Hello Percy is 14 weeks, and seems to be a slightly atypical lab in that he's not that interested in food. He's started eating most of his kibble more recently, I'm not concerned about this as he is 11 kg but still has a waist. My problem is what juicy treats to give him for training, currently I use his kibble and coachies, but not sure what to use as that extra special treat say when recall training. He doesn't eat cheese, turned his nose up at peanut butter and kibble stuffed kong, same with cottage cheese. In fact I can't get him interested in the stuffed Kongs, I've tried freezing some kibble in. He loves the food dispenser Kong, so has that if we go out. He did like the bits of chicken I gave him, but they gave him several episodes of diarrhoea despite it being a small amount. I use toys to reward him in training as well as treats, but if anyone has any suggestions for that extra special but tummy kind treat, I'd be v grateful. thanks Lisa
I mainly use roast beef for training (silverside or topside). Cut up small, freeze. If you defrost in the microwave you get a period of lovely warm beef which is special. You'd have to try to see how his tummy is with it.
Hi Lisa, at 14 weeks I was just using kibble as training treats and Juno was happy with that and no worry about upset tummies
Hi,thanks, will try the beef. This dog will eat better than us! The problem with training with kibble/treats is that he's not always interested in it, so won't always eat them when I give them to him to reward for something. He's doing quite well with training on heel and sit but its the recall bit that I want to find something he will enjoy more.
Not all dogs are motivated by food, it's finding what they like that counts. Have you thought if trying a special tug toy or something like that and reward Percy with a game. Juno's early training was without treats, just lots of praise, fuss and play treats were only introduced to train leave.
A lot of trainers say that dogs have to learn to earn food, and if a dog has done this then upping the value of the treat is just a substitute for doing it properly - making the exercise easier, increasing distance etc. I think that's all very well - in theory or for very skilled trainers - but quite frankly there is nothing like sardines, beef, king prawns to help things along. I ratchet up the treat value whenever I feel I need to do so, which is very often. My dog does not tolerate new protein sources well, so I had to introduce special meat treats gradually and then I tend to stick to the same ones. He does not tolerate commercially produced chicken (or something in the chicken) at all - so all chicken products are out. Even so, there is no doubt that my dog values play much, much more highly than food. My dog will work for food, but I get a much better result if I can use play as a reward. I get a faster, enthusiastic response much quicker - I can still get that using food, but it takes a lot longer. That said, having your dog able to work for food is very, very useful. So I would keep trying, and perhaps try get yourself some 121s with a really good positive reinforcement trainer for some tips. Best of luck with it.
