Bribes

[Milopup]

Another question about guilt:

I find that I often rely on treats as a way of getting my pup under control. He only responds to treats, probably because he is very much a pig in cairn's clothing. How can I break this habit? I have tried using toys and affection to distract him from things he should not be doing/should not be chewing, but only treats seem to do the trick.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

[CallisMom]

Milopup

I am a firm believer in clicker training - which uses treats as a reward along with a click to reinforce good behavior. I was ready to start with Calli - but contrary to most Cairns - she could care less about treats! If only I COULD bribe her with food!!!!

Anyway - you might want to look into the clicker training since your guy resonds so well with treats. I am not explaining it well here at all but basically you use a clicker and when your pup has done the desired behavior you click and then treat. You eventually weed the click out and replace it with a word and do the treat thing every so often. It has worked well for me in the past. Some more info can be found at Clicker Training If you are interested I have some other articles that I can pull out and send you. Let me know.

I had heard that Cairns love clicker training. My problem is that Calli is so stubborn that toys and praise aren't enough - and the treats - even the ones she absolutely LOVES - forget it. But then again - she won't eat before 11:00 am and eats dinner at 7:00 pm! Picky little thing!!!

[Milopup]

Hi CallisMom,

I did try the clicker for a bit (a couple of weeks), but when I tried to fade out the treats and just had the clicks, he could care less. For him, the goal was not the praise/clicks, but the yummy treats.

What a lil' I have.

[CathyAnn]

Where do you find 'clickers'......???

Cathy

[Milopup]

I got mine from the obedience trainer, but I have seen them sold at Petsmart and Petco for around $1.

[chubbypup]

I started Metz on clicker training and he was brilliant, but as time has gone on he has grown more and more ignorant and doesnt really care if he has a treat or if the clicker is used. If he doesnt want to do anything he's told he wont. I suppose we're lucky in the fact that he is reasonably well behaved anyway.

[MikeC]

In our house, treats are king and will get Duffy to do whatever we want him to do. Well, that's not ALWAYS the case, but a carrot stick will get alot more attention from him than the clicker. We tried that and it did not faze him in the least. I agree with you Chubbypup.......like Metz, if Duffy's mind is made up not to do something, he won't, but we love and spoil him anyway.

MikeC