treat obsessed puppy

[konasmomma09]

Kona (5mo coonhound) is really good about obeying commands when I have treats to praise him. I read before that during training you should praise with treats 4/5 times and keep verbal praise all the time. We've gotten to the point where he knows 'sit', 'down', 'come', 'break' and somewhat 'stay' when I have treats, even if I don't give him a treat as praise.

When I don't have treats, especially outdoors, I have problems commanding his attention. I know he's a puppy and gets easily distracted, so I know this is hard enough to begin with without treats. Am I trying to rush things? Should I be keeping treats on me at all times when we're playing outside? The thing is, once he knows I have treats that's all he wants. I don't give it to him and he starts barking at me. I've taught him 'no bark', and he stops barking but he'll be all over me. I've tried ignoring him, turning my back on him, etc. When I do, he'll stop, sit, and wait. Which is good, and I praise him when he does that. But as soon as I praise him for waiting patiently he's all over me again.

When I do a training session and I'm done, how do I let him know it's playtime and he's not getting anymore treats for a while? I've tried using his toys to engage him playfully...but he just sits and waits again. He's totally different than our other dog, who was all about playing in his hayday. Kona doesn't like to play (at least not the way Hunter does...fetch, tug of war, chase me, etc) and would rather lay out in the sun eating...chewing on a rawhide, sniffing me for treats, etc.

I guess I'm wondering if there's a middle ground where I can command his attention if he's about to go run into the neighbors yard and call him back and not have him all over me looking for treats. How do I know he's really learning these commands if he looks at me obviously confused when I don't have treats?

 

[Doggie07]

Kona (5mo coonhound) is really good about obeying commands when I have treats to praise him. I read before that during training you should praise with treats 4/5 times and keep verbal praise all the time. We've gotten to the point where he knows 'sit', 'down', 'come', 'break' and somewhat 'stay' when I have treats, even if I don't give him a treat as praise.

When I don't have treats, especially outdoors, I have problems commanding his attention. I know he's a puppy and gets easily distracted, so I know this is hard enough to begin with without treats. Am I trying to rush things? Should I be keeping treats on me at all times when we're playing outside? The thing is, once he knows I have treats that's all he wants. I don't give it to him and he starts barking at me. I've taught him 'no bark', and he stops barking but he'll be all over me. I've tried ignoring him, turning my back on him, etc. When I do, he'll stop, sit, and wait. Which is good, and I praise him when he does that. But as soon as I praise him for waiting patiently he's all over me again.

When I do a training session and I'm done, how do I let him know it's playtime and he's not getting anymore treats for a while? I've tried using his toys to engage him playfully...but he just sits and waits again. He's totally different than our other dog, who was all about playing in his hayday. Kona doesn't like to play (at least not the way Hunter does...fetch, tug of war, chase me, etc) and would rather lay out in the sun eating...chewing on a rawhide, sniffing me for treats, etc.

I guess I'm wondering if there's a middle ground where I can command his attention if he's about to go run into the neighbors yard and call him back and not have him all over me looking for treats. How do I know he's really learning these commands if he looks at me obviously confused when I don't have treats?

I think he knows the commands, but is more food treat driven than praise treat driven. It also sounds like he's showing normal puppy behavior.

If treats are what truly motivate him, I'd stay with treats. Also, you could try a different kind of praise like scratching behind the ears for a few seconds as a reward.

One thing that has me curious is why he's always looking for treats. It kinda sounds like he's always hungry. Please make sure you are feeding him enough and good quality puppy food.

 

[Maxy24]

Make sure you stop letting him know you have treats, he's learning that when he sees them he's gonna get them and when he doesn't he's not. So why bother listening if he's not going to be rewarded (and for most dogs praise or petting is not rewarding). When I'm inside I put the treats on a table or counter and can go get the treats after I've asked the dog to do the command and she's done it. I have a word "YES!" which means she's done the correct thing and I'm going to reward her, then I go get the treat. You can even leave little bowls with hard treats in certain places (out of the dog's reach) throughout the house so you can randomly ask for behaviors during the day. Make sure you ask before moving towards the bowl at all. To train a word marker like my "yes!" you simply go through some things he already knows well like sit and down and say the word when he does it, then immediately give the treat. Soon he associates the word with him getting rewarded. Later you can say the word then have some lag between the word and the treat.

Outside I stick a piece of ham (or other lunch meat) in a little plastic baggie and put it in my pocket all the way so she can't see it. I ask for the command and then again use "YES!" when she does it and then pull out the baggie and give a piece of the ham as a reward. I wouldn't try working with him outside until he listens inside without seeing treats. Outside is more distracting so if he thinks he is not going to get rewarded he's even less likely to listen, once he learns that just because he doesn't see treats doesn't mean he's not getting any he should be better outside. At this point I would not be asking him to do things unless you can reward him. If you and to get him or stop him from doing something go and get him.

I have taught phoebe a word which means I'm all done asking her to do things. For us it's just "ok" but I suggest something like "all done" which you won't accidentally say when you don't mean it. I would do some commands, reward with treats, then say "all done" and go sit in a lawn chair or something and read a book. Let him bark or whatever until he decides to go away and do his own thing. Eventually he'll learn that when you say "all done" there is nothing he can do to get treats from you until you ask him for something else. The first few times it'll take a very long time for him to stop trying but it will slowly happen faster and faster.

 

[konasmomma09]

One thing that has me curious is why he's always looking for treats. It kinda sounds like he's always hungry. Please make sure you are feeding him enough and good quality puppy food.

We do rub his head and scratch behind his ears as praise also, but he's still turning to get his nose in my hand when I go to rub his head to praise him.

As far as how much we're feeding him, he's about 40lbs now and we're giving him 3-4 cups of dry puppy food a day (the dog food he was being given at the shelter and what is recommended amount on the bag), is it not enough for him? I can't tell. Our other dog doesn't eat a full bowl most days so we let him eat whenever he wants, but since Kona doesn't seem to stop we limit feedings (also to keep a bathroom routine for him) to morning and early evening. Am I not feeding him enough still?

 

[konasmomma09]

Make sure you stop letting him know you have treats, he's learning that when he sees them he's gonna get them and when he doesn't he's not. So why bother listening if he's not going to be rewarded (and for most dogs praise or petting is not rewarding). When I'm inside I put the treats on a table or counter and can go get the treats after I've asked the dog to do the command and she's done it. I have a word "YES!" which means she's done the correct thing and I'm going to reward her, then I go get the treat. You can even leave little bowls with hard treats in certain places (out of the dog's reach) throughout the house so you can randomly ask for behaviors during the day. Make sure you ask before moving towards the bowl at all. To train a word marker like my "yes!" you simply go through some things he already knows well like sit and down and say the word when he does it, then immediately give the treat. Soon he associates the word with him getting rewarded. Later you can say the word then have some lag between the word and the treat.

Outside I stick a piece of ham (or other lunch meat) in a little plastic baggie and put it in my pocket all the way so she can't see it. I ask for the command and then again use "YES!" when she does it and then pull out the baggie and give a piece of the ham as a reward. I wouldn't try working with him outside until he listens inside without seeing treats. Outside is more distracting so if he thinks he is not going to get rewarded he's even less likely to listen, once he learns that just because he doesn't see treats doesn't mean he's not getting any he should be better outside. At this point I would not be asking him to do things unless you can reward him. If you and to get him or stop him from doing something go and get him.

I have taught phoebe a word which means I'm all done asking her to do things. For us it's just "ok" but I suggest something like "all done" which you won't accidentally say when you don't mean it. I would do some commands, reward with treats, then say "all done" and go sit in a lawn chair or something and read a book. Let him bark or whatever until he decides to go away and do his own thing. Eventually he'll learn that when you say "all done" there is nothing he can do to get treats from you until you ask him for something else. The first few times it'll take a very long time for him to stop trying but it will slowly happen faster and faster.

Thanks. I've not thought about having treats in inaccessible places. I use "GOOD!" like your "YES" marker. And he's learned that earns him treats. But I usually have the treats in my pocket.

I usually try to hide the treats in my pocket before he sees it. But for some reason, he figures it out quick when I've got treats. I guess it doesn't really help when my pocket is at his nose level when I come to greet him. I guess I should change it up so going for my pocket doesn't mean he's getting a treat.

 

[lizzybeth727]

We do rub his head and scratch behind his ears as praise also, but he's still turning to get his nose in my hand when I go to rub his head to praise him.

As far as how much we're feeding him, he's about 40lbs now and we're giving him 3-4 cups of dry puppy food a day (the dog food he was being given at the shelter and what is recommended amount on the bag), is it not enough for him? I can't tell. Our other dog doesn't eat a full bowl most days so we let him eat whenever he wants, but since Kona doesn't seem to stop we limit feedings (also to keep a bathroom routine for him) to morning and early evening. Am I not feeding him enough still?

Most likely you're feeding him plenty enough. Usually the amount on the bag is way too much - doesn't it make sense that the food company would want to overestimate how much food to feed? - and 3-4 cups sounds like a lot to me. I'm working with a 120-pound great dane at work that only gets 4 cups of food a day, so the weight thing isn't always a good indication of how much to feed.

A lot of dogs are just hungry all the time. Just like people... even right after a meal, if you put candy in front of me I'm going to work to get it.

Some dogs just don't like petting, too, so that may be why he's shying away from your hand when you pet him. MOST dogs don't like being petted on the top of the head - just like people, - though scratching behind the ears and on the neck/chest is usually much preferred.