Who's got two thumbs and Therapy Dog?

[jamiehalverson]

That's right, this girl! We passed the TDI, Inc. certification test tonight! Woo hoo!

I can't believe how lucky my family got in finding this dog, 5 months from shelter dog to working dog! He's like a gift...

However, this post is not just a brag, but a call for help. We passed by the skin of our teeth... once the evaluator offered Yogi some cheese, which we politely declined, Yogi could barely take his attention off him. It was terrible, I mean, he practically tripped me while walking through the crowd because he was focused on the evaluator. He said he would pass us because Yogi did phenomenally until he pulled out the cheese and it was clearly a food driven issue, BUT, he made me promise I would not go on any visits until I had the food issue under control. He said to stop training with food and start training with enthusiasm.

He admitted it was a bit unconventional, and most evaluators would not have passed us, but in looking at the whole package, Yogi did very well. My problem is, I don't know how else to train this dog, he is not high drive, he shuts down with minimal correction, I tried training with toys and fetch but he's no longer motivated after, and I kid you not, 3-5 throws of his favorite toy. I feel out of my league in my ability to motivate him. Broad question, but, any suggestions?

[suziriot]

Congratulations to you and Yogi!!! Wish I had some advice for you on the food motivation. All but one of mine are extremely food motivated. Dharma was the one we were hoping to train as a therapy dog, but her anxiety issues never really have progressed to the point that she could pass the test. Food and attention are her strong motivators. I get what the tester was saying about enthusiasm, and Dharma certainly responds to praise/play as reward. But it's nothing compared to food. Hopefully the actual trainers and behavior experts on the forum will be more helpful!

[fawncoat]

I really new to this forum, but I thought of something I do with one of my dogs that may help you. I taught one of my dogs a bunch of tricks by both verbal and hand cues. When I began, I treated him for each correct response. I eventually moved into treating him after a succession of correct responses, and so on, and now he can do his entire repertories before getting a treat. And sometimes all he gets is a "good boy!!"

I thought this might be helpful to you too. Maybe move the treat to the second correct response for a while, and so on. I think the trick is to keep them sure they're going to get the treat, but not sure when so that they'll keep up the good work.

Something I learned in psych class, lol!