-
Dog Not Motivated
My dog is not motivated by food or play, only walks, I have tried all kinds of different forms of play, how do I figure out how to get him to engage? Especially for the exercise before exercise, he also does fairly well with no distractions but as soon as there is one he is different.
He is an intact 2 year old Sharpei, I do plan to get him fixed soon.
-
6 Replies
-
@Sav , that can be a bit of a challenging package to motivate. I’ll be very curious to know if his food motivation changes after neutering. Anecdotally, I’ve met a bunch of adolescent and young adult male dogs with shockingly low motivation for anything (and this is with any breed, really, but a standard poodle immediately jumps to my memory) but changed quite a bit with their food motivation after neutering.
Is your Sharpei currently lean? Have you tried various fresh proteins to see if that increases motivation, like bits of steak or chicken or cheddar, etc. ? Maybe having brief training sessions before a regularly scheduled meal? Pairing brief, simple skills with a prompt spell of walking if that’s what really turns him on right now, i.e., he gives you eye contact, then you commence some walking; or he sits and then walking commences.
Is he keen to access certain sniff spots to explore? If so, try a simple cue before permitting him to have access to an odor-rich area.
Looking forward to other members’ input and reports on whatever you do try!
-
He does love steak and chicken sometimes he gets overly excited lol. My sharpei is very lean, we lived in apartment for the first year of this life so he got a lot of walks I think that may partly be why he is so obsessed with walking, he still gets two walks a day, I work hard hours so I try to keep him happy, he has a huge backyard and doggie door but does not care about the yard and I have to be careful because if he gets too excited he gets the zoomies and hurts his leg that’s why we usually walk. He is very eager to please, I make him wait while the door is open before he is allowed to go out of it, he will center, sit, speak, so we do some mental training and I do try to incorporate “rest days” because I know some hyper active dogs struggle to relax.
-
I appreciate the additional info, @Sav . Might you give the steak or chicken a try on your walks to see if he is more motivated to tune in to you? Would love to hear if the better food helps. ????
-
@Sav Nice details! I agree with Virginia, try taking some fresh protein on your walks. Also, it can really help to be far away from the distractions if you can.
I’ve had an awful lot of clients work on attention in their driveways, working up to an actual walk could take several weeks. Meanwhile, physical exercise needs are met with other types of movement (Fetch, flirt pole, free-hunting snacks in the grass).
-
-
@Sav @catherine @virginiad
I really enjoyed reading through this conundrum with keeping your boy motivated on walks. It sounds like you have a lot of great thought to keeping him safe, as yeah, those zoomies and his youth sometimes can lead to injury.
Fresh protein, yeah, can be difficult to manage that with leash and if you get any ewww factor (I used to but that left me long ago as a pro walker, ha ha).
Some choices my dog walk clients ❤️:
????️Cubed FreshPet
????️Churo-type cat lickable pouches
???? Hot dogs cut into rounds, halved and microwaved to leather-consistency
???? Cheese (good variety here folks, more than American) BUT LEAVE IT OUT at least 30 minutes (or longer) before using! You can’t smell cold cheese!
Joy (my new rescue Labby lady) even loves plain Cheerios. She is 10 months old and used to be walked by her owner (older man, disabled vet) on a Gentle Leader type head harness. I assume because he was attempting to train her to be a service dog. The foster dad did the same and walked her “for exercise” 1-2 miles daily on a busy road, and made her heel the whole way, with nose to his leg!!! GAH!!! He only gave her permission to sniff (he’d take the head harness off and clip leash to her martingale, telling her to go potty. Then it was back to the head halter!
Needless to say, I’ve found many deficiencies in her new enthusiastic approach to sniffing and watching the world. Nose and mouth were newly confused by everything in her new environment I was allowing her to inspect. Yeah, sidewalk snacking is a concern, so I have been training a solid Leave It and Drop It (both are getting quick!). Occasionally I still have to reach into that big maw, but rarely. It’s only been 3 weeks of knowing her and she’s so smart! Rewards she also enjoys is the permission to Sit for People (which means, if she wants to watch someone who’s walking by, I have her Sit or she will even offer a non-cued Sit). It is really fabulous, and calming. She will often watch the person the entire time they pass by and then I either say, Let’s Go! or she gets up to follow me.
Also wanted to point out that sometimes we as owners and trainers think that dogs need MOORE. Sometimes they actually need LESS. Less steps, more sniffing. If treats and play aren’t his cup of tea on walks, maybe choosing a quiet corner or park to literally SIT together and talk about what he sees and smells… would this be more rewarding? I have done this with Joy when she gets “too much mental stimulation”…how it looks: she’ll grab her end of the leash, tug it and attempt zoomies while attached to me. If I know now what might trigger this over-the-top response, I try to “reward” her with time to sit and watch (not watch me) and she usually settles and breathes! Yeah, a life reward!
Every dog is different!!! Embrace that along your journey and we can’t wait to hear more about what you figure out as a motivator.
-
Does he work for certain treats in the house ? Is it harder to find something motivating on your walks? I was thinking like Catherine- the environment. My go to hard to motivate dogs is Barkpouch products. Real sticky meats and fish in a squeeze tube. Liverwurst is a number one. I would also start some pattern games in the house and driveway to build that motivation. I know you said toys- what about a flirt pole? I would love more details… is motivation hard to find in house or walks?
Log in to reply.