I am trying to increase my dog's food drive/drive in general and thought it would be good to teach her to catch her food in the air. anybody know any threads or methods? her usual reaction is to watch the food fall to the ground. If you toss it at her, she closes her eyes or it just hits her.

I have been following the suggestions in the Ellis DVDs and after I say "yes" I make her come to the food - as if to chase it and make it more like prey. But she is along way from having alot of drive for it.

the other nite i used a bag of liver treats/kibble and sat on my bed and tossed them to her while she sat there. each time I told her "ready?" and tossed her a piece til she started to anticipate the food coming from my hand. (my other 2 dogs not in training had a good time catching the ones she missed and I was hoping this would make her more engaged and want to get her own).

eventually she actually tried to catch one. so I said "yes" and gave her jackpot (lots of treats). it was slow but I think she was getting the idea. During the entire session, out of 50 or so she probably caught 2 or 3! That is 2 or 3 more than she has ever caught before! Then I added "watch me" (get eye contact), "Yes", and tossed the treat.

I find it helps if they can catch a ball and understand that whole toss/catch thing first.

My dog had a very high food drive, so I'm not well-versed at dealing with low food drive dogs.

It sounds like you're making progress tho, so keep it up! (I'd make sure she's hungry, that you have very high value treats, and that she can't eat what she doesn't catch.)

leih

had a prob with one of my dogs with the same thing, come to find out she had vision problems in one eye, screwed up her depth perception.

My guess is your pupper is not catching the treat cus he doesn't have to. try tying a string to the treat and if he lets it fall yank it back. and try again. make sure he's hungry and not tired or over heated

Have you tried using really high value treats? Bits of grilled chicken or steak, or something else yummy? You may be surprised at the difference in your pup's food drive when you up the ante.
(I'm talking about increasing drive here, not about teaching your dog to catch a flying piece of food)

If you can increase her food drive, catching treats will be much easier to teach.

 Quote: Lynne Barrows

Have you tried using really high value treats? Bits of grilled chicken or steak, or something else yummy? You may be surprised at the difference in your pup's food drive when you up the ante.
(I'm talking about increasing drive here, not about teaching your dog to catch a flying piece of food)

If you can increase her food drive, catching treats will be much easier to teach.

Big ditto, along with the reminders from Dennis to have your (short, upbeat) sessions before and not after supper, and not with a tired or heated pup.