# How to train a pup with low food drive?



## starwave (Apr 10, 2006)

Hi, My pup doesn't like treat very much. Especially when we are outside, with distractions, she ignores the treat I put in front of her nose. However, she has relatively high prey drive I think. She likes to chase almost every moving things. In the backyard, when she plays herself, if I pick up the rope on the ground which I usually use to play tug with her, she will immidiately run to me. I am wondering if I can train her using prey drive. I've read some articles which talk about how to make the pup very eager to get the toy. But I haven't found a lot of information about the training. 
Thanks


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## WiscTiger (Sep 25, 2002)

Use a toy or tug as reward and lots of praise.


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## starwave (Apr 10, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: Wisc.TigerUse a toy or tug as reward and lots of praise.


Thanks, now I am training my pup using treat, although she is not very excited about that... So I ask her to sit/down/shake, etc, and give her the treat when she does that. Usually she still stares at me after I give her the treat. But if I give her the toy as the reward, she'll go away with the toy... what should I do at that time?


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## nysirk (Apr 15, 2008)

You use the toy like you would a treat. Using a toy as a lure can work great, but its a little tricky at first. instead of putting a treat in front of her nose, shake the rope in front of her make it look like prey. If you make it look fun she should focus on the toy and WANT it. 

When you have her attention you can try to lure her using the rope toy into a position like sit (if thats what your teaching), This is where it gets tricky most puppies aren't used to having to work for their games (unless you already started N.I.L.I.F. training which I recommend)So expect her to Jump maybe bark and def jump trying to get that toy. Interrupt her if she jumps at the toy "no, Ah Ah" whatever your using, keep trying at some point she will sit the very second her butt hits the floor mark that by saying "YES" or click then IMMEDIATELY start a tug game with her as a reward. 

Once she starts to gets the idea I sit then i get my tug game, you can go from there and teach her ANYTHING for a game. My dog Dexter is like that he works for food and all, but he is so prey-driven I swear he would do a back flip for chase or tug game. I think using toys makes training that much more fun for the dog, and i think its important you both are having fun with it. 
Instead of a tasty treat,a fun game of tug, or chase is a wonderful reward. 





> Originally Posted By: starwave In the backyard, when she plays herself, if I pick up the rope on the ground which I usually use to play tug with her, she will immidiately run to me. I am wondering if I can train her using prey drive.


Sounds like you kinda are already teaching her "Come" using her prey drive. You could try to hide the rope toy behind your back, call her name if she looks at you, show her the rope toy and say come, praise her as she runs to you and when she gets there give her a nice long game.


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## girlll_face (Jun 9, 2009)

Bella's like that, too. When she fetches, as soon as she brings me back the toy, I'll tell her to sit, and when she does, then I throw it for her again. She'll even sit, and stay, after I throw it, then I tell her good girl, and she knows then she can go get it. It's really cute.


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

What kind of treats are you using? Sometimes you have to play around with different things to find what makes your pup excited. I use hot dogs with my current pups, but they're definitely not as interested in commercial treats. I also had a dog that would do anything for a milkbone. Go figure.

While we start with food for training our dogs, the vast majority of our training is done with balls and tugs. The trick is to make it fun and novel. I also allow no access to toys unless we're training/ playing together. You have to build on the desire the dog already has for the toy. You can use the ball/toy the same way you would the food, you just usually get less repetitions in (You can reward a dog faster and more frequently with food than with toys).


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## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

My Brady has never been food driven 
Praise and lots of it motivates him!!


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## 3K9Mom (Jun 12, 2006)

Praise, play and high value treats are a good place to start.

I would also start feeding your pup outside the bowl/kitchen. If your pup doesn't already LOVE her kibble, take her kibble, shake it in bag (Shake & Bake style) with some cooked chicken liver or Parmesan cheese to make it super appealing.

Then you use the kibble as her "treats," meaning that your pup works for her meals. She will be much more food motivated if she's not filling up on her meals then you're offering treats on top of that. 

And, actually, it's a good healthy alternative to standard treats anyhow. These tend to be rather fatty.


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## Jason L (Mar 20, 2009)

Here is a great article on working with prey drive:

http://www.thedogathlete.com/playing-with-prey-drive/

By the way, how old is the pup? Do you plan to compete (in agility, obedience, SchH) with her?


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## starwave (Apr 10, 2006)

Thank you all. My pup Addy will be 4 months two days later. I am not sure if I will compete with her because I don't have any experience about that, but I do like dog training very much. 

Addy is a smart girl. She has already learned sit/down/stand/shake/stay. I tought her those using food as reward. I have found that she was not so excited during the training. Although she did what I asked, she did it slowly. I tried to train at different time(like before the feeding time when she is hungry) and used different treat(zuke's mini, natural balance dog food roll, liver treat, boiled chicken, cheese), that didn't help much. She still did what I asked, but was not excited when she got the reward. 

One day when I played with Addy (tug and fetch), I asked her to lay down. She did that very fast and looked at me with a happy face, which never happened before. That reaction is what I really want. I started to think maybe the way I train Addy is wrong. 

I have read many articles, which say puppies can not focus for a long time, and usually they suggest a 5-10 minutes' training section, which starts from a place with no distraction and then move to place with more distraction. So I train Addy two to three times daily in my room(5 minutes every time). When we play, we go to the backyard, play fetch and tug, or just chasing until she is tired. It is very obvious that she is much more excited when we play. I am thinking how to make the training more fun so that she can be also so excited. I tried to use a ball instead of treat to lure her do some actions, for example, weave between my legs. She was more excited to do that with a ball in front of her. 

I've tried to find more training methods online and found the article Jason recommended, but I still feel not clear about the details. For example, does using a toy as reward mean play time and training time will be together? and there are no play at other time?


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

My Morgan sounds very much like Addy. WHen she was in training classes, food didn't excite her. I'd give her a treat and she was like whatever. It had to be very high value, like roast beef but who wants roast beef in their pockets?

With the tug, you can combine play and training. Morgan has the most amazing control for sit, wait and out from playing with the tug. Play a bit, then tell her out (open her jaws the first few times). Tell her wait then give her the command to play tug. 

With tug, sometimes you win, sometimes she does. When you're done playing with her, put the tug out of reach becuase you control the tug


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## starwave (Apr 10, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: SunCzarinaMy Morgan sounds very much like Addy. WHen she was in training classes, food didn't excite her. I'd give her a treat and she was like whatever. It had to be very high value, like roast beef but who wants roast beef in their pockets?
> 
> With the tug, you can combine play and training. Morgan has the most amazing control for sit, wait and out from playing with the tug. Play a bit, then tell her out (open her jaws the first few times). Tell her wait then give her the command to play tug.
> 
> With tug, sometimes you win, sometimes she does. When you're done playing with her, put the tug out of reach becuase you control the tug


What kind of toy are you using for tug? The rope I am using is not so good. Do you use a command to ask Morgan to start to tug?
Addy also likes to play tug with the frisbee, after she retrieves it. Should I play with her at that time? I am afraid that it will be bad when I train formal retriever later if she doesn't want to give me that item.


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

I like booda brand tugs - they seem to stand up the best. Just don't stick them in the washer - if they get nasty wash them with Dawn or palmolive.

I use Fass (german for bite) as her command to bite the tug and aus (out) to get her to release.

I wouldn't play tug with other toys. If she wants you to throw something, she shouldn't be tugging on it. Sets a bad precedent. Morgan plays tug with her tugs and with her stuffed squirrel but that's it.

Great energy burner for GSDs, tie a tug to a tetherball post or an old clothes line or in a tree.


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## starwave (Apr 10, 2006)

Yes, I know that is not good. However, I am still trying to build my puppy's interest to retrieve things. Food didn't work well. Tug made Addy want to bring the frisbee back...


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## Jason L (Mar 20, 2009)

Tug is an awesome game for dog, just make sure that you always let the pup win! 

http://www.naturaldogblog.com/blog/2007/...g-on-the-block/

Here's a good example of using tug as a reward in training:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTL_YTfs6cA


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