Your Dog’s Biggest Obsession is Their Best Reward
Happy Spring! Below you will find my latest training tips and observations along with insights into what I’m working on with my own dogs.
Spring class schedules are listed below.
Please hit reply to share your thoughts! I love hearing what you are up to with your pups.
What I wish everyone knew: Your Dog’s Biggest Obsession is Their Best Reward. Dogs whose favorite things in the world are treats and toys are often seen as easy to train. After all, it’s easy to control access to treats and toys and to keep one in your pocket or nearby. But what about dogs whose obsessions are sniffing, playing with other dogs, meeting new people, or hunting bunnies? These are not bad dogs; they are differently motivated dogs.
Running off leash. Playing with doggie friends. Swimming. Sniffing. Are these your dog’s biggest distractions or the best rewards you can use?
Whatever your dog loves to do most, you want to provide access to it on cue: “Go sniff,” “Go play,” “Say hi” etc. You want your dog to see you as the source of all the good stuff, not the fun police. So try to find ways for your dog to safely do what he loves most: find large fenced spaces where he can run, let him chase squirrels when they can safely escape up a tree, arrange playdates if your dog loves dogs best.
If you routinely associate the thing your dog would rather do than anything else with a cue, then you can use that behavior as a reward for other behaviors you like.
Some examples:
- As a youngster, Cash much preferred running laps around the property to the more controlled running we do in agility, so I would reward a nice effort in agility practice by opening the gate and telling him “Do a lap”, his cue to run the perimeter full speed.
- A client’s dog had zero interest in treats or toys when outside, she just loved to spend the whole walk sniffing. We taught her to heel indoors. Outdoors, we taught her “Go sniff.” Putting the two together, we would ask for a step or two of heeling outdoors and then reward with “Go sniff.” The owner and dog were both happy when they reached a one-sniff-per-block compromise.
- My Rottie Lexi was obsessed with bunnies. Whenever I saw a bunny, I would call her to me, ask her to “Heel” next to me stalking the bunny, and then when I was sure the bunny could get away in time, I’d release her to chase it “OK, go get’m”. A funny outcome is that instead of looking for bunnies on walks, she would watch me because I was the better bunny spotter.
Quote that I am pondering: “I want to work like a dog, doing what I was born to do with joy and purpose. I want to play like a dog, with total, jolly abandon.” Oprah Winfrey. I feel blessed to be inspired by my dogs and my clients’ dogs to find the joy in life on a regular basis.
What I’m working on: Catching toys and treats. When my dogs can catch treats and toys, it’s easier to reward them for things they do at a distance. It’s also more fun for them than just handing them a treat. However, it’s not fun for me if they miss and spend thirty seconds trying to find the treat they missed. So Wager and I have been doing some training sessions where the entire goal is learning to catch things. It helps to use toys that are easy to catch and treats that are easy to see/catch like popcorn or chicken cubes. Of course, he is happy to work on this all day!
Wager Update: The Canine Gut-Brain Connection. In the last newsletter, I shared my adventures in trying to get Wager’s tummy to settle down and promised an update. I was hoping for a dietary solution, but that’s not how things turned out! His food sensitivity testing showed him being allergic to everything except beef and pork (note that the accuracy of these IgG-based tests is up for debate). His gut microbiome test showed high levels of bacteria associated with inflammatory bowel disease (not good!) When I tried an elimination diet with raw versions of just those two protein sources, he twice developed explosive diarrhea and had to go on antibiotics. Dr. Chris at Caring Heart vet put him on a low maintenance dose of Tylan powder which is used to treat IBD and knocks back the bad bacteria. On that, he has been fine, so while I was hoping for a more holistic solution, sometimes you’ve just got to go with what works.
What I’m excited about: Getting back to agility competition. It’s been a while since I’ve been able to compete regularly but Wager and I have been getting to UKI trials about once a month for the past six months and it’s such a pleasure watching his understanding and confidence grow! UKI is a fun venue to start out in since they have courses that are just jumps and tunnels (Speedstakes) and allow running “Not for competition” where you can repeat obstacles or reward with a toy.
Interested in doing agility or know someone who is? See the class schedule below in the green footer.
Here is one of our runs. It’s a nice one with one little bobble.
Business Updates:
Private Lessons: Are currently available at your home (within a limited service area), at my Franklin Park location (in the office or outdoors in the agility field), or online via Zoom. All scheduling has been moved to Square, so once you are an established client you can schedule (and reschedule if needed) at your convenience.
Agility Classes: Are held outdoors April through October. Please read through the pre-requisites to make sure you and your dog are ready to have fun doing agility together. Please email me to be put on the interested list if you would like to join a class this year. Class schedules are posted on Facebook. This spring, Intro classes will start Sunday, April 12th at 11:30am, Monday, April 20th at 5:30pm, and Tuesday, May 5th at 7pm.
Obedience Classes: I am offering Intermediate Obedience classes to current and former students. This class is suitable for dogs who have completed the basics and need practice listening around other dogs and people. Non-reactive dogs only, please. Please email to be put on the interested list if you would like to join a class this year.