Today Morse and I played FETCH - a small thing but as I said before he didnt play with us, just other dogs with obvious results....he nearly falls over himself when I call him and swing the tuggy ball. Thanks to Hannah I learned to use the wee hole in the bottom for hiding hot dog bits and let him think it was a kartwheeling KOng tehn gave th ehot dogs when he brought it back. We can play in the kitchen or in the postage stamp ( garden) so soon we can go outside. :) Sweet....

glad to hear he is playing now you can have loadsa fun and it can also help with his training
my bunch arn't getting on at the mo so they have all got treat toys in a seperate room to keep em occupyed from killing each other
i bet morse is happy now he gets hotdogs for having fun

Humm. I want our catch game to be more fun, but I have hesitated in using many treats as rewards. I worry about extra weight on the pup or that the pup will only respond to commands if a treat is involved.

I did break down once and try to use treats to practice recall...but after one treat the pup just kept jumping around me for more treats forgeting the task at hand...

We do give a few treats daily such as at the end of a long walk, mid-day, or obedience practice session.

Thoughts?

Hi Darling nice to hear form you again!Tiny, tiny pieces wont interfere with feeding and it seems to make the dog more eager.I think your confusing bribery and reward - if you treat after she does something you want thats reward. Once yu get a response you want evry time yu random the treats - best response =jackpot praise, treats toys whatever. Quick is praise, slow is brief good dog - but your puppy is young, so she maybe didnt understand.

Keep treats hidden in your pocket and if she leaps about get her to sit or down or whatever until shes calmed down and carry on - keep it short and stop before anyone gets stressed (but you knew that already!) I dont give him any treats unless hes worked for them first.

Breaking down sounds a bit serious - theres nothing wrong with trying something new if it dosent work so what ? Who cares? As long as its not cruel. Have a laugh at my mistakes on the board if you like thats why I put them there and when things go pear shaped with Morse I just have to laugh myself . Is your pup called Darling ? Have fun pointers love to surprise you with a new trick they invented themselves, or they think faster than their trainer so theyre not disobedient all the time part of their charm I think.:)