Running away when called...

[Chris]

Great advice, my fellow Canuck I especially like the idea of making "kitchen" a command that he gets rewarded for.

I have one question for everyone, though. ..... Do you all walk around with treats in your pockets at all times? I find myself in a situation where I need to call him to me... grab his collar... pick him up... put him the kitchen... and rarely, if ever, do I have a treat on me to make the reward go with the action. I mean, we can go get a treat after the fact, but I'm thinking that the connection with the action is long gone by then.

I don't. Mine get loads of praise, hugs and kisses. But in training sessions, I keep chinchilla food handy. They're all crazy over it, and it's small, all grass, and almost no calories.

 

[Paeoniaa]

I don't. Mine get loads of praise, hugs and kisses. But in training sessions, I keep chinchilla food handy. They're all crazy over it, and it's small, all grass, and almost no calories.

Really?!? I have chinchillas and never thought of using their food. We're training a little more intensely now and I end up using most of his dinner kibble before dinner time so I need to find something to supplement.

 

[Rolland]

Andrea, when I'm really working on some training, I'll keep them in my pockets, but in this, I mean for the 10-15 minutes we are working on something. When mine have been pups and I want them to get something special for something they've done, I will keep them tucked away in a few places in the house so I can quickly reinforce something I like that they did. Now that Cozmo is 4, he will follow me anywhere in the house if he thinks he's getting some treats. Most of what he gets is a ton of praise and snuggles.

Rolland

 

[Mikos_Mom]

Ah ha! Keeping them in all parts of the house is a great idea. At the moment, they're only the kitchen, so if he does something "treat worthy" upstairs, I've only got praise at my disosal. (not the praise isn't great... but I think treats are the most helpful with this VERY food motivated dog of mine)

I'm going to get a few cute little containers and put them all over the house... that will make things a lot easier.