Training ideas.

[Leanne]

So Bella is wonderful... however she has been trained by.... the dog whisperer. Her old owner swore by him apparently. (God help me).

she has NO idea how to work for treats. It bewilders her. Now I have no desire to make her any more obedient (she is already ridiculously obedient, to the point it makes me uncomfortable asking her to do anything) she won’t leave my side on a walk, even to explore. She won’t come for a fuss unless she’s invited etc.
Anyway.. I gave her squeezy cheese for the first time and she LOVED it.. but she doesn’t have any natural instinct to follow the treat.. if that makes sense.. I threw some treats on the floor (obviously exercise restricted due to surgery and lock down) and she just stared at me like I was Absolutley mental. I picked them up and she delicately ate them out of my hand

I gave her a kong and she stared at it like it was a foreign object.

she is now eating raw which is good!

any ideas about helping her Feel comfortable with it? Is it just time? I just think she must be so bored. She lays in her bed and just waits for someone to tell her what to do. Occasionally Maslow will tempt her into a game and she forgets and then charges back to her bed awaiting instructions!

 

[kateincornwall]

@Leanne Having rehomed a few dogs , the greatest gift you can give is time x It sounds like dear Bella is doing so well and so are you too , she will come round and show you another more cheeky side I`m sure x Nelly was the same , totally unsure as to her place in the household , now she rules the roost

 

[Beanwood]

You are doing an amazing job @Leanne . Don't worry about her being bored though, spending a lot of time doing nothing is what she is used too. At this point use a lot of gentle, quiet verbal praise this is what she knows best. Pairing food treats such as squeezy cheese with quiet praise will help going forward. She is used to a very different life so will take time. If you are able to do things like ask her for a heel- sit (sitting in line with your feet) in the garden, and offer her squeezy cheese for being in position she will love that no doubt!

 

[Candy]

Oh, bless the poor sweet girl! Never having had a dog that doesn't know what to do with treats I don't really have any advice, but I would think that whatever you do, time will play a part in it.As I'm sure you know it usually takes people longer to unlearn something than to learn something new and I imagine it would be the same for dogs. Once again, I'm so glad she's come to you !

 

[Leanne]

You are doing an amazing job @Leanne . Don't worry about her being bored though, spending a lot of time doing nothing is what she is used too. At this point use a lot of gentle, quiet verbal praise this is what she knows best. Pairing food treats such as squeezy cheese with quiet praise will help going forward. She is used to a very different life so will take time. If you are able to do things like ask her for a heel- sit (sitting in line with your feet) in the garden, and offer her squeezy cheese for being in position she will love that no doubt!

Thanks! I’ve been rewarding her for doing things such as being on her bed so that she gets used to the idea of getting nice things.. I just feel for her when Maslow is charging around causing chaos and she’s just laying there watching him. The only time she gets a proper spark is with a tennis ball but can’t use that yet due to restricted exercise.

 

[snowbunny]

Ginny didn't have the first clue about working for food when I first met her. Albeit she's certainly not the picture of obedience and meekness that Bella sounds
I started with pairing a marker word ("yes") with a piece of food. I did that a lot before she got that look in her eyes that meant that she linked the two things. The next thing I did was teach her a nose touch. That normally takes a couple of minutes with puppies, or dogs who are used to working for food, but it took her a couple of weeks before I really thought she understood it. Even now, she's very slow to learn new things. Not because she's not as clever, or not as motivated as the others, but simply because she doesn't "get" the training process like the others do. She's better than she was, but I don't imagine she will ever be as comfortable with it as the others, who have grown up with it.
I like teaching a nose touch first because it's an easy behaviour to teach and learn, not "important", so handler frustration tends to be quite low. Once you have it, you can then use it like a lure to move the dog around.

For the time being, if she loves the squeezy cheese, you could try spreading it in a bowl to get her used to food enrichment. Maybe a bit on the outside of a kong? Make it really easy for her to start off with, even if you have to hold the thing for her to lick it. If she's been punished for taking food from the floor, this might take a bit of time before she feels comfortable with doing it on her own, but it will be a nice bonding thing for you guys too, as long as she's not guardy.
The other thing is that Ginny was overweight when we got her, as in the kennels they were free fed. She was a super fussy eater, and would only eat the crappy supermarket kibbles! But as we got her weight down, and her general health improved, she became so much more interested in food, and so much more tenacious in working for it. She generally finishes frozen kongs faster than the Labs these days

 

[Leanne]

That’s great thank you @snowbunny! The idea of cheese is a great one. I dropped a quaver on the floor earlier (was on my lap as I stood up) and it actually landed on her paw. I didn’t realise till about 5 minutes later and she was still just staring at it

no resource guarding issues at all. I’m not sure she recognises she can have anything! She will carry a tennis ball around with her in her mouth but if you so much as walk towards her she drops it straight away. She’s not hand shy though so I don’t think she’s been hit.

 

[Beanwood]

Meant to add... be careful what you wish for! We don't think think Casper had toys, he had no idea how to play. We knew he had a very close relationship with a female lab in the past, and was very hand shy. He was also very uncertain when offered treats...now though he is a master of the "I am half starved so your sossidge could be the difference between life and death" look....

 

[Leanne]

That’s a very fair point. Two starving labradors might finish me off

 

[Cath]

what about a treat ball for later when she can move about

 

[MellowYellow]

She might also still be a bit uncomfortable from her operation. She sounds so lovely, Leanne!