Hi,

I have a rescue GSD and just ordered the Marker training DVD, which I am very excited about. My problem is my girl, Shelby, has very little food drive and I know food is used with the marker training. I have been doing positive reinforcement training with food (2 minute sessions- no pressure)and have used cooked liver and beef heart cut up into tiny pieces and she eats them, but she isn't crazy for it. At first she was excited about them, but then lost her interest. I have tried different foods/treats as well and it seems at first she gets excited about it, then quickly gets bored with the food. Now I have resorted to praise and pets becasue I am getting better results, since she craves pets especially.

I would really like to build her food drive because I know it will make the training process easier. I have tried withholding food from her to stimulat her appetite overall and it doesn't make a difference. I have even tried appetite stimulants and I see no marked improvement. She has been thoroughly checked by a vet and all her tests came back fine.

When I got her she was very thin and I had to really encourage eating, which was quite challenging at first. Then I started giving her a raw diet and she ate extremely well. After a couple months her appetite went down again, so I changed the type of proteins I was giving her. She again started eating well, but only for a while. After 8 months she has gained 10 lbs. and looks decent. Fortunately she is a long coat, otherwise I think she'd still look a little thin. In addition she has gone through two heats and I noticed when she was going through her heats that she had NO appetite. I know this deserves and explanation- we thought she was spayed when we got her, then due all the trauma she has been through before we got her, we held off getting her spayed right away We just got her spayed last week. Anyway, so since we got her eight months ago, her appetite has gone back and forth. Right now she's in a no eating mode and has been for the last three months. I think she has developed a negative attittude towards food because she has felt pressured from me to eat. I know I have babied her trying different things...but she was soooo thin. At this point I don't know how to recover from the damage I may have done. How can I start over and build food drive in this dog?

In one of Ed's podcasts (I think it's the Theory of Motivation podcast) he recommends not feeding the dog for 24-48 hours and then feeding the dog's entire ration during marker training throughout the day for several days. He says the effects of this were lasting in creating a high food drive in the dog. As I recall, the dog views the marker training as the only time he's going to get food, and then is motivated to work in order to get his food.

Some dogs just have low food drive.

Mine is one of them.

The most effective method I have found is to withold food for 48 hours, and use really good treats, like hotdogs and cheese.

Make sure the dog is getting adequate exercise (which of course, is different for each dog) to ensure that she can build a strong appetite.

I have also heard of people feeding their dogs their food in bit by bit during training. If you train a couple of times a day, I have heard that people have divided it up, giving little chuncks as you train in each session I don't know what the others think about this, I am not a professional dog trainer. But I have heard that motivation can build as they work for their food.
Sharon

Exercise might increase her desire to eat, I'm not sure how much exercise she's getting.

If she liked the raw diet, do you think little balls of ground beef would work? Kinda gross holding them in your hand, but if that's what she likes, maybe. Some dogs also like cheese, I've also seen peanut butter on a spoon used.

You can still use your marker training with praise, I usually use the word Yes! and then pet and play with her. Food is a primary resource and is big to most dogs, but there are dogs who do better with praise verbally and petting. Does she have desire for a favorite toy or tug? Prey drive can also be built up.

This is an ooold thread.

However, since it has been reopened, I imagine that Charlene has by now received and viewed the video she was posting about, and discovered the excellent chapter in it about using food for marker work with a less-food-driven dog.

Oops! Yeah I didn't realize it was so old. It was at the top of the forum so I thought it was current or new, I see the date now though.