Young Mr Stanley and I made our grand return to training classes last night, he did really well and it gave me just the kick up the bum I needed to really start re-focusing on his training. This morning I had some extra time before work so I thought I'd use some of Stanley's breakfast and do a quick 10 minute training session with him. WORST IDEA EVER! He was so distracted because he wanted his breakfast so much, everything was rushed just to get the treat and his leave it was very hit and miss. Lesson learnt - do not come between a hungry Labrador and their breakfast. Breakfast first next time
I read a study which concluded that dogs work better for food treats after they have eaten, rather than when they're hungry. It was a rather limited study, but it makes sense - some dogs just get too frantic when they're hungry to actually stop and think. Here it is if you're interested. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0376635712002008 Like I said, it's remarkably limited, but there you go
I've found the same thing, one time when I tried to do some training with the big reward of Obi's dinner sitting on the bench. He just couldn't concentrate. I learned the same lesson
Charlie is fine to work for his breakfast. Betsy is not. Charlie can fetch a pheasant pelt dummy and put it in my hand for his breakfast Betsy can barely keep her bottom still on her mat. The thing is, that Charlie fetching a pheasant pelt dummy for his breakfast does not mean that he will fetch a pheasant pelt dummy in any other circumstance. But Betsy will sit on her mat because doing so has been rewarded by her food arriving. I guess the biggest distractions are also the biggest reward. Charlie is a lot less rewarded by his breakfast than Betsy.
Shadow absolutely cannot sit still for his breakfast. He shakes from excitement (he'd tell you it was hunger) and his little feet don't stop moving. It makes me smile, so I let him get away with it
When we first started puppy class, they suggested that we wait until after class to give them breakfast. I tried it once. Worst. Idea. Ever. Ella needs to have a full belly (obviously we're not working immediately after food) before she can concentrate (so do I ) otherwise she just bounces around giving me lots of random bits and pieces in hope that she's given me the right result and she can have a treat.
This is interesting. Does have a full stomach affect recall ? I was told that recall works better if the dog is hungry. I usually feed Boris after walks in the belief that he will be hungry and eager for treats and so come quicker. Any thoughts, experiences would be appreciated.
Coco always has breakfast first thing, then a walk. He's recall is reasonable, though not perfect - he is distractable by smells. His loose lead was appalling this morning (we were in a "new" place though), I wonder what it'd be like if he was hungry. We always feed him an hour or two before training. Tried once NOT feeding - it didn't help, hard to say if he was worse though..
We are currently in a recall specific training class and we are supposed to feed them breakfast first (breakfast is still 2.5 hours before the class though). She does really well in class...when we go out to practice in the early mornings at the park (before breakfast) she is OK but things are so exciting that no delicious treat can beat, no matter how hungry she is. For Quinn, the highest value reward is a ball, so it doesn't really matter if she is hungry if we use a ball reward.
When training, it may do. In that, if your dog is coming to you expressly expecting there to be a treat, then he's likely going to return faster if he's hungrier than if he's full. That's a bit different to expecting your dog to concentrate and work things out when he's hungry, which can lead to them just chucking all sorts of behaviours at you in order to get the reward. Of course, the idea isn't that your dog recalls to you because he's hungry and wants a treat. Otherwise a recall would never work when he's not hungry. Eventually, there shouldn't be any process in the dog's head that goes, "Hmm, how hungry am I? Is it worth leaving this fabulous <whatever> in order to go and get a piece of cheese?". What you're aiming for is what's called a trained response; that is, he responds regardless of whether he's hungry or not or what he anticipated the reward will be. Which takes time and lot of proofing
When I was taking Pongo to agility classes, I once (just once) did not give him his dinner first. I was quite sure that it would improve his focus on me during class. Oh dear.
Was this - 100%. It was like a frantic - sit, no she doesn't want that. Lie down, no not that. I'll wave my paw at her - that will be it.. No? Hmpffffff Poor Stanley
I never feed my dogs before training - it isn't a deliberate thing to have them hungry, more that the trainer I go to insists on such a high rate of reinforcement for new things that my dogs very quickly eat the equivalent of their breakfast! Which is only a handful of kibble each anyway. I can use that for 5 minutes of stop whistle training (just easily used that for Betsy's early stop whistle 2 hours ago at class....).
That's a really good point. I should mention that Ella's breakfast is significantly smaller before training
