his toys don't seem to get his attention when I try and praise him. I know that I can say good boy and petting him but he doesn't seem to associate with that either. Is there any other forms of reward? If there any irresistible dog training treats out there that are soft that you found a picky eater to enjoy? Maybe I have just not found the right one yet.
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You just need to find something high value enough. Biscuit-type treats usually don't work very well unless you have a highly food motivated dog.
I use Natural Balance LID treat rolls (duck and sweet potato) which are pretty much doggy crack for my puppy. The treat itself comes as a roll and you can slice off bits as big as you need to use for training. It's a soft consistency and very, very stinky (and very appealing to dogs.) Kinda looks like this: http://www.arcatapet.com/images/15399.jp… I avoid the other flavors because they contain wheat gluten, which I don't like.
You might also try Zuke's Mini Naturals, which are tiny and soft and make great training treats. http://www.zukes.com/woof/mini-naturals.…
Otherwise, using little pieces of household things like hot dogs and deli meat could work too.
Best of luck!
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Recommended Answer:
You just need to find something high value enough. Biscuit-type treats usually don't work very well unless you have a highly food motivated dog.
I use Natural Balance LID treat rolls (duck and sweet potato) which are pretty much doggy crack for my puppy. The treat itself comes as a roll and you can slice off bits as big as you need to use for training. It's a soft consistency and very, very stinky (and very appealing to dogs.) Kinda looks like this: http://www.arcatapet.com/images/15399.jp… I avoid the other flavors because they contain wheat gluten, which I don't like.
You might also try Zuke's Mini Naturals, which are tiny and soft and make great training treats. http://www.zukes.com/woof/mini-naturals.…
Otherwise, using little pieces of household things like hot dogs and deli meat could work too.
Best of luck!
Easy Steps to Boxer Dog Training
- sounds like your dog is toy driven so instead of using a treat use a toy as a reward. You can also use praise as a reward.
- You mentioned he loves his toys. Try passing his absolute favourite toy to him when you want to reward him.
- You might try Bil Jac liver treats. They are soft and every dog I've had goes nuts for them.
- I do this with my dog all the time. If he does something good give him a peice of meat if he refuses that take his toy and wave it over his head and dogs love tug a war so play WITH him and after that rub his tummy and give him kisses while praising him.:D
- Try cold cuts some type of lunch meat turkey works for my picky eater.
- you have to find what it is that gets your dog going - he's not food driven: have you tried stuff like chicken hearts and gizzards or canned sardine or raw carrot pieces or hot dogs (all my dog's utmost faves - he'll tapdance to "putting on the ritz" for a raw carrot!)?
if those don't work, see if he's play-driven: maybe it's not his toys, but he might like a good game of "tug" (NEVER let him win, by the way!) or chase (i use a chuck stick with a "random bounce" ball to get my dog going).
maybe you're lucky and your dog is just praise driven.
btw: how long are your training sessions? if he's a young pup, don't count on them lasting more than 2 or 3 minutes. - Have you ever tried dog treats that are specifically for training? They are usually smaller treats that are soft to the touch. Wal-Mart has these ones that are in a box that looks like a milk carton and they are yogurt treats. Great for training and worth a try ($1 per box).
Get way overly excited when your dog does something right. Give the most praise you can and rub your dog all over.
If your dog likes rawhides, you can buy rawhide chips (not sure what else to cal them). They last longer than a treat would so would only be able to give it to him/her after the training session was over.
BTW, not sure what kind of dog you have, but if it is a working/hunting dog tug o war is a horrible idea and if you have kids. - when trianing my dog i just used alot of enthusiasm,my dogs are not big on treats also,if you act really exsided and pet them when they do something good it may work.idk hope it helps
- why would your dog work for something he gets for free probably twice a day??(food).
building his food drive should be pretty easy.you don't need special treats, your dogs kibble will work just fine.
first, skip his next meal.
skip his morning meal tomorrow too.
after that, the ONLY way your dog eats is from your hand, during training. take the days amount of food, put it in a dish on the counter, take a handful and keep it in your pockets, or a bait bag, and refill through out the day.
EVERYTHING your dog does that you like, mark and reward with his food.
Since he was fasted for a day, he will be hungry off the bat, his food will be more valuable to him. Furthermore, since the only food he gets is during training, hes not getting full in the morning and evening with a big bowl of free food.
if you are training right, through out the day, you should easily go through a days worth of kibble with the early stages of marker training, so don't worry, your dog will be eating enough. - Always train your pup on-leash, so he can't choose to "just leave" a training session. For training treats try little bites of chicken or other meat, bits of hotdog, little bites of cheese, liver fudge, freeze-dried liver, BilJac, rollover (Dog food that comes in a roll like sausage. Slice it off & cut it into tiny bites. There are different brands. All of it has a strong smoked smell/flavor. Dogs love it. You can find it at PetsMart or PetCo.)
Attention span for training is something that is learned with a puppy. They actually learn to learn. Keep training sessions short & fun. But only end a training session on your clock, not the pup's. In other words they work until you say training is done. They can't choose when they are done. Even if you just ask for one more quick sit before YOU call training done. Always end on a good, fun note. Like with a game of tug or fetch. Since he likes toys this will help teach him to play with you & you will be able to use toys as a training reward in the future. Your dog will soon learn that training time is fun & they will want to train. Slowly increasing the periods of time you ask for your dog's full attention helps to increase their attention span. Training a good "watch" & increasing the time & amount of distractions will teach the dog to pay attention & focus on you. Sit/Stays & Down/Stays consistent with increasing periods of time help build attention. Start with a 5 sec stay, slowly, slowly increase time until your dog can stay for 5 min. Hope some of these ideas help. - Just as the others I think you should try to up the value of your rewards, too.
"People food" like string cheese, chicken, peanut butter, hot-dogs (best if they are low sodium variety) usually work well.
As far as dog treats go I like Natural Balance and Pet Deli food rolls, Zuke's Mini Naturals, bison jerky and freeze-dried liver.
If your dog doesn't go for any of these you can use Premack's Principle and life rewards in your training. Sniffing is a great reward for my dog when we train heeling patterns for obedience competitions :-)
You can learn more here:
http://www.teachingdogobedience.com/2009…
http://www.dogstardaily.com/videos/tv/pa…
http://www.dogstardaily.com/videos/tv/pa… - To increase his food drive, make sure you are feeding him at intervals, not leaving food down continuously, and feed him some of his meals by hand. I like to take about 4 days when every meal is fed by hand, some in training, some just feeding, so the dog realizes your importance in the grand scheme of things. This is usuallly enough to turn a picky eater around. Is he eating his meals with gusto? If not follow Sue Ailsby's protocol:
http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/Wr…
For really good treats, think stinky: stinky cheeses, tunafish or salmon that comes in little foil packes, cat treats, lunch meats, etc. I also use baby food meats that comes in little jars.
For increasing play drive, make sure the toy is interesting to the dog by keeping it away from him, not letting him get it too easily, and definitely not by shoving it towards him (a very common mistake!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GihAgm0kd…
Also, you mention that he goes back to playing rather than take his treats, or toys. I would work first on developing a solid relationship where he takes food from you or plays reliably, before working on any particular skills. Make sure he doesn't have too much freedom to go off and do his own things.
Another game I like is "take a break" from Leslie McDevitt's book, Control Unleashed. A brief descriptions is that within a limited space you encourage the dog to go off and sniff/explore on his own, while you also ignore him, then when he comes back to you, you give treats, or play, or eventually train, for brief periods, always sending the dog off to sniff and explore before he starts to do so on his own. Eventually, he doesn't want to leave you! I do strongly suggest the book, and working on both his food and toy drive before working on this exercise, though.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byPqy3yzz…
