[elephantsneeze]

Hello,

I am having a hard time training my 14 month old spoo. He is play-motivated and does not care about food. He is completely obsessed with other dogs, and we are having trouble getting him to pay attention to us in his beginner's obedience class. He is very picky about treats, and has once given a biscuit back to me. We have tried most of the boutique brands of treats, including Barkbox treats. We have even tried hamburger patty, ground turkey, cheese, hot dog, and tuna fudge, but they can't compete with other dogs.

What are your favourite high value treats for training?

 

[lily cd re]

String cheese but also my homemade treats which are basically a simple meatlof of ground meat (your choice), egg, bread crumbs parmesan cheese and optionally garlic powder mixed to a stiff meat loaf type consistency, pressed into a baking pan sprayed with nonstick and then baked at about 375 until edges pull away from edges of pan. Cool and cut into small bits. Freeze in batches as desired. I use 2 pounds of chicken and 2 eggs, everything else as needed to get desired stiff consistency. You can hold it in your mouth without hating the taste and by doing so you teach your dog to look at your face since good things are given from your mouth either by hand or spitting (which I don't do since I am a terrible spitter and the poodles just sit there and let stuff bounce off their heads or end up with it stuck in their headfalls).

 

[Skylar]

Babykins too will let food fall and not catch it on the way down - and it can get stuck in their top knot and ear hair. No spitting here either.

I find cut up turkey or rotisserie chicken and home cooked hamburger are our regular favorites. I mix it up a little with liverwurst and all beef hot dog or meat jerky such as venison or lamb. Ziwi Peak has some nice lamb that is also technically a meal but I use it for treats.

Part of your problem could be your dog is too excited or scared to take treats. A dog with high anxiety or high excitement won't take a treat. If this is the case, see if you can put some distance or a barrier between your dog and the other participants in the class - you might find your dog is happy to take a treat then. OTOH I don't know your dog or situation and this may not apply.

 

[elephantsneeze]

Babykins too will let food fall and not catch it on the way down - and it can get stuck in their top knot and ear hair. No spitting here either.

I find cut up turkey or rotisserie chicken and home cooked hamburger are our regular favorites. I mix it up a little with liverwurst and all beef hot dog or meat jerky such as venison or lamb. Ziwi Peak has some nice lamb that is also technically a meal but I use it for treats.

Part of your problem could be your dog is too excited or scared to take treats. A dog with high anxiety or high excitement won't take a treat. If this is the case, see if you can put some distance or a barrier between your dog and the other participants in the class - you might find your dog is happy to take a treat then. OTOH I don't know your dog or situation and this may not apply.

He is definitely too excited to take treats. We've tried to put some distance, but he finds every opportunity to pull us towards neighbouring dogs so he can interact with them. We think the issue is that we have allowed him to play with our neighbour's dog too frequently while on leash so now he doesn't understand that it is work time.

I'm hoping to find something that is so high value that he can withstand the attention exercises and hopefully learn to focus on me rather than other dogs.

 

[elephantsneeze]

String cheese but also my homemade treats which are basically a simple meatlof of ground meat (your choice), egg, bread crumbs parmesan cheese and optionally garlic powder mixed to a stiff meat loaf type consistency, pressed into a baking pan sprayed with nonstick and then baked at about 375 until edges pull away from edges of pan. Cool and cut into small bits. Freeze in batches as desired. I use 2 pounds of chicken and 2 eggs, everything else as needed to get desired stiff consistency. You can hold it in your mouth without hating the taste and by doing so you teach your dog to look at your face since good things are given from your mouth either by hand or spitting (which I don't do since I am a terrible spitter and the poodles just sit there and let stuff bounce off their heads or end up with it stuck in their headfalls).

We used string cheese and balderdash cheddar cheese from costco until we realized that he has a super sensitive stomach.

The tuna fudge someone recommended at the dog park has a similar idea to your meatloaf , but I'll try making it with ground meat as well.

 

[Mfmst]

Liverwurst, cheese and hot dogs, for Buck. Those are high value, because I use them so seldom and in micro portions. Boulder City dog and Polka Dog Bakery make good treats, nothing I would want to put in my mouth

 

[Asta's Mom]

The highest value treat for Asta is praise. He is a very praise driven dog and was a handful in class because he wouldn't take treats. I learned to take him as he is. He has turned into a beautiful dog, will take some treats (SmartSticks) but he still would rather be praised by Mom.

 

[For Want of Poodle]

Annie loves treats, but she loves people and dogs more.

I finally turned her into a soccer ball fiend and am working to get her obsessed with her frisbee as its more portable. That's our high value reward for behaviour around dogs and difficult recalls. Even letting her hold them is a good reward. If I have her toys, I have her complete attention.

Does your spoo have a favourite toy or game?

 

[lily cd re]

Talk to the class instructor. If I had a team with a very excitable dog I would have them work outside the ring at below the over the top excitement threshold so the handler can get things connected with their dog before actually getting close enough to be tempted to interact with other dogs more than their person.

 

[elephantsneeze]

Annie loves treats, but she loves people and dogs more.

I finally turned her into a soccer ball fiend and am working to get her obsessed with her frisbee as its more portable. That's our high value reward for behaviour around dogs and difficult recalls. Even letting her hold them is a good reward. If I have her toys, I have her complete attention.

Does your spoo have a favourite toy or game?

We used a kong frisbee in his class yesterday with some success. He definitely was more focused than he was with the burger.

 

[elephantsneeze]

Talk to the class instructor. If I had a team with a very excitable dog I would have them work outside the ring at below the over the top excitement threshold so the handler can get things connected with their dog before actually getting close enough to be tempted to interact with other dogs more than their person.

I tried talking to the instructor and she told me that I would need to see a behaviourist, and we're not quite ready to do that yet.

He is a really great dog, and is absolutely fine during our walks. He pulls, but we have mostly solved that with the gentle lead, and it has gotten better with loose leash training. During walks, I can get him to sit and stay when there are other dogs or to ignore them entirely. It is only during class or before we enter the dog park where he gets this reactive. He can't focus on the class activities because he is too busy checking out the other dogs or plotting how to get close to them.

 

[MaizieFrosty]

Boiled chicken breast, steak, and provolone cheese.

 

[asuk]

steak and arctic char are milo's highest value treat. i usually pan fry it with no oil real quick. i do give it in micro portions too. but your dog sounds like milo in the beginning. it took a while for him to ignore other dogs, he is not super reliable yet but way better than before. i played the "look at that" and "its yer choice" game. you can google it or read up on it on the forum. i found it complement the treats.

 

[elephantsneeze]

steak and arctic char are milo's highest value treat. i usually pan fry it with no oil real quick. i do give it in micro portions too. but your dog sounds like milo in the beginning. it took a while for him to ignore other dogs, he is not super reliable yet but way better than before. i played the "look at that" and "its yer choice" game. you can google it or read up on it on the forum. i found it complement the treats.

Thank you for the training suggestions! The "look at that" game sounds perfect for him, especially if I combine it with the arctic char.

 

[lily cd re]

I tried talking to the instructor and she told me that I would need to see a behaviourist, and we're not quite ready to do that yet.

He is a really great dog, and is absolutely fine during our walks. He pulls, but we have mostly solved that with the gentle lead, and it has gotten better with loose leash training. During walks, I can get him to sit and stay when there are other dogs or to ignore them entirely. It is only during class or before we enter the dog park where he gets this reactive. He can't focus on the class activities because he is too busy checking out the other dogs or plotting how to get close to them.

Seriously that is just absurd! He is not a behaviorist candidate as far as I can see from what you've told us here. He is young and sociable and could be better bonded to you, but needing fixing of severe behavior problems, not from what I can tell. Sorry to say this but the instructor should be more open to alternative strategies and creative options for situations like this.


Here is another way to approach the bonding and attention (and please don't be offended by my saying his bond to you is weak). What is lacking is you being more interesting to your distractible youngster than anything else in the world. This doesn't mean he doesn't adore you, but there are other layers you can uncover with some simple games. Look up It's Yer Choice (IYC). Do tons of this game at first at home then take it on the road, first to your front lawn, then to near an entrance to a store at a mall, then near a pet store at a mall, then in the pet store, etc. This will help your youngster to know that patience and attention to you will yield goodies (food or toy). Also look up Look At That (LAT) which will teach your dog that looking at a distraction but then returning to focus on you will "pay." If you want some more advanced ways to get your dog to learn to adore you above all other things look in my performance training blog for Javelin (link in my signature below) you will find two things called five cookie game and "get it get it" that I still often use along with IYC and LAT to work on focus.


IMO there is no reason your youngster needs a behaviorist! However for the time being I would stay the heck away from the dog park. There is nothing to be gained from letting him run amok there that will help you deal with attention in class and depending on the population of dogs there actually could encourage much more disconnection from you than what I think you are really looking for, a great relationship with your well behaved dog. If the dog park was a good place for him then he shouldn't get reactive when you are getting ready to enter.

 

[elephantsneeze]

Seriously that is just absurd! He is not a behaviorist candidate as far as I can see from what you've told us here. He is young and sociable and could be better bonded to you, but needing fixing of severe behavior problems, not from what I can tell. Sorry to say this but the instructor should be more open to alternative strategies and creative options for situations like this.


Here is another way to approach the bonding and attention (and please don't be offended by my saying his bond to you is weak). What is lacking is you being more interesting to your distractible youngster than anything else in the world. This doesn't mean he doesn't adore you, but there are other layers you can uncover with some simple games. Look up It's Yer Choice (IYC). Do tons of this game at first at home then take it on the road, first to your front lawn, then to near an entrance to a store at a mall, then near a pet store at a mall, then in the pet store, etc. This will help your youngster to know that patience and attention to you will yield goodies (food or toy). Also look up Look At That (LAT) which will teach your dog that looking at a distraction but then returning to focus on you will "pay." If you want some more advanced ways to get your dog to learn to adore you above all other things look in my performance training blog for Javelin (link in my signature below) you will find two things called five cookie game and "get it get it" that I still often use along with IYC and LAT to work on focus.


IMO there is no reason your youngster needs a behaviorist! However for the time being I would stay the heck away from the dog park. There is nothing to be gained from letting him run amok there that will help you deal with attention in class and depending on the population of dogs there actually could encourage much more disconnection from you than what I think you are really looking for, a great relationship with your well behaved dog. If the dog park was a good place for him then he shouldn't get reactive when you are getting ready to enter.

We think the issue largely stems from the frequency in which we allow him to hang out on the front balcony for mental stimulation. He loves to spy on the neighbourhood and wait for our neighbour's retriever to show up so he can play, usually while on leash. Since he has become an adolescent, he has been more demanding with the balcony and the obsession now includes all dogs. It hasn't helped that he's intact and we're waiting until he is 16-18 months to neuter him. We have decided to stop letting him out on the balcony to reduce the fixation on other dogs and to no longer allow him to play while on leash so that the rules and expectations are more clear.

I tried the "Look at That" game earlier today, and he was so much more attentive when we practiced loose leash walking and saw a dog at a distance. The "It's Yer Choice" game is perfect for teaching him how to be calm during the short walk from the car to the park. With the heat, we don't take him often enough to the park so he gets very excited every time we take him. We hope by taking him every other day to the park that it will reduce the novelty and give us the opportunity to practice obedience in order to play. He used to get that excited when I would take him to an empty fenced-in children's park so he could run, but calmed down once it became less novel.

 

[elephantsneeze]

Seriously that is just absurd! He is not a behaviorist candidate as far as I can see from what you've told us here. He is young and sociable and could be better bonded to you, but needing fixing of severe behavior problems, not from what I can tell. Sorry to say this but the instructor should be more open to alternative strategies and creative options for situations like this.


Here is another way to approach the bonding and attention (and please don't be offended by my saying his bond to you is weak). What is lacking is you being more interesting to your distractible youngster than anything else in the world. This doesn't mean he doesn't adore you, but there are other layers you can uncover with some simple games. Look up It's Yer Choice (IYC). Do tons of this game at first at home then take it on the road, first to your front lawn, then to near an entrance to a store at a mall, then near a pet store at a mall, then in the pet store, etc. This will help your youngster to know that patience and attention to you will yield goodies (food or toy). Also look up Look At That (LAT) which will teach your dog that looking at a distraction but then returning to focus on you will "pay." If you want some more advanced ways to get your dog to learn to adore you above all other things look in my performance training blog for Javelin (link in my signature below) you will find two things called five cookie game and "get it get it" that I still often use along with IYC and LAT to work on focus.


IMO there is no reason your youngster needs a behaviorist! However for the time being I would stay the heck away from the dog park. There is nothing to be gained from letting him run amok there that will help you deal with attention in class and depending on the population of dogs there actually could encourage much more disconnection from you than what I think you are really looking for, a great relationship with your well behaved dog. If the dog park was a good place for him then he shouldn't get reactive when you are getting ready to enter.

Thank you for suggesting your blog! We put Pluto in beginner's obedience because we wanted to do therapy and performance sports with him in the future. I'm slowly reading through it and a tug toy specifically for training is exactly what we need.

 

[lily cd re]

I'm surprised he is allowed at your dog park. Near us intact males older than 6 months are not welcome which is a major part of why we don't go, the other part being that the only dog I could take (Lily) will find any ball left in the place and pester people to play fetch with her until they get tired of her. She ends up disappointed and I also worry about another ball crazy dog picking a fight with her over it.


Keeping him off the balcony sounds like a great idea. He is being allowed to rehearse behaviors you don't really want to encourage in your absence if he is there alone.

 

[Charmed]

Over the years we have had our share of dogs with Treat "problems". The Airedale completely lost her mind if the treats being used were of too high a value. So, with her we had to find the just right treat, desirable, but not too much. It was a challenge. My female poodle was quick to lose interest in playing silly human games, like dog obedience. Once she was fed up, food had no value to her. So , the key to success with her was to avoid overdoing the repetition. In the best of times her taste was quite refined. During a particularly challenging class, I resorted to popcorn from the move theater. Apparently it was "crack" for the other dogs... and humans in the class, too. My male,was the toughest. He just did not care about treats. We had a focus class, and my poodle and a boxer were the only two dogs without a food that they would "stare" for. I came up with a very small, squeaky toy, much like is used for baiting a show dog. Turned out that the boxer also loved our toy. We ended up sharing the toy, until the boxer people could get their own. I think the toy became even more desirable when it was being shared, ha-ha! Something will work for your dog; it is just a matter of figuring out what makes your dog tick.

 

[Mufar42]

Your dog is still young and I don't think he needs a behaviorist I think he needs a different training class. One with a trainer like lillcd mentioned who will allow you to work him in another ring or ouster area as he learns to focus on you and not other dogs. My guy is also reactive to other dogs. He is better now though its still just under his mind set. I still have more work to do. I've walked mine on a pinch collar for a long time, he is excellent on walks and does not pull so at this point he doesn't even realize when I have it on him or not. I am older with arthritis so I do use it when we are in the street as a "just in case". When other people are walking their dogs I size them up, if its a calm dog I talk to mine and say oh look at the puppy getting his walk now sit and watch. He does while sitting I will ask him to look at me on and off. he does and gets a treat. If it is an excitable dog txt is pulling the owner along I walk into someones driveway and sit and try to get him looking at me whether with his favorite squeak ball and when he ignores the dog I know I sam st a good distance for him. Last week he was in his alert mode when in our driveway and I backed up and as I saw him calming I got a bit closer and closer as I was speaking with the owner. Mine did watch alertly but stayed sitting, then laid down and eventually lied on his side as I was talking too much. LOL That was big progress focus. In about another week I am going to try PetsMart parking lot, right now its just too hot. But even if I have to stay in my car at first we will observe and go from there.