| What can I use to motivate my dog? |
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| Written by John Buginas, CPDT, CTC | |
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Some stuff your dog might find motivating appears below. Remember, that once your dog learns to do something fun, such as a trick, the trick can become motivating for other behaviors. This is known as the Premack Principle, or 'Grannies Rule.'
Consider this: An item is ONLY motivating if it INCREASES behavior at the time it is presented. This means that what worked today may not work tomorrow. What worked five minutes ago may not work now. You must work with the dog in front of you!
Be creative: Baby food (without onion)Back scratch Barking Basketballs Belly rub Bicycle tires Boomer balls Bread crust Broken up cookies Bunny Fur Buoys Burlap sacks Canned cat food Cardboard box Carpet rolls Carpet Samples Cat food Carry the flashlight Chase the flashlight Cheerios / breakfast Cheese Whiz Chicken breast boiled Cloth dinner napkin - clean Cloth dinner napkin – used Cooked pasta Corn Nuts Croutons Croutons Crumbled ground beef Cuddling Dog Food Down Dried Blueberries Dried liver Dried Squid Eat anything Eat dinner Egg Carton Fetch Firewood Five gallon buckets Folding chairs Freeze dried liver French fries Frisbees Get in the car Get in the kennel Get on the bed Get on the couch Get out of the kennel Go into the house Go out of the car Go out of the house Hard boiled eggs Heeling Hockey pucks Hot dogs Howling Ice cubes Inner tubes Jumping Kongs Laser spot Leashes Left over steak pieces Margarine tins – clean Margarine tubs -- used Nuts Old chunk of hose Pats on the side – hard Pats on the side – soft Pedigree Tandem Play with other dogs Play with the cats Play with the kids Popcorn Pork Fu Pounce cat treats Praise from me Puppy tugs Pureed liver Rabbit food Raw Egg Red licorice Rice balls Rice cakes Rolling over Rollover Rope tugs Rope Salmon/Cheese strips Sardines Snausages Searching Sit on a chair Sit under a chair Soccer balls Soft Drinks Squirts from the water hose Steak Sticks Street hockey balls String cheese Swimming Tail pulling Target stick Tennis Ball Tubes Tennis Balls Tracking harnesses Tracking Trout pellets Ultra balls Walk on hind legs Water Bottles Wheat Thins Wrestling |
