I’m in a wheelchair and can’t use my arms or legs so I spit treats to my dog and he catches them. If he misses one, he checks out. I’d like to make the reward event more meaningful, do you have any ideas?

Full Question:

I’m training a German Shepherd. I am a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. I can’t use my arms or legs but I do have a power wheelchair so I can move a little bit. I can’t run from the dog and feed him with my hand. What I do is spit treats to him. It makes for a great eye Contact but after I give him the first treat, he checks out until I call him back for another command. If I spit a treat at him and he catches it then I can give him another one and he doesn’t check out. But once we miss and he doesn’t catch it then he kind of checks out. I’d like to make the duration of the reward event more meaningful. Any ideas?

Cindy's Answer:

Maybe work on just staying stationary and having him very close and work eye contact. Then spit random numbers of treats, 3 then 1 then 2 then 4, etc... You could also spit a treat onto the floor and tell him to get it, then you go the other direction and when he gets to you, jackpot the treats one right after the other making sure he looks at you before you reward. Kind of a version of the food chase recalls we do with puppies. I find that this builds engagement a lot with my puppies and older dogs.

User Response:

Great. Thank you.

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