Why Do Some Dogs Seem To Have Less Food Drive Than Others - 10 Reasons To Consider #269
Shaped by Dog with Susan Garrett
DogsThat
4.8 • 679 Ratings
🗓️ 3 April 2024
⏱️ 15 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Visit us at shapedbydog.com
How can I train my dog if they're not interested in food? That's a question I'm often asked, and before we get to the how, we need to look at the why! A dog not really wanting to take food is something I've experienced from time to time. I'm covering the top ten reasons why a dog might have low food drive and not be motivated by training treats as a reinforcer.
In this episode you’ll hear:
• About my experiences with dogs not interested in food.
• Why singleton puppies might have low food drive.
• The impact of a dog’s anxiety or fear.
• Why highly stimulated or over aroused dogs might not take treats.
• That a dog’s disinterest in food might be a sign of pain or discomfort.
• About the importance of good food hygiene for dogs.
• The impact of too little activity on a dog’s food drive.
• Why to consider your dog’s value for the treats you are using.
• What’s important about the way you are presenting treats to your dog.
• How overfeeding dogs can lead to disinterest in training treats.
• A test to try, but consult with your Veterinarian first!
• That food refusal can become a reinforced behavior for dogs.
Resources:
1. DogsThat YouTube Channel - https://www.youtube.com/dogsthat
2. Podcast Episode 179: Help For Dogs Refusing Treats: Case Study With Training Plan - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/179/
3. Podcast Episode 90: Premack, Dog Training and Transfer of Value - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/90/
4. Podcast Episode 218: Puppy Development Stages And Your Dog’s Behavior - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/218/
5. Podcast Episode 191: Get Your Dog To Calm Down With This Common Sense Protocol For Relaxation - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/191/
6. Podcast Episode 203: Reactive, Unmotivated and Fearful: Finding Resiliency For This! Beyond Dog Training Part 1 - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/203/
7. Podcast Episode 204: Dog Behavior And Diet: Recovery For This! Beyond Dog Training Part 2 - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/204/
8. Podcast Episode 252: The Raw Feeding Guide To Training Your Dog With All Forms Of Treats - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/252/
9. YouTube Video: 15 Ways To Exercise Your Dog - https://youtu.be/SsQY6nm6E30
10. Podcast Episode 92: Avoid This Big Mistake When Feeding Your Dog - https://dogsthat.com/podcast/92/
11. Watch this Episode of Shaped by Dog on YouTube - https://youtu.be/binkDaVM_1c
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | At the time of recording this podcast episode, there are 650 videos on our YouTube channel |
| 0:05.8 | and most of them have graphic demonstration on how to train your dog or puppy so much better. |
| 0:12.5 | And every once in a while on one of those videos comes up this question. |
| 0:17.1 | But how can I train my dog if they're not interested in food? |
| 0:20.4 | And today we begin to |
| 0:22.2 | answer that question for you. |
| 0:23.5 | You know, hi, I'm Susan Garrett. Welcome to Shape by Dog. I say we begin to answer the question |
| 0:38.4 | because it's going to take more than one podcast episode to answer that question. It's a pretty |
| 0:44.2 | complex subject and there might be multiple reasons combining, which is causing your dog |
| 0:51.1 | not to be interested in food. So, we're going to begin today with the top |
| 0:56.2 | 10 reasons that I can come up with why your dog may have very low food drive. And if you correct |
| 1:03.2 | the ones that you go, oh, that could be my dog, that alone is going to make a massive impact |
| 1:09.4 | on your dog's drive for food, aka your ability |
| 1:13.0 | to train your dog because training in the way that we promote is about a transfer of value. |
| 1:18.7 | What the dog loves and wants gets put into the behavior we're trying to train the dog to do. |
| 1:24.2 | But if you don't have anything your dog loves or wants, then training gets really |
| 1:28.3 | problematic. So, let's solve that problem. Okay? We're going to start with what I see is, well, |
| 1:34.7 | let's do this in reverse order. The number 10 reason could be your puppy is a singleton. Now, |
| 1:39.0 | I know that is a rarity, but by saying your puppy is a singleton, it means it didn't have any littermates. |
| 1:45.8 | Therefore, it didn't have to fight for food. Therefore, it got anything it wanted, when it wanted. |
| 1:51.5 | And so there was no anxiety associated with meal time, which meant that puppy could eat until |
| 1:57.7 | they were full. And so there was no reason to be anxious about food. And so |
... |
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