I have a four-year old-Cavalier King Charles Spaniel called Alfie. As a pup I took him to dog training classes using treats as a reward, which proved beneficial as he became my perfect dog, well trained and obedient.
Throughout the next few years now and again he would need reminding of particular things like walking nicely on a lead, no barking when getting ready to go out and the stay command when you walk away. Which we did again using treats like in his training classes which once again proved successful.
However in March this year Alfie was diagnosed with diabetes and is now on a strict eating plan, which includes NO TREATS due to his blood sugar levels and insulin. Recently his inappropriate behaviour has returned regarding the same things as before as well as barking at the yappy dogs next door in the garden. This time we are unable to reward good behaviour with treats so we have tried a variety of toys but he isn't interested in them and praise doesn't seem enough as he isn't responding.
I have searched the web but to no success as each time it is advised to use treats or toys as a reward with no further advice for people with dogs in our situation.
Any advice would be gratefully received as we wish to help Alfie by correcting this behaviour now before it gets too out of control.
Miss Louise Hawkins, by email
I would have thought that the answer for Alfie would be clicker training. I was very involved with obedience training with my border collies until I qualified as a vet when I found that I no longer had spare time on my hands thanks to on-call and long working hours. Unfortunately, having qualified in 1989, clicker training was after my time so I have no practical experience of it, but it is certainly training without treats which is what a diabetic dog needs.
Alison Logan, vet
This depends on what you are feeding your dog, and how food motivated he is, but I rarely use high value treats. Instead I divide up my dogs' dried food daily allowance and use one portion (or sometimes more) for training and out on walks in place of treats. Both my dogs are very food motivated and consider any food a treat - it probably doesn't work so well for more fussy dogs. However if you can use it, it does still give you a food tool, and has the advantage that you are at a lower risk of overfeeding your dog.
ReplyDeleteIf you are giving him some special food for diabetic dogs, then you could always, assuming it's dried food, give him smaller helpings and keep back part of it to be used as treats.
ReplyDeleteWhat diabetics should eat, whether canine or human, is rather a controversial subject. There is a great divide in opinion.
There's the lot who say it should be low fat, low protein, then there's the other faction, who say fat is OK, as is plenty of protein, but no grains.
I'm of the opinion of the second group and would go for Atkins-style food for treats, such as cooked bits of liver and little knobs of cheddar cheese. Dogs certainly love both those.
Food like that is not meant to raise blood sugar levels, which is what you want.
But I imagine some vet or nutritionist will want to step in here...
Julia Lewis
Alison is incorrect when she states that clicker training does not involve using treats -a 'click' marks the end of a behaviour which you wish to reward. It must ALWAYS be followed by a treat (even if you click accidentally!), or use of a clicker looses its effectiveness...
ReplyDeleteClicker training involves pairing the click as a marker with (usually) a food reward. The reward makes the click 'meaningful'. You can pair a clicker with another reward such as a toy for example.
ReplyDeleteHowever let's look at the wider situation here.
In my opinion there is an overly heavy focus on food used in training as the only reward or 'cure-all' where actually it can just be easier and more convenient. The problem arises as you are finding where you no longer can use food. In fact, 'special' bought treats are not necessary. It is just as easy to use part of your dog's normal (and in this case, carefully measured) diet, preferably alongside a hungry dog!
If you want to sharpen this food up a bit and make it more tempting without adding treats, here is my tip. Get a pot and place into it part of the dog's daily food but plan to use this for training only. Add in large chunks of a more strongly scented food such as chicken. The scent will transfer to the food ration - but do not give the actual chicken to the dog. Just use the strongly scented 'normal' food!
There are many rewards in a dog's life that are not food. Freedom, walks, playing, touch, voice response or indeed attention of any kind. Not every dog responds to food or toys and in my experience these are the dogs I end up dealing with most of the time in my work. Make a list of the things your dog really enjoys. You then need to make sure that when you are planning to 'train' your dog, you use one of these rewards as an immediate outcome for the desired behaviour. Use a houseline to ensure compliance (for example to bring the dog in instead of letting him bark in the garden and ignore you). To make the life rewards even more potent, be aware of giving away too many 'freebies'!
Being creative is all part of the fun!