Greedy pup

[Bushriver]

Would you believe after all these years, I have my first really greedy lab pup. He will inhale his food and get really worked up about it (excited). He's only 11 weeks so still a baby. Through a lot of training he has learned some manners and I can usually give him a treat without him swallowing my whole hand! I feed him his kibble in a slow feeder or spread it on a mat so he has to eat it one by one, which works fine, but is there a way of actually changing his attitude towards food? Making it less important to him?

[Rebanne]

Good luck with that! I wouldn't be curbing his enthusiasm. By all means teach him to wait until his food is put down and to take treats nicely but I love pups/dogs who love their food. Makes life a lot easier

[The Spotted Devil]

Totally agree with @Rebanne! Love a food motivated pup!

[Bushriver]

Haha. Yes I guess it will make training easier once we get the hang of it and he realises where the treats come from and when. 

[Scrappi&Monty]

Which type of slow feeder do you have? Highly recommend the 'Kyjen Slo Bowls'. 

We have a mini teal one for Scrappi and a large purple one for Monty and I find they are really good quality and work much better than the simple 3 prong/lump ones.

 

You could also give him half his food in a bowl and the other half use for training, should have a very obedient pup soon haha! 

Except the downfall with super food motivated dogs is that even boring kibble etc gets them hyped up, I find it hard to teach settle and nails being clipped to my dog because he just wants the treats but if I use pats/praise/toys he doesn't find it rewarding enough to overpower the scary nail clippers. 

[Starkehre]

Lurve me a high food driven dog. I wouldn't be trying to curb it at all. I encourage it. You are doing the right things to ensure he east safety. The attitude I would leave alone. "It's your choice" (food refusal) is so simple to teach to help you keep your fingers.

Use his food drive to your advantage and revel in the ease of training him ;)

[Daisys Mum]

I love food driven dogs... I have a CKCS and she adores food, she will do anything for food.

When it's time for her dinner or if she gets a treat she does these little spins .. it's funny to see it.

[Papillon Kisses]

7 hours ago, Scrappi&Monty said:

Which type of slow feeder do you have? Highly recommend the 'Kyjen Slo Bowls'. 

We have a mini teal one for Scrappi and a large purple one for Monty and I find they are really good quality and work much better than the simple 3 prong/lump ones.

Scrappi makes an excellent point! The three prong/lump ones didn't do anything to slow down my dog either. I too have one of the Kyjen bowls (they also have Outward Hound on the label) and it works a treat. I also use a bunch of other food dispensing toys from Kong, Busy Buddy and Kyjen (many more brands exist as well). Variety is good for their brains. Oh and I give kibble as rewards in training!

 

I am kind of envious of those with large food motivated dogs. The extra calorie requirement gives you a lot of food that can be put towards training and enrichment vs. a tiny dog like mine who gets 1/3 cup max.

[Bushriver]

I'm not sure what the brand of the feeder is. I've had it for awhile. Feeding him is not a problem though, I can work around the gutsy eating. I was having a bit of trouble in training, in that he would see/smell the treats and loose all focus on what I was telling him. Like his brain could not function because there was food! The last few days have been much better though. The switch has just about flicked on id say.