Bully stick as dog reward? (low motivation otherwise)

@Jo Laurens ,

This is getting a bit hackneyed. I am not at all ignoring you and have been nothing but grateful, but you seem to enjoy berating me for simply trying my hardest to come to the right decisions. From my perspective Minka is doing just fine. I’ve been training with kibble, treats and the bully stick depending on how I am reading her at the time, and she continues to improve every day in my eyes.

The last two days Minka ate all her dry food in one sitting save for one meal, and I took it away, according to your advice which I have not once actually disagreed with. She’s also eating some kibble from her Kong which she loves. Her appetite is very much improving, but it’s not like flipping a switch. I had just been more concerned the last couple weeks with making sure she eats enough for her health, and again I have to take the opinion of the vet more seriously than anyone else’s, including yours. I know you fancy yourself a professional trainer, and I don’t doubt for a moment the value your experience has given you, but I am the one seeing my dog everyday and my vet is a licensed professional who has actually seen her as well. Unfortunately you tend to be a bit dogmatic and condescending, and all I am here for is some friendly advice.

For example, you criticize me for when I was trying to make the food more enticing yet at the same time stress that I make sure she eats “her balanced meals with vitamins, minerals and nutrients.” It’s not so simple when sometimes it’s difficult to have my cake and eat it too. I think it is safe to say no dog or trainer is perfect. If you’ve “seen it all before, many times,” then you should know that sometimes a dog owner/trainer has to prioritize. Sometimes it’s just a matter of feeling the dog out, and always adjusting myself if the perfect decision was not made the first time or first few times. I like to think my dog and I improve together every day, and I am here to try to continue that and not let things get out of hand in case there are some things I don’t realize right away that others like yourself can point out.

Not once did I mean to suggest my dog was particularly idiosyncratic or an exception to any rule. I’ve just tried to describe here our circumstances with as much particularity as I can in the hopes I might learn something new and get some friendly feedback.

I originally posted asking what others thought about using a bully stick as a reward. I never tried to suggest I thought I was reinventing the wheel with that idea. I just did not see anything written on the topic after searching the internet so I thought I’d pose the question myself.

Again, I appreciate your frequent responses and your sincerity, but you really do tend to extrapolate to what I think are the worst conclusions given what I literally wrote. I can take criticism but you’ve ignored everything I’ve said repeatedly about her appetite improving, even if it isn’t perfect yet. I’ve stopped leaving food out indefinitely, but sometimes without a little extra encouragement it will become a major hassle, feeding and bathroom times will be of etc. For example, if her last meal is too late in the evening she will bark to go out in the early morning hours. I just would not comfortable with only feeding about a cup and a half for the day, either.

Additionally, I still need to be able to train her even if she isn’t that hungry, especially in distracting settings. I’d much rather get a little training in where she actually disregards some random distraction even if it means I have to up the ante with the reward. I don’t abuse this, but I prefer to see her actually overcome a couple big distractions on my command instead of not getting it one day just because I limit myself to kibbles. I also don’t know why you think I give her too many treats. Although I don’t think so, I certainly may be. Like I’ve been saying, I do use kibble as the first line, so to speak. Oftentimes it works, moreso lately, but sometimes I see benefit in kicking things into second gear.

I’ll take a dog of 13 weeks who on intermittent treat-rewarding is very much pleasing me with recall, drop it, get it, fetch, off, sit, down, touch, socialization, and decent loose leash walking, even in distracted environments, in exchange for slow but steady progress in appetite which thus far has not been anywhere near catastrophic. On your advice I’ve been extra concerned that she continues to make this progress and does not regress or “train me” to a large extent, but you must understand I had a reasonable belief to prioritize that my dog get the full food intake she needs at such an early age, even if I broke a “rule” albeit infrequently and increasingly less so.

 

Going to lock this thread for a bit. Happy to open again, however, right now we seem to be going round in circles around the subject of using food as a method of positive reinforcement with a puppy, despite the excellent and qualified advice offered from several members.

A gentle reminder.....forum-guidelines-2018 these guidelines are in place to help keep us all on track.

Useful articles on the subject:

labrador-puppy-feeding-faq

dont-let-your-dog-free-feed