Training without high value treats (allergies)

[MotherForker]

Ddog is on hypoallergenic food (Hills Z/D) as part of investigations around allergies. She's had almost permanent ear problems and skin issues. This means she can have nothing else other than the food. She likes it (mix of wet and kibble), but the kibble isn't enough to do some of the training with her.

She's fine in the house/with no distractions. But outside and with more exciting things she just refuses it. We had been making progress on recall and calming activities. But I know she is regressing slightly already (17 months, large breed).

She isn't interested in balls or toys, or she is but not if there is something else like a person to jump at or another dog to chase!

It’s got chicken in it... can she not have chicken?

My Ddog also had allergies and was on that Hills. It never really worked for him although it was better than what he had been on before. I tried a few different dog foods, about a week at a time for each, and the one that I found the best was Carnilove lamb and wild boar. He still gets itchy ears in the summer, but the vet said to give him half a piriton and that really helps.

For training there are various allergy friendly, grain-free treats that work for him eg Carnilove or Orijen, I read the ingredients and stay clear of anything that I suspect might bother him like poultry (although duck seems fine). The Orijen treats are particularly good if I need to give him a tablet as they are soft enough to push the tablet into them.

My boy likes ice cubes and I quite often offer them for tricks - you might need to make small ones though so she’s not taking forever to crunch them between commands!

What breed is she - can you work with her predatory motor patterns?

Outside it is not necessarily the value of the treat but you are too near the trigger for any treat to work. Increase your space for training as that will also help a lot.

Also worth a try is mixing the zd with water and turning into a mush then baking at a very very low temp. When you take it out of the oven you can then break it into biscuits. It tends to smell sweeter and many dogs love it.

@tabulahrasa all the proteins are broken down to mean they are less likely to cause a reaction, where plain chicken might.

I'll start doing training without distractions. Her listening skills have gone downhill recently, I think because we've been so fixated in her food.

She's a labradoodle (I know, I know). She will retrieve with soft mouth (had a horrific recent incident where she found an injured crow) but isn't much interested in balls. She LOVES squeaky toys and I have tried taking one of those, but it hypes her up when we're trying to reach her restraint.

Rabbit skin toys may work for her. Do not let her play with them unattended but would be great for recall.

Play with it as if you love it, hide the toy behind your arms, let her see just a bit of the toy, pretend to not let her have it, run away with it. Be prepared to look a bit stupid but give your best osca appearance of loving the toy

rabbit skin toys

I agree about squeakers very high arousal for most dogs

My Springer is ball obsessed. His ball comes above any food or treat. . Maybe a favourite toy ?

I had a rescue dog who was totally uninterested in food, she would eat her dinner but otherwise ignored food. You could leave your lunch on the coffee table with her in the room and be certain it would still be there when you came back. I found that when it came to training, she responded best to exaggerated praise 'Gooood girl, cleeever girl' plus a gentle stroke or ear tickle. She was a very people focussed dog

My dog will do almost anything for a piece of raw carrot or apple. When we were figuring out his food intolerances, I used broccoli, carrot and apple for training.

Green beans straight out of the freezer are a big treat here but I know that most foods are going to be off the menu until you’ve figured out what’s causing the allergies.