Last Friday I told you I would give you a training tip twice a week from now until Christmas. The aim is for all of us to create a new habit of training our dog each day. Every tip will only takes a few minutes at most – sometimes less.
Today’s tip is about setting yourself up for success. Every living being needs food to survive. Food is a valuable resource. And you are in charge of your dog’s food – you earn the money to buy it and you dole it out. So, let’s make your dog earn it back from you instead of being given it for free.
Food given to your dog in a bowl, or left down in a bowl for your dog to graze when he wants is just wasted training opportunities. It can also teach your dog to be a fussy eater, but that’s a story for another day.
So today’s Tip 2 is: Ditch the bowl.
Even if you use just ditch the bowl for one of his two meals a day, there’ll be a good handful of food you can use to reward your dog when he does great things for you.
Think of his food as his wages – he can earn his “pay” for doing his “work” – the things you ask him to do. If you were given your full pay without going to work, would you bother going? I wouldn’t. But that’s how most dogs are treated – they are given food without doing anything to earn it.
Today, use just some of your dog’s food (obviously all of it if you want) to do some training with your dog. Every time he looks at you, give him a piece or two of food. If he comes when you call him, give him food.
Ditch that bowl!
Keep training
Carol