So my lab Sora is going on nine weeks. Struggling as expected. Crate training, House breaking, Clicker training, ect. (Post Puppy Depression ) My issue is based on his food rations for the day, The breeder had him on 'puppy chow' crap, so I swapped to the high end quality kibble immediately mixed with Raw lamb and beef. (moving to full RAW Diet when more obedient to free up my time.) It's seems impossible to accomplish all these things. The Clicker alone is using up 40% avg of his day's food. Then there's the random 'dog treat' treats in the crate, the stuffed Kongs, the rewards for coming out of the Crate quite. Plus supposedly feeding him in the crate. Bla bla bla, But I digress. If the primary motivator in dogs is food followed by attention, how on earth does 2 cups of dry kibble last?
Another big motivator for dogs is play - either a toy or a game with you, like chase. A reinforcer can also be a "life reward". So, sit for the lead to come off and the reward is freedom, look at me and you can go sniff some pee, sit and I open the door so you can go in the garden etc. My adult dog gets about half of his dry food from a bowl, and the other half we use throughout the day - either on walks or training games in the house. He also gets other treats - like chicken, sausage and cheese. If you have a toy motivated dog, then this might be a stronger reinforcer than food.
