# Scared of treats and clicker



## Cynion (Nov 15, 2013)

I adopted a 4.5yr old male about a week ago. If I give him a treat in my hand, after the first treat he runs away scared and hides somewhere in the house. If I go find him and let him sniff the treats, he will generally get up and go hide somewhere else. He also does this when he hears the sound of the clicker. Any thoughts or advice?


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## Merciel (Apr 25, 2013)

Pongu was like this too when he was a puppy. He got over it eventually, but it took a few weeks before he'd accept multiple treats in one session and about six months before he stopped running away from the clicker.

I would suggest hand-feeding the dog for the first few days to eliminate the first fear. Don't feed the dog any meals in a bowl; instead all the food comes directly from your hand. Be conscious of your own body language while doing this and try to be quiet, respectful, and non-threatening.

It may help to sit on the floor instead of standing or sitting in a chair where you're looming over the dog. It may also help to orient yourself sideways relative to the dog, so that you're passing the food to the dog at an angle instead of confronting him head on (which many fearful dogs find intimidating). Keep your voice and movements small, slow, and reassuring; don't be loud and don't move too quickly.

It may help to use more enticing food than plain kibble. Of course, you can't feed entire meals that are just made up of treats, but sometimes it helps to put a few pieces of extra-nice food (grilled chicken, deli meat, etc.) in a Ziploc bag with the kibble for a couple of hours so that the kibble soaks up some of the treat smell and carries greater value to the dog. Then feed the extra-good food interspersed with the plain kibble so that there are varied reinforcers coming throughout the meal.

As for the clicker, my suggestion would be to put it aside for now. Use a quiet "yes!" or other marker word instead. With a new dog you're probably not going to be doing a ton of precision work right off the bat anyway, so you don't _need_ a clicker at this point (and you can get by forever without one, if you really have to). You can try reintroducing it later when the dog has more trust in you, and when you do, it may help to muffle the sound somewhat by putting a little piece of tape over the metal part to soften the click, or to put the entire clicker inside a sock to soften its sound.


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## Alwaysaworkingdog (Feb 27, 2013)

Cynion said:


> I adopted a 4.5yr old male about a week ago. If I give him a treat in my hand, after the first treat he runs away scared and hides somewhere in the house. If I go find him and let him sniff the treats, he will generally get up and go hide somewhere else. He also does this when he hears the sound of the clicker. Any thoughts or advice?


You sound like you do have an extremely weak-nerved dog on your hands. Probably mostly due to his past life experiences. But it's never too late bring your dogs confidence up. What merciel suggested is good. I'd emphasise the point that your dog probably isn't so much "afraid" of treats, as he is you looming over him as you deliver the treat and chase after him. Remember that when you train with food, it is a temporally diminishing reward, in that, the more you feed, the less drive you have. So after he's taken one piece, he's probably thinking "hmm that was ok, but not worth the fear". Dogs won't take food when pushed to far into fearfulness, because this response represses appetite. It does the same in people, have you noticed how before a big speech or going on a rollarcoaster, your bowls start to move, you need to pee BUT you're never hungry.

I'd also add that he probably has some prey drive, especially since he is mature. Using prey-driven activities is a great way to build confidence in your dog AND build a bond with him. When you bring a dog up in drive, they become more comfortable and you can use that to your advantage. You could make a crude flirt pole and see if he gives chase to it and if he shows any intensity, then you could eventually progress to a tug. Playing tug with a dog is a great way to bond and build confidence.


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