For Non Food Motivated Dogs What Do U Use In Training?

[Caesars mum]

Grace it might be worth swaping and changing treats during a training session, so she works out that the cheese is for special treats, I usually try to have a couple of different ones in my treat bag so Nala doesn't get bored with the food. She is not highly food motivated either, although she hoovered up the cabinosi at training the other night.

and remember most treats are high in fats so reduce her dinner if she eats more then a few in a session and keep training session to 5 to 10 minutes at home and always finish on a positive. Set her up so that you finish with something you know she will get right and then treat and play to finish the session so she learns to love training. you can do several sessions a day but keep them short.

[Nic oh lah]

I FOUND SOMETHING SHE LOVES!!!!! i went and tried the cheese and she nearly bit my hand off lol she was so focased and even followed everywhere my hand moved. Thanks so much for your suggestions!

Lol - yep the right food for the right dog will change everything! My girl gets cabanossi (just little bits) for her training treats and cheese is the "jackpot" she gets at the end of a really good session of work.

[Jetty]

Grace - I can come over and help you out if you need a hand with training. Jet loves anything meaty or cheese the dry treats are a bit hard to work with when there are distractions.

[Prydenjoy]

Mango doesn't like cheese

It's good to have a bit of variety in the treat bag, just to keep things interesting. If you're too predictable sometimes it can contribute to losing the dogs interest. Have fun experimenting with lots of yummy foods!

[Aidan]

How do you bake beef heart?

Guy response here - in an oven? I think she cuts it into small cubes first, then bakes on a low temp.

[huski]

Daisy likes cooked heart but I cannot bring myself to cook it I feed it raw all the time and that doesn't bother me but the thougt of cooking it in my oven or one of my pots... :D

[Aidan]

Honestly, it doesn't smell great, in fact it smells "offal". And this is coming from an offal-eater.

[The Spotted Devil]

The best one I've ever heard of is blood sausage Slice up thinly and cook in microwave until dry - I bet it smells disgusting too but I haven't seen a dog turn it down.

Unfortunately, with a Dalmatian, I can't feed any organ meat so I have to be even more creative with my food treats.

[huski]

I'm lucky with Daisy... She is very food driven and will work for anything. We do stick to soft and smelly things for training so she can swallow them quickly and easily. My favourites for training are roast chicken, sausage or luncheon roll. Although I do find the luncheon roll pretty gross.

[corvus]

Haha Aidan, that guy answer had already come to mind. :D I cooked liver brownies once. It didn't smell great, but it made so much I feel like I'll be slipping the dogs liver brownie for the rest of my life. And it didn't turn out to be recall worthy anyway. I use teensy cubes of 4Legs dog food rolls for clicker training and little dried bits and pieces that live in the treat pouch for walks. The 4Legs roll is awesome as it's not very slimy and holds its shape. Doesn't clog the Manners Minder, which was designed for kibble. I find it's just about right for clicker training, where the click is kind of more exciting than the reward that follows, but if I had a dog that was "meh" about food I think it's got to be roast meat or something similar. My dogs are luke warm about devon or frankfurt, and while they like cheese it's not going to get the kind of speedy recalls that cooked meat does. You should see them fly for an empty pizza box, though. ;)

My mum has a dog that just isn't very interested in food at all. She hates offal and refuses to touch it. Red meat makes her throw up. She will work for food treats for a couple of minutes, maybe, but only if there's nothing else at all going on. She's really actually quite hard to train. Completely fetch mad, but that's not much help when her brain tends to switch off at the very sight of a toy. The latest idea is a ball on a rope. We'll see how that one goes. Kind of dependent on the rest of the family refraining from playing fetch with her for a while, though.

Glad you found something that works, Grace. I think once you break through and show them how fun training is the reward becomes less important.

[Prydenjoy]

I use teensy cubes of 4Legs dog food rolls for clicker training

I just discovered the 4 legs roll yesterday I put off buying it because it's so big and didn't like the thought of cutting it into thousands of cubes, but it is worth the effort! I bought the VIP puppy roll before hand and it turns to slush in your hands, pretty gross. I like the idea of a "treat" that is balanced and healthy. Will have to try that beef heart!

What is a manners minder by the way?

[Aidan]

VIP roll is what I use almost exclusively. Most dogs will take it, many prefer it. If you freeze it then only partially thaw it makes it much easier to handle and the dogs seem to like it just as much that way.

[Grace1979]

The spotted devil I love blood sausage or black pudding! It actually tastes really nice, my dad used to make it but you cant buy blood anymore where we are so have to buy store ones. Doesnt taste the same as home cooked ones!

[corvus]

A Manners Minder is a remote controlled treat dispenser, Jeanne. It has a bay for the food, and when you want to reward you click the button on the remote and the MM makes a beep and dispenses a treat into a tray at the bottom of it.

[MrsD]

She's really actually quite hard to train. Completely fetch mad, but that's not much help when her brain tends to switch off at the very sight of a toy.

Jarrah is like this, if you get out a toy he just stands in front of you shaking & is completely oblivious to anything else. What I have done is teach the exercise with food (luring if you can) & then when the dog has a clue bring out the toy but go back to absolute basics like the dog has never done the exercise before in it's life. When you first get the toy out he still stands there shaking but if you go back to teaching it all over again ie luring etc he picks it up albeit slowly. For the first couple of times I had to hide the toy, get him to do the command (however sloppily) & reward with the toy, then slowly advance to where I could have the toy in my hand Some things are much much harder for him doing it that way than others eg I have taught him to cover his eyes with his paw, how hard to you think it was to get him to cover his eyes so he couldn't see me me when I've got a toy in my hand that I just MIGHT throw? - but in the end if you persevere they realise that the reward ONLY comes after they do what you ask they will get better.

I have to do the same thing (start with food & then change to toy & go back to basics) for EVERY separate exercise I teach, but it works & now I have a dog who has so much drive in training it's unbelievable. Hard work to start with but well worth it.

As for treats, my dogs love the VIP chunkers but then Jarrah will work for anything that I have, even sawdust or a grass stalk , if I have it, he wants it. I also use cheese, BBQ chicken, devon, ham etc, Jonty wouldn't touch food when he was a puppy but now he will almost take your fingers off for a chunker or a piece of cheese so their food drive can improve as they get older.

[Prydenjoy]

A Manners Minder is a remote controlled treat dispenser, Jeanne. It has a bay for the food, and when you want to reward you click the button on the remote and the MM makes a beep and dispenses a treat into a tray at the bottom of it.

Oh wow they actually exist? I've been saying for ages that I REALLY REALLY NEED something like that for Berri when I've got kids over and he is being good and I can't leave the kids to reward him. I'm very excited to hear this, I'm definitely going to buy one!

[corvus]

Thanks MrsD. It's good to know there's hope for Jill. It's the food bit that makes it hard. She just loses interest so fast. I think with practise she will get there, though.

Jeanne, I love the MM, but it cost me an arm and a leg to get hold of one. No one will ship them directly to Aus due to some claim that the remotes don't work over here. I had to get mine sent to a US address via Bongo and then forwarded to Australia. I'm sorely tempted to take it apart to reverse engineer it for use in my optimism testing apparatus for my PhD. But I'm not very good at reverse engineering, tragically. I think it must have an infra-red thingy to tell it when a treat has been dispensed. It's super cool watching the disk that pushes the treats into the dispensing hole just keep turning until a treat comes out.

I got it mostly for my hare, thinking it would be easier to train him if I wasn't having to overcome his anxiety about my presence as well. Unfortunately it's a bit noisy and we have lots of desensitising to do before he is likely to be comfortable with it.

[Loves Dogs]

my 2 staffies will do anything for a tug toy but a squeaky toy is also great. She is a st bernard right? sometimes its hard to rev up some dogs but before I start if my girl is feeling a bit lazy I do abit of " see this , what have I got ,lets work come on come on, ssssssssssssssssssss. I also jump around a bit and get excited This excites your dog and then she might want to interact with YOU more because YOUR being exciting and follow the toy or squeeker better? hope this helps

Edited April 18, 2010 by staffy lover

[Prydenjoy]

Jeanne, I love the MM, but it cost me an arm and a leg to get hold of one. No one will ship them directly to Aus due to some claim that the remotes don't work over here. I had to get mine sent to a US address via Bongo and then forwarded to Australia. I'm sorely tempted to take it apart to reverse engineer it for use in my optimism testing apparatus for my PhD. But I'm not very good at reverse engineering, tragically. I think it must have an infra-red thingy to tell it when a treat has been dispensed. It's super cool watching the disk that pushes the treats into the dispensing hole just keep turning until a treat comes out.

I got it mostly for my hare, thinking it would be easier to train him if I wasn't having to overcome his anxiety about my presence as well. Unfortunately it's a bit noisy and we have lots of desensitising to do before he is likely to be comfortable with it.

I can't believe they don't sell them here, what a useful idea! Perhaps one of us could go into business making them in Aus

I think it is so cool/funny that you have a hare to train :D

Sorry for the OT!