· By Minou Tpain
Author: Denise Partlow
Instagram: @modernk9 Carolinas
First thing to do is get your dog on a set schedule of feeding. If your dog does not eat within a certain amount of time, maybe 15 minutes, pick the bowl up and save the remaining food, plus the next meal, for later.
But what’s even better is to use that food during a training session, game or enrichment. Studies show that animals prefer enrichment as a way to earn their food versus getting it for “free”.
Instead of putting that bowl down in the morning, start by asking your dog to do some things he knows how to do and reward him by hand. Now is not the time to learn new things, keep it easy, help your dog to feel confident and happy about how easy it is to earn the food. Give him the opportunity to feel proud. Let this be a predictable routine for your dog, one where he knows he will earn the food. Not only will this begin to change his perception of food but he will start to realize who is the person/people in the home he needs to pay attention to, helping you to climb that leadership ladder.
If he’s not hungry, try again later. And if he’s still not hungry an hour later, try again and again and again.
You can of course try using a higher value reward during training and lower the value as your dog progresses.
I will talk more about this in my stories today and there is a story highlights labeled “Food Motivated”
#foodmotivation #dogtraining #doberman#dobielove #charlottenc #dogpawrents #dogcl
