to much attention on the treat

[Zimmer]

Cassie is 10 weeks old. Training to come, sit and down has been going well. We have been using a clicker and treat reinforcement. Now though, in the last day or 2 she is concentrating to much on the treat hand and the clicker. She is now ignoring when you call and ignoring when you give commands because she is only worried about the clicker and the treat. HELP!! Training is at a hault becasuce of her lack of attention to me and the attention to the clicker and treats. I tried treating when she looks at me and gives me attention, but it seems to be making the treat problem worse.

Zimmer

[Judi W]

Well, if this method is not getting you where you want to go, what is wrong with working her for praise and approval and pats with an occasional cookie or toy play after some interaction. I know it is not a very modern idea, but for centuries dogs have worked with and for their humans because of the joy of the work and the approval of the human rather than seeing the human as simply a food bowl with hands. You might try it. Do I use treats? Yes, some. Do I rely on treats as the primary method of communicating with my dogs? No I do not. They make a good lure for little pups for sure, but you can make yourself be the lure. Some dogs simply become so focused on the food that they cannot think and with those dogs you need to turn yourself and your approval and joy into the reward. Heck, not a bad trade is it?

[Trinitii]

As I learned from these boards always make the training fun. We also used the clicker to learn new behaviors and have used treats. Try giving a treat every other command then every two and so on and wean the treats out. When not giving a treat though make sure to praise with your voice or with a pat on the head. Hang in there!

Trinitii

PS you might also leave the treat in a pocket or somewhere the dog is unable to see it so the concentration can stay on you :)

[moondog]

My dog always responded really well to Fun and Toys, so I never used treats while training her. I can see how they could get so focused on the treat that you essentially become a moot point, so limiting their use will probably be helpful to you. Give Fun and Toys a try! :)

[Zimmer]

I was not varing the treat reward enough. I have now radomized treats and praise more and it works better. I have also found that she listens better and is more eager in the afternoon not morning. We have been very successful with the clicker so I want to continue and was hoping this would work out. It seems she is going to get past it.

[Harleysmom]

Feeling really stupid to ask, but what is a clicker?

[Zimmer]

Simple piece of metal that makes a click sound, like pushing on a jelly jar lid(dink - donk). You give a treat when it is clicked. The dog associates the clicker with doing right. So then you click when the dog is doing right. Like getting the dog to sit, click in the sit position and reward then click for sitting longer and reward and so forth. This way you can shape a behavior like you want. It is like saying good dog, but more pricise about the exact time the dog is doing right. You could click when the dog is airbourne in the middle of a jump and teach her to jump. Hope all that makes since.

[Harleysmom]

That makes sense. Thank you.:D