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by CantrellK9 on 03 December 2013 - 21:12
Is there such a thing of too much food drive in Belgian Malinois? I have a 6 month pup who started off as a "can do nothing wrong pup". I recently started marker training with food and now his toy play has reduced to not interested at all. In fact if I leave the toy on the ground he would actually start to hump it. What's going on? Is it just growing pains or am I headed in the wrong direction?
by mholmes000 on 03 December 2013 - 23:12
Do you have a photo of your Mal?
by gsdstudent on 04 December 2013 - 09:12
Do you work with an experienced trainer? I would not think too much food drive but not properly directed food drive.
by Hired Dog on 04 December 2013 - 09:12
Did the dog have a very high toy drive before you started with the food? If so, why did you switch to food? Its the dog that decides what is the best reward, most of the time anyway, but, if the dog had huge toy drives switching to food was not very wise.
On the other hand, as long as the dog has the huge food drive you mention, who really cares, as long as you are able to use it constructively and to your advantage. I do prefer using the tug over a ball myself because I think the dog can express its drives better by biting, but, I have also used food to achieve my goals. So long as training is progressing in the right direction, food, toy, tug, whatever, it makes little difference, depending on what you will want out of this dog in the future.
On the other hand, as long as the dog has the huge food drive you mention, who really cares, as long as you are able to use it constructively and to your advantage. I do prefer using the tug over a ball myself because I think the dog can express its drives better by biting, but, I have also used food to achieve my goals. So long as training is progressing in the right direction, food, toy, tug, whatever, it makes little difference, depending on what you will want out of this dog in the future.
by Chaz Reinhold on 04 December 2013 - 21:12
A lot of people like to work a young dog with food and switch over to toy. Especially a wacked out breed like the Malinois. I like that he humps his toy. He owns that toy.
by asomich on 09 December 2013 - 20:12
you stated "his toy play has reduced to not interested at all". Are you throwing the toy or making it come alive? He's probably old enough that the dead toy is not interesting enough. You need to learn to play with him - we call that engagement. Now is the time to play the 2 ball game. Also hunt games too - focus his toy drive.
He's also developing sexually too. My 4.5 month old male pup tried to mount his mother when she was in heat - and she was standing for him - caught me by surprise.
No drive can be too much in my opinion. Folks work on building particular drives to round out the dog.
You need to get the Michael Ellis Training with Food and Playing Tug dvds. Check out the free Michael Ellis videos on www.leerburg.com.
It's normal for a good pup to bite your hand because they have high food drive - I like it. I would rather teach a pup to nicely take a food reward than to have low food drive. I also want my dog to go ballistic for the ball when we are training. It is easier to train a dog when they have strong food and/or ball drive.
You need to learn about your breed and change your expectations. Hopefully you got a mal because you like the intensity. Find someone in your area who has experience with working mals to help you - or at least see what they do with their pups. Also, contact your breeder and get his input on the timeline for different development stages that his lines go through. Get in contact with the other puppy owners too. Good luck.
He's also developing sexually too. My 4.5 month old male pup tried to mount his mother when she was in heat - and she was standing for him - caught me by surprise.
No drive can be too much in my opinion. Folks work on building particular drives to round out the dog.
You need to get the Michael Ellis Training with Food and Playing Tug dvds. Check out the free Michael Ellis videos on www.leerburg.com.
It's normal for a good pup to bite your hand because they have high food drive - I like it. I would rather teach a pup to nicely take a food reward than to have low food drive. I also want my dog to go ballistic for the ball when we are training. It is easier to train a dog when they have strong food and/or ball drive.
You need to learn about your breed and change your expectations. Hopefully you got a mal because you like the intensity. Find someone in your area who has experience with working mals to help you - or at least see what they do with their pups. Also, contact your breeder and get his input on the timeline for different development stages that his lines go through. Get in contact with the other puppy owners too. Good luck.
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