I have a dilema with our 9 1/2 month old puppy, Bella. We rehomed her when she was 6 months old. She is a mixed breed possibly part collie/lab/staffie/various other LOL
When we got her she was fed on supermarket own brand tinned food. We wanted to changeher to a good quality dry complete, but had lots of trouble getting her to eat it. Anyway...long story short(she did loose weight, and would refuse dry food for days )....we now have her settled on Nature diet wet food, with a bit of dry complete added (ammounts adjusted accordingly so she's not over fed)
And she eats it well...usually...BUT if she has more than 1 or 2 treats, or manages to get any scraps off dining room floor when dc are eating,then she stops eating her food again and holds out for more scraps or treats
So...we are careful about not giving her too many treats...keep her out of the dining room at DC meal times...and she eats her 2 meals a day and all is well.
However that creates another problem when we come to training.On Sunday we went our first training class, which was great. She did really well,andhad a lot of treats...
And then she didnt eat her tea Sun night, or her breakfast this morning...
So today I made sure no treats etc...and she wolfed her tea down again tonight...
BUT how do I work on training her without treats?????This is the problem I have been having with any training we have been doing!
We are working on getting a firm "sit" (she is fairly good),her recall, and walking without tugging on lead (her biggest problem)
She does respond to praise,and fussing, andI do always do this for desired behaviour....but will that work on it's own?
How else can I continue working on training her without using treats so much???
Help!
(BTW it doesnt seem to matter what treats she has...and it isnt really that she is full from the treats, just she is such a picky eater anything can throw her off her food...)