I use the same principles as you—if it works, keep using it!

I have accidentally tried to feed dog treats to a horse before, though. The horse wasn’t too thrilled about that!

cheers,

Mary

If I’m working with the rabbits, the dogs might get a rabbit pellet (the “before eating” type) as a reinforcer for good behavior…because it’s handy to do so. If I’m playing with the rats, the dogs might get a bite of rat food (rat block and goodies).

I was working with a client’s dog the other day, and the dog didn’t want my homemade treats that I brought along…took them, and dropped them on the floor. But what the dog WAS interested in, after the session…was the chocolate chip cookie that the client offered me (good reward for me!). I got the dog’s attention…got an offered sit and reinforced with a bite of cookie (minus chocolate chip). I use what works! lol

Great blog, btw…I’m really enjoying reading your posts!
~Erin

I’ll definitely look into those.

Ginger LOVES hot dogs and string cheese, but I want to limit her intake of both of those for health reasons.

Mary

The other Natural Balance treats are great too. All ingredients that are better than most dog foods.

The Natural Balance Roll-a-rounds are actually my highest value treat that I use when I need strong motivation. Kody loves them. Those I break into a lot of pieces. They’re big.

Plenty of high level show dogs (obedience, agility, etc.) are clicker trained. Once the dog understands the behavior, the clicker and treat get faded out.

The clicker is used as a teaching tool. Too many people don’t seem to understand how to fade out the clicker and instead keep using it indefinitely.

Actually, I think most dogs (and other animals) would get incredibly bored if we continued to click for low level behaviors.

It’s a pet peeve of mine when people criticize clicker training under the assumption that you have to carry treats around forever. I recently blogged about it as well.

I have a client now whose dog loves to work for bits of carrot and apples. My lab mix actually loves the touch cue so much she will happily perform other behaviors just for a chance to jump up and touch my hand. And the biggest reinforcer for my spaniel is a chance to chase the birds and squirrels(of course I make sure they have plenty of time to get away before I release him).

I’ve never heard of sweet potato dog treats, I’ll have to look into that as they sound interesting (and healthy).

Currently, I usually use turkey hot dogs for our dog. Each hot dog has 40 calories, and I can cut the hot dog into about 60-80 reinforcers, depending on how small I cut the pieces.

Also, I think dogs are so socially oriented that the attention and training is just as reinforcing as the bit of food. When they become engaged and interested in the training process, the training itself becomes rewarding.

I have several horses that will work for a single fruit loop. And fruit loops are tiny!

cheers,

Mary