Have I created a monster???

[Summer Magic]

Hi all

Magic is responding almost too well to the treat thing for her aggression with the phone and oven timer (no one has come to the door yet). Every time the phone rings she is now running to me for a treat. She can be sound asleep on my bed and when the phone rings she bolts to the living room and plops her butt down in front of me as if to say well where is it? The oven timer is really funny now. She hears the ticking and will stick to me like glue and whine waiting for the "ding" so she can have her treat. She just gets beside herself waiting. She knows she's going to get one and will badger me for it early (before the dinger goes off). I'm going to keep up the treats for another four weeks or so and gradually back off from giving her one every time the phone rings or the timer is used.

Hope that's the right thing to do, if not will someone let me know?

Thanks

Judy

[Mario Niepel]

Judy, that sounds like a huge success. Well done.

Why don't you already start throwing in some lower value treats every now and then. Magic obviously does not freak out anymore and the lower value treats could be a good way to slowly reduce her getting too excited about the whole thing.

But of course, there is nothing wrong with going on like you are if the badgering doesn't bother you too much.

[Summer Magic]

The treats I'm using are very tiny. Actually they are cat treats shrimp and tuna flavor and are very smelly. I don't know what else to give her that would be that small that wouldn't affect her appetite. She doesn't finish her food now since we've been treating her.. (she gets one treat for each incident) I'm not being stingy if I give her more she won't eat her food at all.

[Mario Niepel]

Judy, with low value treat I don't necessarily mean reducing the amount, just something she doesn't care for as much as a yummy smelly cat treat. :) I often use Cheerios, thawed peas or carrot pieces.

[Amber]

There are products out there that advertised as "training treats." They are smaller than regular dog bones. Matter of fact, Precious and Sally have both graduated from the small puppy/training bones that I first bought when I got Precious into full sized Nutro Max bones (which are about twice the size of the other bones), so when I am training either one of them I use the smaller bones. The Nutro bones I use when they come inside from going potty in the yard.

[Robert]

Try goldfish

[Casey Laurie]

cheerios work pretty wekll too>^_^<

[Summer Magic]

Thanks everyone, I'll get some cheerios when I'm out next. She really has changed. Tho I still feel as though she will revert if I don't treat her each time. Maybe it's too soon to wean her off the treat thing yet. I'll give the cheerios a try before I start the weaning tho.


Judy and Magic

[Mario Niepel]

Judy, just take it slow and do what you are comfortable with. I think it is more important that you feel cool, calm and collected than to move on to the next stage as fast as possible.

From what you say, I suspect that Magic will do fine, but just be sure that you will be fine as well.

[Denise Milic]

Hi Judy, I had the same concerns about treat rewards with Kobi. He is very food motivated and is very easily trained that way. The problem I was having was that Kobi learned very quickly that, inappropriate behaviour + correction = treat. So in order for him to get a treat he would - you guessed it - do something inappropriate. I first realized this when he was about 6months old. Being a typical puppy, the sight of my dangling glove was an open invitation for the old grab and run game. Practicing all the great training techniques I had learned, I called Kobi, showed him a treat and told him to 'drop it!'. Which he did. Great! Smart dog. Smart owner.
To this day, he is now 2yrs, any glove, mitt, hat... is fair game and the only way I can get them back is to trade it for a treat! I lost that battle but I am winning the war! Now, I still use treat rewards when training Kobi but once he does the correct behaviour a few times I then switch to 'over the top' praise reward.
Sometimes it's hard to out smart a smart dog!

[Renee Premaza]

Hi Denise!

Just thought I'd share some thoughts about your post here.

Reward training is a wonderful way to motivate a dog to learn new behaviors. What I advise my own clients about is that we have to be careful HOW we use the food treats. Here are some things to think about when everyone is giving their dogs treats:

1. Use treats to motivate NEW learning. If you're putting a treat out in front of the dog while you're teaching a dog to do something, you risk the chance that the food will become part of the cue. In other words, if you hold a treat in front of your dog's face and tell him to sit, he will not sit for you unless he sees that food!

We will use food as a lure to teach a dog to sit, but we must try to discontinue using the lure as quickly as possible (within the first 4 - 5 repetitions). Once the dog responds without the food in front of him, you then bring the treat reward out from behind your back, or a bait bag, or somewhere hidden. Then the food is no longer luring the dog -- it's used as rewarding the dog. The longer that lured treat is used, the harder it becomes to teach the behavior without the presence of the food treat.

2. Making food exchanges is great! But, you should be teaching the dog a DROP IT cue when making those exchanges. Dogs are extremely clever. If we don't teach the dog a cue to follow and he learns quickly that he's going to get food no matter what he's got in his mouth, he will continually steal things and pick stuff up to put in his mouth to get that treat. Here is how to teach a dog to DROP IT:

Start your training sessions ALWAYS by having your dog onleash. Begin
your training by using a lure. When your dog has something in his/her
mouth, place a treat right at your dog’s nose. As soon as he opens his
mouth to take the treat, tell him, “DROP IT!” When you give him the
treat, tell him “GOOD DROP IT!” Repeat this about 4-5 times. Then give your dog something to put in his mouth (like a tug rope). Tell him to DROP IT without showing him any food at all. If he does drop it, bring a treat reward from behind your back and give it to him immediately. From then on, discontinue the use of the food lure for that training session. You might have to review the training the next time you play, but always choose not to use the food lure if possible once the cure DROP IT is trained.

3. Dogs generally steal things to get our attention. As long as the dog is stealing items that are not harmful to him or very valuable to you (socks, toilet tissue, dish towels, etc.), you want to IGNORE the dog when he steals them. Watch him from the corner of your eye because in a very short time, he's going to get completely bored with having the item when he sees you're not paying any attention to him. When you notice he's dropped the item on his own, you can refocus his attention back to you and something more appropriate in another room! When he isn't watching, pick up the item he stole and put it away. Manage his environment by keeping things out of his reach that he enjoys stealing.

Hope this helps everyone!!

[Summer Magic]

Thanks for the insight Renee. I will try to be careful how I use the treats. When the phone rings (we have a small container of the cat morsels placed next to each phone) I pick up the receiver and prop it on my shoulder and say hello, which leaves my hands free to get a treat out of the container and give it to her. Her focus is on the treat container not the phone at that time. I've been thinking of tossing it a little way away from the phone so she has to chase to go get it and that will lead her completely away from the phone area for the treat.

[Renee Premaza]

Hi Judy!

Everytime the phone rings, you might create a cue, "GET BACK" and then toss the treat out of the room or far away from the phone. In a few days or a week, test her out and see if she understands what "GET BACK" means. If she moves out, you'll know she now understands what this command is. Little by little, wean her off the food, and praise her. Or... you can start tossing a toy as a reward for leaving the area of the phone when you're on it.

Thanks for the insight Renee. I will try to be careful how I use the treats. When the phone rings (we have a small container of the cat morsels placed next to each phone) I pick up the receiver and prop it on my shoulder and say hello, which leaves my hands free to get a treat out of the container and give it to her. Her focus is on the treat container not the phone at that time. I've been thinking of tossing it a little way away from the phone so she has to chase to go get it and that will lead her completely away from the phone area for the treat.