Fear we may have a High School Dropout on our hands..........

[NOELLE MARTINES]

So, this is my third dog & DEFINITELY the hardest one to train (so far.) Second male, second goldendoodle, ALL new training issues of course. Different dogs, different personalities I understand. 

BUT in regard to the Brain Training games, we worked our way through Preschool & Elementary School, certain games a little harder to conquer than others naturally. Now that he is in 'High School' we have been stuck there for a few weeks. 1st off, he came to me petrified of water (& cars & bikes & several other things as well, but staying on topic) He has gotten better w/the fear of water, but the Bobbing for Apples has been a real tricky endeavor. I started with tennis balls (his cryptonite) & that at least got him over to the pool & eventually playing the game. Less interested when switching to treats however & DEFINITELY did NOT enjoy sticking his muzzle into the water. (Literally to the point where he was trying to DRINK the water in the pool to get to the carrot at the bottom--argh/haha) We finally made progress with this game & think eventually he will succeed slowly but surely with practice.

The Bottle Game however I am at my wit's end. We started with a wider necked bottle, less pieces of kibble, until he understood the concept of the game. Then slowly I added more pieces until we reached 10. Even with smellier (higher valued) treats & me initiating play with him, (giving him treats when he displays appropriate behavior, etc,) he either loses interest, gets frustrated, or both. In addition to the fact that he is a bigger dog & easily crushes the bottle when he picks it up with his mouth (he is not very gentle) & actually enjoys chewing bottles & thus ending the game prematurely. 

What can I do to get him to pass this test so we can finally move on to the next level of Brain Games? If he needs a B or C in the Bottle Game before moving on, I'm afraid we are going to be stuck in high school forever! Please help!

 

Signed, Nutty in N.J. (Noelle-human & Aurelio- crazy canine) 

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi Noelle!

First of all, congrats on your new dog and working so diligently with him through the course! Getting a dog fearful of water to want to play a game like bobbing for treats, is certainly a big achievement and although he's not literally going crazy over sticking his muzzle in the water, it sounds like you were able to at least get him interested in the water and he's making steady progress. Sometimes, what helps these dogs is social facilitation, e.g. having them watch other dogs play in the water bobbing for treats like if it was the most wonderful activity on earth.

Having a helper hold him back as he watches you toss the treats in the water while another dog goes "fishing" with the most happy look on his face, can increase motivation sometimes, so that when it's his turn, he may be more motivated. A word of caution: don't have two dogs fishing for treats at the same time if they are prone to resource guarding or you're not sure on how they may react. 

In regards, to the bottle game, I understand the difficulties, especially with a dog who has a history of liking to chew bottles. If he's prone to getting frustrating, it may take some time for him to master the art of delayed gratification. These dogs benefit from learning better impulse control so it may help if, on the side, we very gradually start introducing him to some impulse control games to gradually increase his frustration tolerance.

Here are some games: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/10-impulse-control-games-for-dogs/

If he was doing OK with less kibble but struggles with ten, then it may help to return to the wider neck bottle and go back to less kibble and then gradually add a few more over the course of several days. Every time he manages to get some kibble out make sure to praise and reward, and when he empties the bottle, you can praise happily and even give him an extra treat for the job well done tossed at a distance so that you can remove the empty bottle. 

It may also help him to get more acquainted with how food puzzles work by using a Kong Wobbler for his meals which is quite sturdy and works in a similar fashion: https://www.amazon.com/KONG-PW1-Wobbler-Large/dp/B003ALMW0M/ 

If he's too focused on crunching the bottle, you can try to do the more advanced game of drilling holes in it and passing a string to it and see if that keeps him more focused on nudging it around than chewing it. 

Another idea that comes to mind is using a replacement for the bottle that is more sturdy. There are several toys that can be used similarly, but they may not all be too durable to withstand repeatedly being chewed on:

This one looks durable:

https://www.amazon.com/Aggressive-Lifetime-Replacement-Indestructible-Interactive/dp/B08KSRWFB7

As always, close supervision is needed so to ensure the dog doesn't chew on or ingest any parts. A good response to leave it and drop is also important so that it can be removed and swapped on cue. 

I hope this helps!

Happy training!