I get this asked a lot. What do I do when my puppy won’t take treats? The first thing I like to look at is how are you currently feeding your dog? If he or she has access to food whenever, then it is hard to know an optimal time to train, meaning when they are not full. This in addition to other reasons, is why I do not free feed my dogs. The second thing I look at is how big are your treats and are they soft? For puppies that are teething we want really easy things to chew, such as roasted chicken, turkey breast or meat balls cut into very tiny pieces. Additionally, we want something slightly smelly and finding what they like. If you puppy isn’t full, and doesn’t have anything medically going on, and they still are not taking food, mix it up try a variety they might be picky eaters. If that still isn’t working how are you giving them the treat? Make sure it is easy of delivery and that during your short training sessions they are getting rewarded at least 10 to 15 times per minute to keep the rate of reinforcement high.
Happy Training!
