My Dog Won’t Train for Food (and how to fix it!) // Fixing Food Motivation Issues
Вставка
- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- 👉🏽 Sign Up For my FREE Dog Training Foundations Mini-Course: www.doggyu.com/
🎉 JOIN the DOGGY•U Community! (150+ Exclusive Training Videos!) / doggyu
🦮 Service Dog 101 Course: courses.doggyu...
🐕🦺 Behavior Interruptions & Alerts Course: courses.doggyu...
#positivereinforcement #positivereinforcementtraining #fooddrive #workingdog #puppytraining #servicedogtrainer #servicedogtraining
"But my dog won't work for food!"
I've gotten this comment many times, along with questions on how a handler can help their dog want to take food rewards.
And I'm here to help!
In this comprehensive video we're going to talk about the things you might unknowingly be doing that squash your dog's food motivation, as well as how to get even the most food-indifferent dog to enjoy food reinforcement. I'll give you dog training exercises that will help you teach your dog that working for food is both fun and motivating! You'll walk away with a toolbox full of dog training tips and tricks to make it easier and faster to train your dog!
Videos Mentioned:
Shaping Auto Harness Loading: • Train YOUR Dog to SELF...
Food Toy Stuffing (how and use): • The Easiest Tool to Pr...
How To Structure A Training Session: • How To TRAIN ANY DOG: ...
Trail Mix: • BEST Dog Training Trea...
Food Dispensing Training Robot: amzn.to/3VasKrl
Training Treats:
🥩 Oma's Pride Turkey Hearts, Lamb Lung, Chicken Chunks: shop.omaspride...
Use Code: DOGGYU to get 30% off your first order! #omasaffiliate
👉🏽 Happy Howies Meat Log: amzn.to/3qFmMAa
👉🏽 Beef Liver: amzn.to/3B7VVS0
👉🏽 Rawwble: amzn.to/3BHlMlc
👉🏽 Vital Essentials: amzn.to/3S2F0aq
Treat Pouches:
👉🏽 Ollydog Large Adventure Pouch: amzn.to/3BPKG2d
👉🏽 Ollydog small treat pouch: amzn.to/3RZqr7k
👉🏽 Ruffwear Fanny Pouch: amzn.to/3diMCa4
👉🏽 Ruffwear Treat Pouch: amzn.to/3RMObfj
My Favorite Dog Training Books:
👉🏽 www.amazon.com...
Leashes
👉🏽 Bold Lead Design Leather: amzn.to/3AdhXm6
👉🏽 Blue-9 Multi-Function Leash: amzn.to/3Lj1iEo
New videos every week!
**As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Click on the above link supports the creation of these videos at no cost to you. I receive a small payment even if you don't purchase the products shown here.
Connect with us on Social Media!
Website:
www.doggyu.com
Facebook:
/ doggyutraining
Instagram:
doggy.u
TikTok
@doggy.u
Blog:
www.doggyu.com/blog/
Do you struggle with a dog that isn't super food motivated? Have you tried any of these strategies to increase motivation?
Some of my other cool stuff 👇
👉🏽 Sign Up For my FREE Dog Training Foundations Mini-Course: www.doggyu.com/
🎉 JOIN the DOGGY•U Community! (150+ Exclusive Training Videos!) patreon.com/doggyu
🦮 Service Dog 101 Course: courses.doggyu.com/p/service-...
🐕🦺 Behavior Interruptions & Alerts Course: courses.doggyu.com/p/bia
Thank you so many trainers use “starving dolphin training” and it’s not right!!!! Thank you for saying so!!!!!
This is so helpful. I'm retraining a hunting dog who was trained with play reward and an e-collar to be my service dog. He's used to being fed in his crate and is hesitant to take food from me. He has so very many of the traits I need in a SD, but obviously throwing a ball is not an appropriate reward in church, stores, Dr's offices, etc.
I'd love to see more videos about training and retraining young adult dogs. Beau is 2.5, and has the puppy basics down, and was a very competent gun dog, but he didn't love hunting, and he is more suited to alert and response work.
Fantastic tips! Some I've been working on already (yay, my dog will finally eat treats in his crate!) but there are some new ones in here that I'm excited to try. And the 'that's what she said' joke was perfect! Lol. But seriously, this is on point as a video for my SDIT, who is already great in public spaces, very calm and good at DPT and hallucination checks, and hopefully will one day be ready to tackle seizure alert training and more. We're still struggling with walking past other dogs, whom he always wants to greet and love on, and he still hates the crate, but there's progress in both. Thanks for everything you do and I can't wait to see if we can gradually turn my not-very-food-motivated Anatolian into an attentive, treat-loving pup!
I'm glad you appreciated the Michael Scott joke hehehe
This is so helpful! This is definitely a topic I don't see covered often
Thank you! It's one that gets asked about a lot but I also haven't seen covered a ton. There's so much that can be done to increase a dog's interest in training with food. And being able to reinforce with food while out and about can be so valuable!
Excellent information, as always :)
Thank you!
The Newfie I'm currently training is not food driven. Toys not really either. I just found out his new treat is SPAM. He will work for treats at home,but out in public...he just wants to work.for love, and attention.
Excellent video, packed with lots of good info! I am sharing with my dog training students!
Aw thanks so much @ilovecanines ! This is the longest video I've ever made (which means it took sooooo long to edit) so I really appreciate you sharing it
Really interesting video! I have a 14 month old kelpie that tends not to want to eat away from home, even if he doesn't seem over threshold to me. He can offer me attention and do his known behaviors but he will often take the treat and drop it or even choke on it. He is happy to tug his rope toy in agility class but will often spit out treats. Sometimes he will eat a treats off the ground but not at the moment I meant for him to eat them. Even at home he doesn't want a treat if we are playing with something like a ball or frisbee. I also have an easier time playing with a toy with him somewhere while he notices other dogs or kids nearby than I do using treats with something like LAT. Bowling the treats does definitely help and maybe doing that more will help him be able to eat more from my hand. I get the feeling that even the pressure of learning something new takes his appetite away a little even at home, so I do have to keep sessions very short and try to be as clear as possible.
As much as I want to build his food drive as much as I can, I also feel like I need more information about how to use toys to help socialize dogs in new environments and cope with reactivity. It didn't occur to me until just recently that playing with a toy while other dogs or kids or cars or whatever are nearby may be helping my dog desensitize to those things.
Herding dogs can be so much in their head and perceive even little things as pressure. Sometimes putting the dog into toy/arousal mode can block out everything else that's going on. This is useful sometimes for sure! Other times, it doesn't address the underlying issue. (it's kind of case dependent unfortunately so hard to give suggestions). But I might try a big of the movement with food ideas in the video, as well as "eat food, get thing thrown". Just make sure they chew/swallow before you toss the toy. Use small bits of food. I hope that helps!
Popcorn if just plain is actually really healthy. Obviously within limits, but it's high in fiber and low in calories if you don't add butter, flavoring, or salt - none of those which you should give your dog anyway. But I love that you suggest popcorn!
Hi Laura! Thank you so much for everything you do, I am (hopefully) getting my puppy in the beginning of July and have been a patreon member for the last few months. The material you put out is just top notch. I am getting a very small dog (brussels griffon), and was wondering what you think about small service dogs on furniture. I am hoping it is okay, especially as gentle pressure therapy is one of the things that I think will be most helpful for me. Thanks so much again, and have a great day!
So getting on your home furniture is totally fine! However, I’d be really thoughtful about tasking out in public that involves them being on any public furniture. In general, I would recommend they be fully on your lap if you are using them to task in public. But that’s just my own personal opinion. Hope that helps!
Glad you’re enjoying the videos and thank you for being a Patreon member! 💜
@@DoggyU Thank you Laura!! So exactly on my lap or on the ground? I can absolutely do that and it makes perfect sense. 😁
I've been doing things all wrong with my mini poodle. I've been trying to get him to like grooming and brushing with food. This has answered so many of my questions about his pickiness, or disinterest. ((Sometimes even in Chicken!!!)) Is there a video on conditioning a dog to something like brushing and grooming? I've put him on the table and given him food, but I don't know how to have him enjoy brushing. He has boundaries with his body, he's not a fan of being manipulated and I try and respect that. But he can't have mats, he's curly, and he has to be brushed. I've been doing it since he was tiny. (Part of a rescue born in my room, so I mean really tiny, like 4 weeks)
It can be so hard when you have a sensitive dog and it's so easy to "poison" food. (ask me how I know :))
I would look into "cooperative care" resources. I don't personally have any good ones on this channel yet, but you should be able to find some other channels that do.
My dog only likes Prosciutto wrapped mozzarella.Oi!
If you're training a service dog and don't want them eating food from strangers or off the ground, how would that be impacted by bowling or scattering food on the ground? Do you have specific training ideas for those sorts of situations?
Eating food off the ground on cue does not increase scavenging. So, I recommend putting your "eat food off the ground" behavior on verbal cue (I use "find it" and "scatter") Doing so actually increases impulse control around food on the ground because you haven't cued the eating of it. I have a video over on Patreon that talks about reinforcement strategy that might be helpful: www.patreon.com/posts/may-deep-dive-104734939
As well as how I teach a leave it, and even an auto-leave it for dropped food: www.patreon.com/posts/leave-it-and-for-72110249
Hi for traveling with dog on a plane do you have to take leash off or can u keep it on if it is not metal for tsa
You typically have the choice of keeping their gear on and then having them pat down after going through, or taking all gear off and having them walk through. Be sure your dog has practiced the pat down if you choose to leave gear on. This video might be helpful: ua-cam.com/video/hhWofXJmETg/v-deo.html
I love this! My dog thankfully doesn't have food issues (he LOVES his kibble more than anything in the world), but it gave me more fun ideas of how to give his food to him! 💛
Yes! There's so much you can do, even for food motivated dogs, to make training even more fun!
Watched in full and liked. Great job Laura! Love the small sprinkles of science throughout.
Thank you! Cheers!
This has been a huge hurdle with my SD. He's never been food motivated, doesn't like foods most dogs like (ie peanut butter, cheese, hot dogs, etc). I did the usual "just increase the value of the treats" strategy, but that was a losing battle too. He doesn't like toys much so that doesn't work well yet for a reinforcer, but has never been free fed, is healthy, and a perfect weight according to the vet.
You helped with some suggestions for this in the Patreon group a few months ago. We've made SO much progress, and it's something we'll continue to work on. We'll definitely play this game of a treat/treats in each room, then move it outside and go from there. Based on your previous suggestions, the first thing I did was to give fewer treats, very few "jackpots" (so they wouldn't be so ordinary). All meals in a puzzle bowl. Roughly 8-10 treats worth of training before each meal, easy things to be successful, but before eating. More soft/fresh foods along with the kibble, paying attention to calorie/nutrition totals. He does like chasing, so bowling the treat away, or tossing it for him to catch has been incredibly helpful. (Although now I find out just how many things there are in my house a treat can roll under and get lost, LOL.) THANK YOU!!!
LOL to the last part! I'm glad some of my suggestions are working! Sometimes it take a bit of time if they've been in one habit for a long while. Also, try putting a pool noodle under the edge of the couch so nothing can roll under there ;)
@@DoggyU I'm going to need a lot of pool noodles, LOL!
@@CA-kv5wd 😂😂😂
I think my feelings of conflict re: ending a training session cause mine to go too long. I don’t want the end to be punishing. So I try to wear Trip out with training-associated play. Your cheery “all done,” a pat on the shoulder, and then walking away…I’ll try this. Then another quick session real soon. Lately we’ve been playing outside of training sessions, just for the fun of it. He loves this. So MUCH great info here! Thanks!!
I think you're right to be worried about end of session protocols and some of this really depends on the dog. Some dogs I will just "all done" and walk away, while others I might cookie scatter and walk away. I often end play sessions with a cookie scatter, or allowing the dog to possess the toy for a little while, again depending on the dog and what I'm doing.
But finding an end of session protocol that works for you and your dog is definitely an important part of not overdoing a session.
My lab was not very food motivated. He was okay with it, but fetch was the best. He also loved affection. Food had to be pretty high value for him to like it (chicken, esp.)
He did end up getting more food motivated with age, but...not intentionally. I really didn't love him being food motivated, tbh. He wasn't *not* food motivated, he just didn't see it as high value compared to getting to run and fetch.
I look forward to trying roll, chase return exercise.
It has taken time for not picking up food from the ground (very necessary when working). Now I feel more confident with Epsilon's ability and understanding of not taking food she might find I have started toss and get it. Her joy and enthusiasm improved and, as you explain so well, that really does matter.
One surprising food love Eps has is cooked broccoli. She loves it.
Cooked sweet potato, carrots, pumpkin are all good value.
She will pick out even the tiniest bits of spinach in anything and put it aside. She also has a strong aversion to peanut butter.
I love my funny little Epsilon AD.
I also love the extremely useful, smart, clear and helpful handler learning to cue advice you share.
Thank you DoggyU.
💞🐾
That's so funny because CoolWhip doesn't love most veggies but she really likes cooked broccoli too!!
Thanks for responding. Eps having things in common with CoolWhip is lovely to know. CoolWhip is awesome. 🥦
Eps is good at a lot of things but she is really very clumsy at catching things that are dropped or thrown to her.
I bought some broccoli puffs (veggie chip like snacks) today in the hope they may help her improve her mouth eye coordination. Popcorn sounded good but broccoli puffs are something I eat too and she is too tiny to eat a whole packet.
🐾
Thanks Laura!
😊
When training with a hose, make sure you're not using gray (partially treated) water!
Hi Monica - I am not suggesting training with a garden hose in this video, I am suggesting putting low sodium chicken broth mixed with tap water into a ketchup bottle to train with.
@@DoggyU Thank you for the correction. I thought I saw a scene of a dog drinking from a garden hose.
Hi! I've come from the attention video! Thank you so much for pointing me here, definitely some useful things for me to implement from here, I will take it right back to basics and try to get her excited for food! She can often be reluctant to take the food from our hands so we will get over that little hurdle first 😊
So glad it was helpful! Start with excitement for food (tossed, not from your hand) and then work up to hand feeding :)
@@DoggyU will do! I had some chicken and cheese left over that she did take when I tossed it on the floor tonight so that's a good start! 😁
I don't believe all dogs should be trained to be food motivated.
Than you probably don’t need to watch this video 😜👍
@@DoggyU I did not watch it. I do appreciate some of your other videos and have left a couple of positive comments with no response. It feels a little disheartening in light of this that you took a moment out of your day to be dismissive here. The critique that not all dogs need or should be guided towards food motivation for training is valid, especially in the light of you taking an expert role in the field and growing a following. Wishing you all the best, including the ability to respond to critique- a marker, in my opinion, of maturity.
@@HollyWolfStudios Hey Holly! Sorry I missed your other comments in the past. UA-cam seems to send me rather random emails of comments, but not all comments. And yes, I was being a little snarky with my lighthearted joke. Sorry it turned you off from the channel. Wishing you the best on your training journey!
Thankfully my Malinois was smart enough to realize the difference between my "ouch" being hurt, and never associated it with food. Next time i just tell him to take it nice and he listens. I don't entirely know how I trained the "gentle" i feel like it just kinda came about.
But the one thing I did when i brought him home was never buy a food bowl. Though his food drive was never really a problem. He came from the factory always hungry 😂.