When I was with Helen, she pointed out that the treats I was using (frankfurters and ham) were getting stuck to the roof of the pups' mouths. This is a problem in dummy work, because when they pick up the dummy, the treats often get dislodged and they end up spitting the dummy. You could actually see it happen once she pointed it out. She said that most people think the dog is just spitting because it doesn't want to hold on, but on occasion, the dummy came out of the mouth with the treats attached! She suggested that I use something harder like cheese. So, this morning, I went out, cheese in bag. But the exact same thing was happening. A couple of times I saw the spit and a piece of cheese come flying out along with the dummy. Other times, you could see an issue with it being dislodged as they tried to pick the dummy up, so they started "mouthing" the dummy. So, any advice on what I could use that won't get stuck to the roof of the mouth? Something smelly and high-value but harder. I can use my sardine pouches for some things, but some of our drills require throwing of the treat.
I use sea biscuits for the reason you say - but, I always carry water to go with them and I'm careful to pause and allow Charlie to drink. The advantage of larger dry treats is that they avoid the sticking to the mouth thing. The disadvantage is that a dog with a dry mouth can mess about with the dummy in other ways. They also slow clicker training down, but this is workable. You shouldn't really have a problem unless you are doing fast repetitions though. With slower work, the dog will eat the soft treat. It's only when your reps are fast enough so the dog is focused on the next rep involving the dummy that he doesn't pause to unstick and eat the food.
I use cheese cubes more than anything else and have never had a problem. I don't like anything too crumbly even though the dogs love died sprats etc. but they can easily be distracted when bits fall to the ground and need hovering up.
I also use cheese cubes - especially cheese that is not very smelly, like inexpensive supermarket Emmental, or similar. I've never had a problem with it getting stuck in the mouth - but I do have a very greedy dog that gulps her treats down immediately . The main reason I don't use very smelly treats is that it can (apparently) confuse their sense of smell for a short while, so could theoretically interfere with searching.
The only time treats sticking to the top of the mouth is a problem for me is short, fast, clicker retrieves. And I'm usually doing this in a specific place - kitchen, garden, sat down on a log. There is no other drill that I know of that is fast enough to create the problem and for which you need to use food (switch retrieves use the other dummy as the reward).
One specific instance this morning was when I was working on how Shadow holds the dummy (he has a tendency to use his front teeth rather than his whole mouth). So, I'm sat on the floor, I place the dummy on the floor, he grabs it, if it's held properly, click (he drops it), treat. Try again. So it's not super-fast rapid delivery. When I was with Helen, it was happening for using the dummy alongside a hand target to work on delivery to hand. So, throw the dummy, have the dog (Willow that time) chase it without asking for steadiness. When she brings it back anywhere near my hand, click, she drops it and gets a treat. Try again. Again, not massively rapid-fire.
I use dried fried liver for Fred. He only has it when we are training, which make is special. Very cheap pig liver only about 80p per packet last for around 5 days cut up into very small pieces.
On the first example, this is the same as fast reps. As soon as the dog has the treat he can return to the task to get another one. You can wait until the dog licks his lips to show the treat has gone (that's what Charlie does) before you offer the dummy again, or you can move to dry treats. In the second example, this exactly what I was talking about in short clicker retrieves. It is this exercise that is too fast for soft treats. You have to sort of put the dummy away between reps to get the dog to think "oh, I'll eat then". It's best to use dry treats for this but make sure water is available.
It does not matter what soft treat you try, in these clicker training exercises that Fiona is doing lots of dogs "store" the treat in their mouths, it's not the stickiness of the treat. You need something that can't be stored - a large, dry, square, treat is the thing.
Right. I have a plan. I'm not entirely convinced that my two hold any more store in a piece of ham than they do in a breadstick. They seem to love the crunch of the breadstick. So I'm going to do a test with them at my earliest convenience to see if they choose the ham over the stick. If, as I suspect, they don't really care, I'll move on to using them. They're perfect because I can hear when it's been eaten!
Fish4Dogs don't deliver internationally, and I'm sure I can make them cheaper myself, so I'm going to give it a go this weekend. White fish + rice, how difficult can it be?
