I have a prince of a dog. We've had him for three weeks now and he's been GREAT - no bad habits to break (we'll let his two Ooops markings in PetSmart slide, for now), but we're trying desperately to teach him to come (or at least respond to his name). He was a stray, so he was given a name by the people who brought him to the rescue, the rescue gave him a name, and then when we got him, we re-named him. I know, it's confusing, but... we're being consistent and praising him bigtime when he comes to us in the house or in the yard, and we use his name when talking to him - a LOT.

We're trying to work on other things too - sit and stay and while trying to do it all positively, it's really hard when he doesn't like treats. We've tried about 10 different kinds of treats and he'll daintily take it, spit it out, look at it, look at me, look at it, then wander off... then maybe come back and eat it... eventually. We've even tried things like cheese, lunch meat (turkey, ham), bacon, hot dog, peanut butter... the only thing that he has *really* liked, and eaten in the same bite was a piece of steak left over from my dinner one night (after I was done, we cleared the table, it wasn't a reward for begging). Anyway, I don't want to go down that road, of buying steaks for the DOG... so tell me your training treats and "high value" treats - especially for a super picky eater (this guy won't touch his kibble unless there's wet food stirred in, or we crack an egg and sprinkle a little cheese in there).

FWIW, the vet thinks he's "slightly thin" and would like for us to help him gain about 8 pounds (he's 42# and would like to see him at 50#). We feed him Wellness Core Original kibble and are trying out various kinds of Merrick 5 Star Dinners as mix ins. We've also tried a scoop of yogurt on there, some olive oil, and eggs & cheese shreds.

If you've made it this far - thanks! Any and all advice is greatly appreciated. :-)

wow, you sure do have a picky eater there! i wish i could give advice but mine eats anything under the sun...bananas, carrots...pretty much anything i put in front of her...lol. i'm sure someone on here will have some great advice for you though!

Have you tried chicken? A little bit of cooked chicken can sometimes do the trick. You also might want to try salami. Sometimes you need something with a slightly more potent smell. What was the steak cooked like/with?

We haven't tried boiled chicken or salami, yet. One of the Merrick dinners we tried was "Grammies Chicken Pot Pie" and he sniffed it, took maybe two bites, then walked away... *sigh* At this point though, I will try anything, so boiled chicken and salami it is! ;-)

My steak was sauteed with a little butter, olive oil, and Morton's Steak Seasoning, then drizzled with a pan sauce made from deglazing with red wine. It WAS tasty. Hahaha...

My gut response would be not to use the same treat every time, bring a bag full of all that different junk.

I don't train with treats for more than a day or two. My sled dog experience so far has formed a few opinions. First, you're still in the initial phase of relationship building. While the training is a must and should start right away, for now I would focus on building routine and trust. The Monks of New Skete book has a lot of good tips for this phase. Things like a wake up and bedtime rub down, massage techniques, shared quiet time, and (one of my personal favorites) Tellington Touch. Further down the road the bond you build will make training easier because YOU are a reward in the dog's eyes. I think this also allows for faster progress when using treats to shape new behavior, because as your "value" increases, so does the "value" of the things you offer.

Also try playing rope tug for a few seconds as a reward. A new dog probably has some pent up anxiety about the new situation. The act of playing tug could be more rewarding in releasing stress than any food treat is to the taste buds right now.

Have you tried motivating him with toys and/or play? That often works with some dogs that are not highly food motivated. Another thing to keep in mind is that it is perfectly normal for highly food motivated dogs to NOT be interested in food at first. If you've only had him for 3 weeks he is still settling in and may not be fully trusting of you yet.

I remember making an almost identical post to yours a few weeks after we had adopted our second dog, Faith. She wouldn't take any treats or food that I offered and hardly touched her food for at least the whole first month that we had her. She was just nervous and adjusting to her new surroundings. Over time she became more comfortable with us and now she is THE MOST food motivated dog you will ever come across. She just needed time to get settled and acquainted with us. We went through the exact same thing with our the third dog we adopted, Glory.

I would wait until he really settles in and is comfortable both in his new home and with you before writing him off as not food motivated. With our adopted husky, it took about 3 months for everything to really click into place. Just give him time, space, be patient, and spend some quality time with him daily to establish a good relationship. Also, if you're not going to use steak as a "treat" on a regular basis (which I wouldn't recommend) then I wouldn't start. I don't think you have a case of a picky husky just yet, I think he is just still a little unsettled which is perfectly normal. If you aren't going to cater to his preferences (like tasty toppers on kibble) in the long run, don't start now. Catering to his preferences now will likely result in you teaching your husky he can be picky and get what he wants by holding out. A healthy dog will not starve itself so if you want to feed strictly kibble long term then feed strictly kibble right now.

Is your vet familiar with Siberians in general? I am always wary when they say huskies need to gain weight since huskies, especially younger sibes, tend to be leaner than a lot of other similar size breeds. I am definitely not suggesting that your vet is right or wrong about his weight recommendation, just making sure that you don't follow numbers and have your mind set that you need to get him to 50 lbs and hold it there. Go with how he looks and feels, you should see tapering at the waist and a tummy tuck, ribs should be easily felt but not visible. The last thing you want is an overweight sibe, the extra weight can take a major toll on overall health so it's often better to err on the leaner side than heavier.

This is all such great advice! Thanks!

We haven't tried a rope or tug with him - I'll look into that. He doesn't really seem very playful in general (at least not with people). It seems that for now, his way of releasing pent up nervousness is to pace. For the first 2 days we had him he was *constantly* in motion. We have been working on routines and we feed him (or at least give him access to his food) for 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes at night. He gets let outside at roughly the same time every morning, when I come home for lunch, after work, and before bed. We've been super consistent with walks at night (2.25 miles on average). I'm really focused on spending time with him and getting him used to me, my hubby, our cat, and the house. When we're done with dinner and just watching TV, he will either come up on to the sofa with us and cuddle or wipe out at my feet - also, when I'm puttering around, doing laundry, etc. he's usually *right there* with me, under foot and in the way, but he's getting better about that. ;-) I've been talking to him a lot, getting him used to the sound of my voice, and of course, he gets LOTS of pets and praise when he does good things.

Huskyluv wrote:

... We went through the exact same thing with our the third dog we adopted, Glory.

...

Is your vet familiar with Siberians in general? I am always wary when they say huskies need to gain weight since huskies, especially younger sibes, tend to be leaner than a lot of other similar size breeds. I am definitely not suggesting that your vet is right or wrong about his weight recommendation, just making sure that you don't follow numbers and have your mind set that you need to get him to 50 lbs and hold it there. Go with how he looks and feels, you should see tapering at the waist and a tummy tuck, ribs should be easily felt but not visible. The last thing you want is an overweight sibe, the extra weight can take a major toll on overall health so it's often better to err on the leaner side than heavier.

I'm so glad I'm not alone in the "still adjusting" category... that I may not have a really, really picky dog... *sigh* I'm just ready to have a "normal" with him, where I don't have to worry about him not eating, not being interested or motivated, etc. ;-)

And yes, my vet seems really good and is familiar with Sibes. He is a really skinny little guy, his ribs are pretty easy to pick out and his "waist" comes to a pretty sharp cut in... I think he's gained maybe a pound or two since we got him, it's not quite as dramatic as before, but we still have a little ways to go.

It took both Koda and Hailey at least 3 months to settle in. I missed the part about you getting him recently. Val brought up some very excellent points.

CoffeeK8 wrote:

also, when I'm puttering around, doing laundry, etc. he's usually *right there* with me, under foot and in the way, but he's getting better about that. ;-)

Also a new dog thing. Hailey did that for a long time when we first got her. Only recently has she been a little better, but she's still underfoot ALL the time. Some dogs are just like that, but I think it's worse when you rescue a dog who's been abused or neglected.

Now that im thinking about it when we got Sierra we did not try any training with her just gave her a ton of love for a month then we got Jack and spent another month giving love and letting them feel each other out, yes they knew sit and would come inside when called most of the time but i dont think we had a trainer come out till about 3-4 months of having them, he showed us some things and we work on it with Jack as sierra was pretty good by that point. i think everyone has given you good suggestions to this point and i think its just an adjustment time thing. thanks for giving him a great home!

jbealer wrote:

Now that im thinking about it when we got Sierra we did not try any training with her just gave her a ton of love for a month then we got Jack and spent another month giving love and letting them feel each other out, yes they knew sit and would come inside when called most of the time but i dont think we had a trainer come out till about 3-4 months of having them, he showed us some things and we work on it with Jack as sierra was pretty good by that point. i think everyone has given you good suggestions to this point and i think its just an adjustment time thing. thanks for giving him a great home!

*grin* I am just SO ready to start more training!! I'm having to seriously restrain myself... it's so much fun. :-) I'm so grateful to have been chosen to BE his home. We absolutely LOVE him to pieces - YAY POLARIS!!

My dogs are both picky eaters....one in particular....but she LOVES chicken and turkey....try those

For treats- You could try cat treats. My sibe is also a very picky eater, though I think yours takes the cake for this one, because he loves cheese. Anyway, I found that fish flavored cat treats or if you can find fish flavored dog treats.

Try using a fish based kibble and add chicken broth to it, brings out the smell, dogs love it