wings Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 (edited) My training has stalled! I have a soon to be 9 month old Kelpie pup that I have had for a little over three weeks. She came to me without much training (ok, none) and we have been working on the sit, drop with some success and the heel and recall with...some results is probably the nicest way to put it! The sit and drop are working well but only if I'm holding her collar, I'm having a lot of trouble doing this on the leash or loose. We've only just found something that might work for recall, and that includes clapping hands to catch her attention. At the heel she still pulls. Tannin also has very little interest in food rewards which doesn't help! How do you get through to a dog with little interest in food? What is a better motivator? Also I'm 'shopping around' for a good obedience group or trainer but want to find the right one not just the closest one... hard when you are rural! Edited January 12, 2011 by wings Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Does she like balls or toys? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wings Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 No real interest yet although she does have a few toys I swap around to see if anything attracts her. Attention works pretty well and has up to this point but I'm feeling really stalled, hence trying to find a new motivator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAX Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 I have had dogs that have never received a treat in there life, at first it seems impossible but it doesn't take long once they settle to become chow hounds. Just have fun and don't stress about it, I bet it will happen soon enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wings Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Don't stress? How does that work? We're experimenting with treats. At first it would seem plain dried liver would be the thing but she got bored with that after the first two treats. She has no interest in a biscuit bone. Now we're trying a treat bar, not much luck! I've been told to try somthing 'smelly' like peices of smoked lung and see if that catches her nose's attention. Good to know they catch on eventually, Tannin had treats in her old home but never for any real reason. It seemed to be more "you are here and so is the treat bag" rather then "you did what I wanted so here is a treat." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nekhbet Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 still early days and the dog is still in the settling in period. Instead of feeding out of a bowl how about hand feeding? With a dog like that treat it like an 8 week old pup, pretend she knows nothing at all and has no attention span where are you situated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wings Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 She even eats her biscuits slowly, seems to graze on them more then sit and scoff. Only thing she can't resist is a raw bone, those she can't wait to be given and then runs off with them for a feast... shame those don't make good training treats! No attention span is right she'll be so focused on me and then suddenly there is somthing not there that needs to be stared at! I'm in a small town between Pakenham and Warragul, out in West Gippsland. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlc Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 My oldest dog was not much motivated by food when he was younger until I tried him on boiled liver, all mine work so well for liver. Make the pieces small so you can reward as much as you need to without overloading them with liver. Tasty cheese is another good one. Anything I use for training is soft so we don't need to stop and the dog crunch it to get it down. Other stuff I have used with success is roast chicken, sausage, strass, any other roast meat. Good luck. Only one of mine I could use a toy or ball for training the others prefer food. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 (edited) Don't stress? How does that work? Easy - lower your expectations. The dog has only been with you three weeks - she's still settling in. Focus is a skill that needs to be learned. Give it time. Edited January 12, 2011 by poodlefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuffles Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 If I really have to motivate my boy who is not interested in food or toys in general, I bring out the big guns... raw lamb chopped into small pieces, warm bbq chicken, or a rabbit fur tug Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BMAK Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 try tug toys and squeeky toys my best motivator for drive for a kelpie food can only do so much for my pair, cooked chicken is there fave food treat but only works for very short periods like 2 minute sessions where as you can get a good 5-10 training session with squeeky's and tugs as rewards. remember you have to be more fun then her surroundings other wise you won't have the attention you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jigsaw Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 You need to give her some more time! Early days yet, she's getting used to you and vice versa. I would suggest soft treats that can go down quick. Soft, moist food usually gets their attention quicker than commercial dried liver (as opposed to boiled or oven dried) or biscuits. If you're really struggling pan fry some meat quickly so it is just brown but still really rare inside. Cooking the meat slightly can entice the nose more which hopefully will make the dog more interested in the food. Hand feed all her meals. Sometimes it takes quite a few weeks for a dog to settle in and accept the changes in their lives and they can sometimes seem quite subdued and tentative in play and food drive during this settling in period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wings Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Thanks for the ideas I'll experiment with a few raw type things and see if those work and I'll find a rabbit fur tug. We managed sitting while on leash yesterday with no other contact between us, I almost fell over her telling her how brilliant she was! Thankfully in short sesssions she can be really attention motivated! It's like "Wait, so all I had to do was sit down here and I got to stop doing anything else and be ruffled all over and in the itchy spots with you using that silly voice? Awesome!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Restrict your verbal/physical praise to when she is doing what you want ... no conversation,, no random cuddles ... have you tried N I L I F ? CLICK HERE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wings Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Thanks for the link, that was interesting! I sort of follow that line of thinking already, I'm always telling family off for greeting Tannin when she hoons up to us all bouncy. They think it's cute I guess they don't have to live with it! Always annoying when the family think it's alright if they just give her a pat anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlefan Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Thanks for the link, that was interesting! I sort of follow that line of thinking already, I'm always telling family off for greeting Tannin when she hoons up to us all bouncy. They think it's cute I guess they don't have to live with it!Always annoying when the family think it's alright if they just give her a pat anyway! Put her on lead when the family arrive. You may not be able to control their behaviour but you should have a shot at controlling hers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wings Posted January 12, 2011 Author Share Posted January 12, 2011 Now if only people where as easy to train Thanks guys! I really want to do right by Tannin and I think I get a bit paranoid! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RuralPug Posted January 13, 2011 Share Posted January 13, 2011 You are not alone, Wings... I have a 8 month old kelpie cross foster here who is totally uninterested in food treats. She is bright, eager to please, tries hard for praise rewards but incredibly distractable. And there seems to be a conspiracy of wildlife that almost every time she is returning to me with a retrieve or doing well in a sit stay that a butterfly zooms past her nose or a starling does a low fly-by or a skink dashes past and she appoints herself to dash after them, 30 seconds later she trots back very pleased with herself and will then pick up where she left off. On leash she is now progressing to the point where you can walk her down the street and she doesn't lunge hysterically at every vehicle that passes - now she restricts herself to passing utes with tethered dogs. It is very very hard to get her to shift focus to me as she is not treat-motivated. Tried toys, but she isn't interested while on leash. What I need is a tame butterfly on another leash I reckon!!! She will still need to be re-homed only to working-line savvy people, but I can now actually see a future where I will be happy enough with her to list her as ready for rehoming. So Wings, keep plugging away, there aren't any short-cuts unfortunately but it will all come together eventually! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiesha09 Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 I had success with my non foodie dog with BBQ'd sausages, fritz, roast chicken/lamb, etc. I also started practicing our training in the bathroom - there were no distractions so the food became interesting enough to eat Needless to say, now she loves food and a boring piece of kibble is good enough for her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murve Posted January 16, 2011 Share Posted January 16, 2011 Now if only people where as easy to train Thanks guys! I really want to do right by Tannin and I think I get a bit paranoid! Here Here I agree 100 percent our fur friends are easier to train. I live in Pakenham & go to Westernport dog club, they train at Kcc Park Sunday Morns if you ring Jenny 0408 695 262, she can answer your enqiries or you can go to Warragul or Berwick, they are the 3 clubs in our area that are close enough. You are welcome to Pm me We have 1 Whippet dog, 1 Papillon bitch and 3 baby Paps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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