Ever run into this as genetics or is it training? - Page 1

Okay, question.

I got my male when he was 5 months old. He didn't come with any formal training, at least none that I was 'charged' for or made aware of so this is a fun mystery to me.

All his life he's been picky about accepting treats from anyone but myself / my family. This week, during vacation, we've been visiting lots of wonderful, dog friendly places and people have wanted to give him a treat. I am always saying "Certainly, just don't be offended if he doesn't eat it."

Sure enough, he will politely take the dog friendly treat (trust me, these 'treats' aren't milk bones. They're hand made gourmet doggie goodies) lean down and set it on the ground and ignore it. I can pick it up and then put a quick bit of obedience on him and 'reward' him with the treat, which he then eats but he will not eat it from a stranger.

He's always been like this. Since he was 5 months old. He refuses anything offered him when he's out in public.

I know that if he had been trained specifically to ignore anything but what was put in his bowl this might explain his behavior but would he have been taught that at the early age of 5 months? Would you start that early? Or is this a natural, genetic part of his temperament?

"I can pick it up and then put a quick bit of obedience on him and 'reward' him with the treat, which he then eats but he will not eat it from a stranger."


Does that mean he wouldn't take it EVEN from you, if not given as a "reward" for an accomplished task ?


If so, then this dog was certainly trained.

Not genetics .. learned behavior. How he learned it is unknown but dogs can learn so called superstitious behaviors or conditional associations. Electric collars are really good at teaching superstitious behaviors and often create more problems than they solve. A dog has an electric collar on and gets a shock for counter surfing .. the dog believes the counter bit him or hurt him .. right outcome but wrong message. The dog fears the counter top but doesn't know that he was punished for counter surfing .. the association is jump on the counter and get bitten by the counter top. Later the dog may be very reluctant or nervous to climb on a table top or when getting some table training. A dog gets a shock for running away on a come to me command when he is near a tree .. the tree did it and the dog starts to be wary of trees. Your dog could have been conditioned to not take food from a stranger on purpose or he could have learned it by accident. Since strangers poking food at your dog is generally a bad idea I would leave him alone but don't be surprised if there is some strange behavior linked to this behavior when the vet tries to give him a pill or he has a muzzle on ... he may have learned a behavior that is not associated with what it appears to be and extends into other situations.

Would effectively 3 months be long enough to set/proof training like that?

I've never tried to reinforce it when I continued his training, I didn't need him to be that reserved.

Also to clarify, this is only when he's out in public. At home I can hand him treats and he'll happily take them.

 

To further clarify, this dog has never had a muzzle on nor has he ever had e-collar work.  He does learn quickly, yes but like I said, I have never reinforced this training or behavior and he's coming up on 7 years old.  He came to me at 5 months with this level of reserve and never changed.

3 weeks would be long enough, let alone 3 months. Sounds like you have the best of both worlds, why worry about changing it or what caused it ? What's he like being fed normally from his bowl by someone other than yourself ?

I don´t think anybody trained a puppy to refuse food from strangers without proudly telling any potential buyer, and thankfully I know knowbody who is training a puppy that young with an e-collar - that´s abuse.

Is he a picky eater? Careful as soon as he doesn´t know the food?
Does he like strangers or does he avoid them ( or not care about them )?

Guess it´s genetic behavior = not crazy about food as a whole ( espacially unknown food ), and not interested in strange people.

When you "reward" him with the unused food he had time enough to think about it = want it, and you are no stranger.

One of mine is like that. I never trained her to refuse food (had her since 7 weeks old, now 9 years). If a stranger offers her something she usually will sniff it but will seldom take it. If she does take it she will spit it out. If I pick it up and give it to her she eats it. She has always been suspicious of strangers.

So, I would say it is genetic with her.

Come to think of it, I have met a great many dogs, of many different breeds, who do exactly as ZweiGSD just described. If only met in the park or street, one does not get the opportunity to discuss it in detail, or what they are like at home etc ! But I would take any bet that MOST of the pet owners who accompany them did NOT specifically, consciously, train them to do it.

How is her food drive otherwise? From your description of how she takes it as a reward, it doesn't sound like it's that high from the get go. A lot of dogs aren't that motivated by food, might take it if their owner gives it to them, but it's not the end all be all. Throw in a stranger, and they just don't care at all. From that standpoint it might be genetic. I really don't think there is a true genetic component to her refusing it from "strangers."

Caleb would not eat food from strangers, but then he ignored them pretty much entirely. Later in life, he would take really good stuff (raw meat, etc.) from my grandma, but never anyone "random" like at the bank, out shopping, etc. He had high food drive, but not as extreme as some of my current crew- he just wasn't going to take it from strangers any more than he was going to be petted by strangers. Just didn't care. Didn't avoid attention, just didn't invite it. I certainly never trained that as a puppy. He was always a "snob" in that regard. If I told him to go ahead and eat it, he would, happily. I think it must have been accidentally trained while I was training him to defer to me in the decision-making department. He was not an easy dog and this was about safe handling. So...both genetics and training is my answer:)