Bruce, our 5 month old bullmastiff puppy, eats almost everything we give him. Thankfully he's not into shoes, bags or anything specifically ours. Strangely, he's into cloths and car covers to be exact. He likes chasing mops and towels instead of a ball. Goo thing he tires easily too so lately his signature of destruction is somehow bearable.
So my dog is extremely food driven. One thing you need to know if you want to train your dog. According to trainers, food driven dogs are easiest to train. Unlike Harvey who is considered a play-driven dog, training a food driven dog means less effort for the trainers. Anything out of their ordinary boring formula is considered a treat so they will pay attention and try to get things right for the reward. Good food gives you an immediate rewarding feeling, it has an instant and huge impact. Given in good proportions, they will be eager to follow and do whatever you command. It's also less effort for the trainers. You don't need to match the energy of the dog. You just have to hand the piece and let it do wonders.
That was one of the things that the trainer assessed. Bruce eats everything that we give him, even the lousy food the trainer swears by other dogs do not eat. It helps too that Bruce only eats his puppy formula. Unlike Harvey and Chivas, we decided not to put human food with his bowl of dog food. This makes him less picky. Harvey eats his formula food with rice and some specially cooked meal Nanay makes for him, which made him a picky eater. He doesn't eat pure dog food which made him a little on the heavy side. Thank goodness he balances it with exercise.
For Bruce's second day of training, we knew what to do. We prepared 3 treats we know he would never say no to. Thinking about it, I thought the easiest way was just to buy packed treats from the pet store. That was the assumption, it's cheaper and less effort. But dogs know it too, nothing beats going natural.
CHEESE
Bruce likes cheese. This was the first treat that he really liked when we brought him to Better Dog. Shamefully, we weren't prepared and only had his dog food as a treat on the first day. The trainer tried different treats and gave him commercial biscuits and processed meat, but cheese was entirely his favorite. He would try to lick off the crumbs from our hands. He became extra attentive since then. I never thought cheese was an appropriate treat. Harvey seems to like it too.
COOKED MEAT
My sister bought a beef cubes pack at the grocery for 130 pesos. Half of it, we boiled and seasoned. It was his first time to eat this last Saturday and he went almost crazy. For difficult tasks, we reserve this treat for that.
COMMERCIAL TREATS
These are usually artificial bacon strips, biscuits and jerkies found in pet stores that are made by leading pet food brands. Though this is safe and hassle free, dogs tend to favor this less. They want the natural ones. If they've tasted cheese and real meat, they would know the difference.
APPLES and BANANAS
Bruce loves Apples. He eats bananas too, but Apples seem to gain his upper hand. Nanay would slice it in cubes and he would start following her around.
Bruce likes cooked meat, cheese and apples all in that order. Sometimes we do mix and match, but for more difficult tasks we rely on cooked meat to do the trick. Next week my sister plans to buy chicken strips for more variety.
Last Saturday, I had a hand at slicing cheese, cutting bacon strips, cooking meat and packing them in tiny ziplocs to be placed in the training apron. That whole experience was strange and something new to me since I don't even prepare my own lunch. It was like preparing food for a child that's going to school only that we're not going to a school and the child happens to be a heavy bullmastiff dog that tends to eat anything, anytime, anywhere. Good thing, he's all for food and not a picky eater. We understand each other well.
Treats are an aid for dogs to pay attention. It gives them a quick sense of reward. Cut the treats into small cubes and strips. The idea is not make them full, but for them just to have a taste of something tasty and out of the ordinary.
So my dog is extremely food driven. One thing you need to know if you want to train your dog. According to trainers, food driven dogs are easiest to train. Unlike Harvey who is considered a play-driven dog, training a food driven dog means less effort for the trainers. Anything out of their ordinary boring formula is considered a treat so they will pay attention and try to get things right for the reward. Good food gives you an immediate rewarding feeling, it has an instant and huge impact. Given in good proportions, they will be eager to follow and do whatever you command. It's also less effort for the trainers. You don't need to match the energy of the dog. You just have to hand the piece and let it do wonders.
That was one of the things that the trainer assessed. Bruce eats everything that we give him, even the lousy food the trainer swears by other dogs do not eat. It helps too that Bruce only eats his puppy formula. Unlike Harvey and Chivas, we decided not to put human food with his bowl of dog food. This makes him less picky. Harvey eats his formula food with rice and some specially cooked meal Nanay makes for him, which made him a picky eater. He doesn't eat pure dog food which made him a little on the heavy side. Thank goodness he balances it with exercise.
For Bruce's second day of training, we knew what to do. We prepared 3 treats we know he would never say no to. Thinking about it, I thought the easiest way was just to buy packed treats from the pet store. That was the assumption, it's cheaper and less effort. But dogs know it too, nothing beats going natural.
CHEESE
Bruce likes cheese. This was the first treat that he really liked when we brought him to Better Dog. Shamefully, we weren't prepared and only had his dog food as a treat on the first day. The trainer tried different treats and gave him commercial biscuits and processed meat, but cheese was entirely his favorite. He would try to lick off the crumbs from our hands. He became extra attentive since then. I never thought cheese was an appropriate treat. Harvey seems to like it too.
COOKED MEAT
My sister bought a beef cubes pack at the grocery for 130 pesos. Half of it, we boiled and seasoned. It was his first time to eat this last Saturday and he went almost crazy. For difficult tasks, we reserve this treat for that.
COMMERCIAL TREATS
These are usually artificial bacon strips, biscuits and jerkies found in pet stores that are made by leading pet food brands. Though this is safe and hassle free, dogs tend to favor this less. They want the natural ones. If they've tasted cheese and real meat, they would know the difference.
APPLES and BANANAS
Bruce loves Apples. He eats bananas too, but Apples seem to gain his upper hand. Nanay would slice it in cubes and he would start following her around.
Bruce likes cooked meat, cheese and apples all in that order. Sometimes we do mix and match, but for more difficult tasks we rely on cooked meat to do the trick. Next week my sister plans to buy chicken strips for more variety.
Last Saturday, I had a hand at slicing cheese, cutting bacon strips, cooking meat and packing them in tiny ziplocs to be placed in the training apron. That whole experience was strange and something new to me since I don't even prepare my own lunch. It was like preparing food for a child that's going to school only that we're not going to a school and the child happens to be a heavy bullmastiff dog that tends to eat anything, anytime, anywhere. Good thing, he's all for food and not a picky eater. We understand each other well.
Treats are an aid for dogs to pay attention. It gives them a quick sense of reward. Cut the treats into small cubes and strips. The idea is not make them full, but for them just to have a taste of something tasty and out of the ordinary.
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