[storysunfolding]

I tried searching and couldn't find anything. I may fail at the internet though as I'm sure this has been asked before now.

My puppy just arrived today and I'm starting training. I picked up a variety of treats from the pet store but after a few she looses interest (before I feed her meals). It seems that no treat will hold her interest for long.

Is there a treat that all dogs go gaga for the way that cats crave catnip?

[Pepper]

my doggy goes gaga over yummy chummies, there these salmon treats made in Anchorage, Alaska.

[RawFedDogs]

Originally Posted by storysunfolding

My puppy just arrived today and I'm starting training. I picked up a variety of treats from the pet store but after a few she looses interest (before I feed her meals). It seems that no treat will hold her interest for long.

She is just a puppy. Puppies have the attention span of a gnat. Don't try to push her to do more than she is capable of. If you aren't careful you will teach her to hate training. You train puppies in very small increments.

Try implimenting very small training steps into a play session. You've got to make it fun. The more fun it is, the longer the attention span but don't expect long training sessions under any condtions. What is fun this minute is not fun the next minute.

[storysunfolding]

Originally Posted by RawFedDogs

She is just a puppy. Puppies have the attention span of a gnat. Don't try to push her to do more than she is capable of. If you aren't careful you will teach her to hate training. You train puppies in very small increments.

Try implimenting very small training steps into a play session. You've got to make it fun. The more fun it is, the longer the attention span but don't expect long training sessions under any condtions. What is fun this minute is not fun the next minute.

Not really the advice I'm looking to find. To be clear though, you think its normal that by the third treat she's already lost interest in training and the food? These sessions are done in under two minutes.

[Pepper]

Some dogs loose interest really quickly, maybe try and make it funner, make her do tricks for a toy or something.

[Criosphynx]

real meat or even cat treats are high value to a dog.

keep in mind too, that if the treat is TOO valuable the dog will have trouble focusing on you as well. Its like an overload.

[Kyllobernese]

I cut up low fat weiners into small pieces and that seems to keep their attention. When you slice the weiner into four strips, then cut it very small, you get a lot of treats from one weiner.

[RawFedDogs]

Originally Posted by storysunfolding

To be clear though, you think its normal that by the third treat she's already lost interest in training and the food? These sessions are done in under two minutes.

Assuming the puppy is around 8 or 10 weeks old, yes. If you are taking 2 minutes to get 3 repetitions and give 3 treats, you are moving much to slow. You are being boring.

As you train more and as your dog matures, attention span will grow. It's critical that you keep the training a fun playtime as well as a learning time. Right now your puppy is learning to learn.

Use very small tiny treats. With the size treats I use, it would take 5 or 6 of them to be the size my thumbnail. You don't want him to take the time to chew the treats ... in the mouth and down the throat almost instantly. At this age you don't have much time to get much done.

When I am training an experienced dog, I can get maybe 10 reps in 10 secs with a treat after every rep. I then rest for 20 seconds or so (and gather up another handful of treats) and get 10 more reps in 10 seconds and repeat this over and over for about 5 minutes. This takes an experienced trainer and an experienced dog. Don't expect results like that for several months but let it be a goal to work towards.

EDITED TO ADD: The last paragraph isn't talking about young puppies.

[poodleholic]

Try Natural Balance rolls. They come in beef, lamb, turkey. You can slice, then dice into small pieces, very nice for training treats. They're like doggie crack in our house. Even the cats line up to get some.

[storysunfolding]

Originally Posted by RawFedDogs

Assuming the puppy is around 8 or 10 weeks old, yes. If you are taking 2 minutes to get 3 repetitions and give 3 treats, you are moving much to slow. You are being boring.

As you train more and as your dog matures, attention span will grow. It's critical that you keep the training a fun playtime as well as a learning time. Right now your puppy is learning to learn.

Use very small tiny treats. With the size treats I use, it would take 5 or 6 of them to be the size my thumbnail. You don't want him to take the time to chew the treats ... in the mouth and down the throat almost instantly. At this age you don't have much time to get much done.

When I am training an experienced dog, I can get maybe 10 reps in 10 secs with a treat after every rep. I then rest for 20 seconds or so (and gather up another handful of treats) and get 10 more reps in 10 seconds and repeat this over and over for about 5 minutes. This takes an experienced trainer and an experienced dog. Don't expect results like that for several months but let it be a goal to work towards.

EDITED TO ADD: The last paragraph isn't talking about young puppies.

This puppy is 6 months old. I'm not giving two minutes as an exact time frame, just a general idea.

Her previous training was erratic. She'll sit, stay, laydown, shake, come, and heel but not everytime and so far only with me.

[RawFedDogs]

Originally Posted by storysunfolding

This puppy is 6 months old. I'm not giving two minutes as an exact time frame, just a general idea.

At 6 months, a 10 minute traiing session should not be out of the question. You still have to work to make it intersting and to keep the dog focused on you.

Her previous training was erratic. She'll sit, stay, laydown, shake, come, and heel but not everytime and so far only with me.

Ok, a couple of thoughts here. Repititions make for perfection. Also you need to SLOWLY move from a distraction free training environment to greater distractions. This is a long process. At 6 months, she is still a puppy and other things will interest her.

While you are working on distractions, you also need to work on distance. At first ONLY give ques while right with the dog. GRADUALLY over months move further away. The further away you are right now, the less authority you have in the dog's eyes.

I have developed a theory I call the "circle of influence". This is an imaginary circle around the dog in which he reasons that if you are inside the circle, you have control over him but if you are outside the circle, you don't. By working, you can increase the size of the circle of influence to whatever size you want it to be. Again, its done gradually over months.

Don't work on distractions and distance during the same training period. Work on one or the other. The next period you can work on the other if you wish.

Also, train in different locations. If you teach a dog to sit on a certain spot in the middle of the kitchen and everytime you practice, you are in the middle of the kitchen, the dog will learn to sit in the kitchen very well. Outside the kitchen, when you tell him to sit, he will either be confused because he doesn't understand what you want OR he will run to the kitchen and sit in his spot. Train in the kitchen, living room, den, bedroom, hall, in the back yard, on the deck, on the grass, in the front yard, on the driveway, depending on traffic, in the street. In a neighbor's yard, In the parking lot at the mall, in a hallway in Petsmart. The more places you train, the better your dog will get but remember the part about gradually increasing distractions.

Once you can get your dog reliable at Petsmart on adoption day when the store is crowded with people and dogs, you have met your goal.