Training Treats - Page 2

Yes I feed her either 1/2 or her whole dinner prior to training for the same reasons. :o)  I only feed 1/2 her dinner if it's going to be a short time before training.  Where do you ge the squeezey tubes at????  I would like to try one.

Teri  

Just a thought,

I cut hot dogs into "pea" size pieces, shove a hand full in my mouth and drop one to him when I need to treat. This accomplishes more than just a reward. I started out on the floor to get good focus, then after I mastered the floor, I move up to my knees, then standing bent over, then standing strait, and DROPPING the treats to her. then your hands are not mauled. It has worked best for me, and they never focus on your hands, only your face.

The only issue I have had with this, getting BONKED when he is over zealous but I corrected that right away.... And my girls thinking I am weird, and have hot dog breath....

Teri- I use the frozen bil-jac (thawed of course) for training treats so I can make appropriate sized balls as needed, and I wear leather gloves. That way I can make the reward variable on the fly (larger or smaller bits).  Usually I'll work on getting a gentler bite out of my hands at home or in a less stimulating envrionment too - by making a fist and not opening it until the dog is not mauling my hand. If they get crazy, my hand clamps shut. Treat taking etiquette is big for me - I get too distracted by a hand mauling to want to even continue to train. In SAR, my male used to nearly maul his victims as a puppy (under 6 months) once he completed a runaway, and we had to work on reward etiquette with him. He was just SO excited, jumping on them and trying to dig out the toys and treats, but toning it down never decreased his drive. Shannon :)

Thanks for so much good info guys.  She is Great taking food at home but yes when excited she gets too rough.  I'll try the hand clamping shut & see if she gets the message, along with an EASY command.  I tried the hot dogs from the mouth but I started off standing up,  she missed them or they bounced off her face, etc. & then she went after them & obviously was interested in finding the food instead of working. :o(  I will try your progressive method & see if the two of us can build our skills for that. :o)  I just hope I don't get my face eaten off. LOL  I've seen others spit food/treats out & thought now that is very cleaver!!!!  It looks much easier than it is!!!!!  I am normally a very quick study and good right off the bat, this is NOT one of those situations!!!!! :o(

But I won't give up.  Thanks again for all the great suggestions.

Teri

A friend of mine did "attention" training with her obedience dogs, and used to hold the small pieces of hotdog or cheese in her mouth... the reward was spit to the dog.  This absolutely focused the dog on her face.  I haven't tried it myself, but it does seem a great way to keep your hands free, focus them on your face, and reward the dog all at one time.  And you can also have a lil snack if you feel yourself in need... lol

Teri:  Listen carefully to your auntievenom, she is right about frozen Bil-Jac, it is the real deal as far as dogs are concerned.  I also like it because it's so malleable, easy to pinch off a bit in a nanosecond.

Unfortunately those horrible and uncaring folks at  Bil-Jac refuse to take pitty on the rest of us and won't sell their FROZEN product everywhere, (they sell the dry stuff everywhere but it is not even close to what you want), and therefore  many of us can't get it.  So if you can't get it, this will do the trick.  It's not as good but runs a close second.  Buy one of those giant bags of boneless skinless chicken breasts at the supermarket.  Stick as many as will fit  on top of a paper bag, toss in your microwave & nuke them  until they are dry as jerky.  Toss them in a freezer bag & throw them in the freezer.  When you get ready to go training, stick a couple bird boobs in your pocket.  Easy to dole out, and not slippery at all. 

Spitting hotdogs is ok but they taste so greasy and gross.  If the dog learns it is ONLY rewarded when it is in 100% correct position, from the tip of it's head to the position of it's body, you will not have a problem with forging or crowding, you could have it's ball decorated with hotdogs & bounce them off his head but he will remain in correct position, AND you won't have to put those nasty ass hot dogs in your mouth!!!

If you do decide to go the spitting hotdog route, the trick is to never, ever let the dog go after a hotdog it misses.  Never.  If he misses and trys to get it off the ground or trys to look for it, uh uh, no sir, nope, nada,  keep moving & correct him back to you.  A true chow hound will start to get really good at getting them very quickly - and will make you look like an excellent spitter!

Thanks I'll try the Chicken jerky that sounds healthy for them too. :o)  Where can you get the frozen bil-Jac?  Have you heard of making liver treats for the dogs?  My agility instructor gave me a recipe but I haven't made it yet because the chicken, beef & lamb log roll treats have worked great until now.  I'm not thrilled using the hotdogs or putting them in my mouth, I agree they are rather nasty tasting.  I leave Sun. morning for a disaster seminar in Miss. and need to pack treats for Audi & baby Carney.  I'll make some of the chicken jerky for the trip and see how they like it.  

I try to use food for obedience with occasional breaks to throw her tubes for her.  I use a tug as her reward when she finds a victim/person/target and they play tug with her.  I thought it would be better for her to use different rewards when training for USAR vs. training for Schutzhund to help seperate her work .  

Okay I understand and agree about not letting her go after what they misses that hits the ground.  Question, I have seen people put their dogs in a walking sit and/or down and upon returning to them feed them.  When they are in the down, they throw food at their front feet & on the ground.  Won't this encourage them to go after anything they miss or that is on the ground too???  I'm thinking I'd be better off giving her a big treat (jack pot) to chew on for a bit instead of throwing treats on the ground at her feet.  What are your thoughts on that?    

Teri 

Teri:  I'm not clear on what you mean about throwing the food at the dogs feet/ground, I haven't seen anyone do that, so I hesitate to comment on it, since I don't understand why they are doing it.  Are you saying that during obedience, when they do a sit out of motion or a down out of motion they toss food down when they return to the dog?  Personally, I have only used verbal praise when returning my dog, or a little tug (after release command)  when teaching those exercises.  Maybe some of our more experienced members can chime in here to give some advise.

When I'm in Oklahoma I buy FROZEN bil-Jac at Walmart!  If I were you, I would go to the company website to get their phone number then call them and ask if it's sold where you live, and if so, what retailers carry it.

Yes, when they return to the dog in the sit out of motion or down out of motion they give it food.  When it is laying on the ground they throw it at the dogs front feet & they eat it off the ground.  My thoughts after reading your comment about not letting them get anything they miss off the ground, is that this would be a similar situation in the dogs mind and they woudl think it's okay to eat off the ground. 

I know there are more ways to skin a cat than one.  I would prefer to eliminate creating something I have to correct later, if you know what I mean. :o)  

Thanks Teri

If I remember right the Sheila Booth book Schutzhund Obedience Training in Drive is an example of one method that uses the feeding between the front legs, and from the ground, to reinforce the down postion.   Food is dropped on the ground between front legs to help pup hold the down position.