So my dog is a dud He is doing ok with his training, he downs well, stays well and will come but it is slow. Sit is a challenge. The problem is he doesnt get excited about treats, wont play with toys at all ( was hoping this would get better but I was told probably wont get better) he is 4 and I have been training with a prong collar his heel is great on the prong but on a flat collar not so great. So how do I get him excited about this stuff? I want to do some obedience and hope to get a BH title on him but its not looking promising.

You have to find what floats his boat. LOL

My eldest dog is about as non food driven as a dog biologically can be. Then we discovered that sharp cheddar cheese (*it must be sharp) was his desire. The world opened up that day.

Sometimes I find offering treats to another dog in front of my dog makes them more interested. Sometimes heating up a treat like chicken helps get the brain going.

Hi Samantha, You might try fasting one meal and then training with a very yummy treat. On an empty stomach and great food and lots of praise might turn him on a bit more. Good luck!

 Quote: Melissa Thom

You have to find what floats his boat.

Samantha, is there ANYTHING that he really likes?

I've used releasing my dog to go pee on stuff as reward. Pretty sure I've heard of someone else here doing the same.

Just gotta find what the dog wants at that moment. It doesn't have to be food or toys.

Maybe just going for a run, a belly rub, or eating a bug......

Or there is always the chance that the dog IS a true dud and is going to be the most kick ass, obedient companion to ever roam the earth.:smile: Take an honest assessment of him and ENJOY whatever he turns out to be.

I agree that sometimes a little roughhousing perks up my dogs too.

I noticed you mentioned that on a prong your dog is good, but on a flat your dog is not as good.
Personally, if I start a dog off on a prong, I like to work on getting him off the prong. I will start off in the house with heeling/sitting/downing with treats. Then I will take him out on a prong if a prong is needed. I am very easy with the prong when it is being used. I never want more then 2 pounds of presser on the dogs neck. If the dog is putting more on that on me by pulling and things like this. I will do more ground work with him in the house.

I don't want to desensitize the dogs neck.
From there I will go to a Fur Saver type collar. Same thing applies, if the dog is putting more then two pounds of presser on the fur saver, I will then go back to a prong, until the dog is responding well to a fur saver.
From there I will go to a flat. If the dog does not respond to a flat, I will then go back to a fur saver. Until the dog can respond to a flat.

I then will only resource a prong, or fur saver type collar if training needs it.
In all honest this does not happen much because I graduate between collars slowly, making sure the dog has his/her training down in between each collar step.

The whole process can take a while 6 month-2 years I like to tell most people.

There are a lot of treat options out there too. You might be able to find something your dog really finds high value.

Good luck on your BH. It is a pretty realistic title that with work just about any dog can get. IMHO.

Not to mention that you can't even have a prong on in the building at an AKC Obedience show. I thought you could walk them in on one, had to switch mine over before the first show.

make sure you got a hungry dog and check his wieght