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November 6th, 2009 | 
Author: He is a golden retriever and about 18 mos. old. We have had him for 2 months. He is not really treat motivated and only sometimes toy motivated (and only throwing toys, such as tennis balls). We are taking an obedience training class and he is just not interested!!!
Call his name and praise the daylights out of him when he looks at you. He may not be treat motivated but I don’t know a golden that isn’t praise motivated. If you start with just getting his attention, then the rest will follow more easily.
Posted in Dog Obedience Training
LOTS AND LOTS OF TREATS! THAT REALLY MOTIVATES THEM!
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Hold a treat in front of his muzzle and let him smell it. Then bring the treat to your face and say "Look". Do this over and over until your dog learns to make eye contact when he hears the word. Or, perhaps there are too many distractions in the class that he’s in. Try some one-on-one obedience training.
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Call his name and praise the daylights out of him when he looks at you. He may not be treat motivated but I don’t know a golden that isn’t praise motivated. If you start with just getting his attention, then the rest will follow more easily.
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He doesn’t really need to be motivated, he just has to do it. If you have to place him into position each and every time, it’ll still work in the end. Also, dogs pick up our moods and body language. If you are feeling discouraged because he is ignoring you, he’ll feed off that. Stand up tall, expect success, use a positive and firm tone of voice and he might not give you the cold shoulder. If you just want to get him to look at you, you have to be prepared to try silly things – high pitched lalalalalalas or something unexpected. BTW, 18 months for a retriever is still a baby – give him time and keep practising and he’ll get there. Good luck.
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I had the same issues in obedience class with my black Lab mix. He likes dog treats but they just weren’t good enough for him to be motivated to do what he was supposed to do in class.
Find some really good toys (balls or plush toys, maybe something with a squeeker in it) but don’t let him play with those special toys at home. Use them ONLY in class. (If he sees the same old toy all the time, he’ll lose interest.) Or, as far as food treats go, find a really good treat that he doesn’t normally get (maybe pieces of cooked turkey, for example) and ONLY give him that kin of treat in class.
Switch up his reward toy or treat once in a while too. He’ll be more interested in paying attention to you because he’ll be wondering what you’ve got for him this time
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Isn’t your trainer helping you?
Reasons why a dog is not able to perform a behavior:
1. Environment too distracting
2. Motivator is not good enough
3. Your timing is off
4. You are not being clear enough with your criteria
I would say that you could spend more time finding things that motivate your dog. Ideally your dog will work for both toys and food – if you are feeding your dog before you go to class, it’s time to try not feeding him before his next class. This should help.
Try getting a few tennis balls and cut slits in them. Thread some long scraps of fleece through the slits and braid the fleece so that you have a ball that you can control. Keeping the reinforcer attached to you and associated with you will also help. Good luck!
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The key to motivating a dog is not to shove treats in his face and repeat commands that your dog doesn’t know. Don’t babble at your dog – that will make his confusion worse. Picking up all of your dog’s toys and only letting him have them if he plays *with you* will also help.
Good luck!
References :
http://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_ID=261&CFID=2703674&CFTOKEN=88552746
Any of the books and videos linked here will help.
Well, the first question I have here is what has your trainer suggested? If you are working with a good experienced trainer, that person should have some ideas on how to improve your dogs focus. If this trainer isn’t offering any help, then you should seek out one who is qualified to help you with this.
You say treats don’t work, but what exactly are you using? In my classes, we use hot dogs, cheez, goldfish crackers, cooked stew bits and chicken. You name it, what ever it takes to get the dog motivated. We’ve even used canned cat food. Treats for training should be only for training and not something you might give your dog on a regular basis. Why work for something you know you’ll get for free?
We use clicker training. If you can find a treat that motivates your dog, then you can work with a clicker. Teach your dog the click gets a yummy reward first. Click, then treat immediately. Do this about 10 times and your dog will associate the click with that treat. Then, have that clicker with you at all times. When your dog looks at you, click and reward every time. Your dog will soon learn that watching you is a good thing.
It takes time to train your dog to focus on you. Be patient and consistent and you’ll get there.
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YOU have to keep it fun for the dog! Lots of energy, extra good treats, find a special toy that he likes and ONLY use it during training classes..
What does your instructor say? Do they have any ideas on how to keep him focused?
Don’t give up!
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Make sure he knows that you have treats or the toy and don’t allow him to have it unless he is making eye contact with you — that is whenever and wherever… If you are getting ready to let him outside, he has to make eye contact with you, then mark it with a work and let him out or give him the treat — regardless, whatever he WANTS in life has to come through your eyes — he has to look at you first or he gets nothing…
Move around with him in the front room getting him excited and have him look at you, even if it is for a split second, mark it as he is doing it and then treat… do this every time he is in a ‘training’ session — not necessarily a formal one but anytime — you can train him informally. My dogs know that they have to sit and look at me or stand (depending on the dog and what they are being trained for at the time – show or obedience) and look at me — they will follow me around in circles looking me in the eye as we move — but they don’t get outside or a toy or a treat without giving me their strict and unwavering focus. They pick up fast if you are consistant and get into it… it transfers easily into the formal obedience situation.
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Go online and look up Training tips, then find yourself an obedience training class and take your dog to it. 9 times out of 10 it’s something you are not doing right. And if you want a well behaved dog, you have to learn how to help it be a well behaved dog. I took my German Shepard to obedience training and it was the best thing I have ever done. I found the things I was doing wrong and learned the proper ways to correct his behavior and he is three years old now and the most awesome dog anyone could as for and anyone that owns German Shepards will tell you they are hard headed, and slow to mature. They act like puppies well into adult hood. So ask yourself, is it worth paying a bit of money and a bit of time one day a week for a life time of joy? I certainly thought so!
References :
http://www.squidoo.com/Dog-Behavior_Training/
http://www.squidoo.com/How_To_Train_A_Dog/