# Not food motivated to train...HELP!



## malteselove (Jun 1, 2007)

I've had Koda in puppy classes and yes, he knows how to sit, lay down and wait for a bit, before getting a treat...However, when I'm in a different enviornment (like outside- walking etc.,) he doesn't listen to a word I say. I try to get him distracted by the people walking by (or leaves blowing past) with a yummy treat--so that I can then have him at least sit~ but he doesn't care a bit for any treat that I come up with in these situations. If Koda is fixated on something, forget it...He's not going to care WHAT I have in my hand! Do any of you have this training problem? If so, what have you done?

Thanks a million~


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## ShilohsMom (Jun 25, 2007)

I don't know how old Koda is but if he is young his age could have something to do with disregarding the commands whether there is a treat involved or not. I give Shiloh commands to obey several times during the day particularly before I give his meals. This reinforces my alpha dog position in the home. Even though he knows the commands and what each means they like to fight a law and test you during different stages of puppyhood. Maybe the more time your Koda spends out and about the more he will get used to it and focus on your wishes more.


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## malteselove (Jun 1, 2007)

> I don't know how old Koda is but if he is young his age could have something to do with disregarding the commands whether there is a treat involved or not. I give Shiloh commands to obey several times during the day particularly before I give his meals. This reinforces my alpha dog position in the home. Even though he knows the commands and what each means they like to fight a law and test you during different stages of puppyhood. Maybe the more time your Koda spends out and about the more he will get used to it and focus on your wishes more.[/B]


Thanks for your reply~
Koda is 4 1/2 months old. I take him everywhere with me--yet his barking at strangers is still a HUGE issue for me. It gets very depressing to have him bark uncontrollably at most of the new people he meets. I still have no idea how to get him to stop the barking. Which brings me back to my original question...Not being food motivated, doesn't help.
Thanks again for replying though~


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## ShilohsMom (Jun 25, 2007)

Sorry I could not be more help. That would be any issue for me as well. Do you correct him when he is barking at strangers? I am sure alot of people here can help you on this. Shiloh is a church mouse in public and the same age so I am no help at all. I do hope it gets better for you.


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## malteselove (Jun 1, 2007)

> Sorry I could not be more help. That would be any issue for me as well. Do you correct him when he is barking at strangers? I am sure alot of people here can help you on this. Shiloh is a church mouse in public and the same age so I am no help at all. I do hope it gets better for you.[/B]



Thanks anyway~ I do hope someone will come up with something that will help. 
I do try to correct him, (without yelling, as this would only be adding to the noise) yet nothing helps.


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## Scoobydoo (May 26, 2005)

Oh I know how annoying that barking can be, Koko was like that when out, but seems to have quietened down once out and about lately, but we have the barking issue in the house. I have found the squirt bottle the only remedy with both him and Scooby for uncontrolled yapping for no reason, and also when the doorbell goes and someone enters the house. They dislike the squirt in the butt they get so that usually is successful. We also have one in the truck because they are yappy there too, but once we take them out of the truck they do stop.
I don't know what treats you offer, but if you can find something Koda really loves more than anything it should help. I use freeze dried green tripe with Koko, he now sits, waits for my command to eat, both his food and treats.
Be warned though the tripe stinks but they love it, Koko will do anything for just a taste and it works extremely well with training for him. He is still a little chit, it's his nature :HistericalSmiley:


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## Max & Rocky (May 20, 2004)

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At 4 1/2 months, they are still very young and very much a puppy. Ours mellowed out and calmed down a lot around 12 to 15 months. it may not help as a reward in your particular situation but we also found treats were not that big of a deal for ours... We actually found excited praise to be something they really wanted more than even food...


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## jmm (Nov 23, 2004)

Nope, there is NOTHING wrong with him. He is a normal puppy. 

Dogs DO NOT generalize behaviors. That means if you learn to sit in one room, the dog does not generalize that to another place. Nor are all dogs heavily food motivated. Nervousness can decrease their attention to rewards. 

So here we go....


1. Not all treats are created equal. Just like broccoli is not better than chocolate for most of us, each dog has preferences and asigns different values to different rewards. Sometimes, you need to get a yummier treat. Where as a soft dog treat is good in class, you might need some extra stinky hot dog outdoors...or a toy to tug on...or a forbidden goodie (toilet paper to tear up). I've even used candy bar wrappers to let the dog mouth for a second. Make a list of 20 things your dog likes rating most valuable to least valuable. Those top ones are what you need to pull out for the tough situations. 

Some examples for Soda:
Peas
Dry dog cookie
Dog food roll
Tomatos
Salmon
Dog food
Rope tug toy
Leash tug
Playing bitey-face with mom's hands
Fetch
Ok to get on the bed/couch

So in dog class, anything from leash tug up is good enough for Soda. In the park, the dry treats come before moist. These are just things I had to learn trial and error to reward Soda in different places. I save the top ones for the most challenging things.

2. Dogs don't generalize one behavior to different places. This means you need to teach it over in many places. If you've noticed outdoors is the hardest place, find 4 easier places for him to learn it in first, each building on distraction. If it is a place he should definitely be able to work and he ignores you, say "uh oh" in an even, calm voice and put him in his crate in the car/house for 10 minutes. Then try again. My dogs end up in places like window factories, the vet, pet stores, home depot, parks, training class, outside the house, the dentist...you get the idea. With puppies, I try to visit 2 new places every week just for socialization. Sometimes its just another neighborhood, but it is still a different place. My Maltese pups are usually 16+ weeks when they come home, so his age is perfect to get going. 

3. For the barking, I say "uh oh" in a calm, even voice and put the dog up in their kennel. You bark, you don't get to be in that situation. NO rewards for barking. That even means you talking other than the uh oh and his command to kennel. No rewards. Do try to get his attention before the person comes and reward him for good behavior (like sitting) as they come up. This is reinforcing a behavior you want in the situation. The reason I do not recommend correcting is because a correction has three parts. You have to have ALL three for the correction to change his behavior
-The correction is harsh enough that he recognizes it as a correction
-The correction is immediate to the behavior
-The correction is immediately followed by an opportunity to perform the correct behavior and be rewarded for it
If your dog keeps barking when you say no and restarts immediately after your correction, you aren't going to make progress because you were not able to tell him what the right behavior was. Its a waste of your time and confuses your dog.


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## malteselove (Jun 1, 2007)

> Nope, there is NOTHING wrong with him. He is a normal puppy.
> 
> Dogs DO NOT generalize behaviors. That means if you learn to sit in one room, the dog does not generalize that to another place. Nor are all dogs heavily food motivated. Nervousness can decrease their attention to rewards.
> 
> ...


WOW!!! Can I be the FIRST to buy your book someday? 
Thank you for the great advise! I'll try it!


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