You could try and 'marinade' her kibble in some pieces of hot dog overnight. Works really well to give boring old kibble a much more interesting flavour without actually giving her hot dog if you are too worried about it upsetting her tummy.
Red had diarrhoea twice yesterday - I gave her some Pro Kolin - she has been fine since. Not sure what caused it but not absolutely sure it was the fish cubes as she had had 3 days of them with no problem. Will give her a few days of just kibble and then try again. The marinade idea is a good one. I do find this food thing frustrating as she is so receptive to learning at the moment - yesterday I gave her a very small handful of kibble as her high reward - this works fine in the garden but I know it would be no good for other situations - it feels like I am having to compromise on her training.
Very frustrating for you Atemas, and unpleasant for Red. I can't really offer any advice, but I guess at least keep doing what you can do.
You can use other rewards than food in training which can be equally reinforcing. The chance of a retrieve for example is the most powerful reward for a couple of my dogs, much more so than food. So no need to compromise your training. You just need to find what your dog finds rewarding.
Thank you @heidrun - Red is just slowly beginning to show an interest in retrieving so I am going to work on this and also try and find other things that she finds rewarding. Food is the prime motivator but she also loves tummy rubs/cuddles - not sure how I could incorporate this but am open to any ideas .
Bruce had no interest in treats or food, he was hard to feed - but he adored praise and fuss, so these were his rewards. On recall I had a rabbit skin tuggy which I never gave him but we played tuggy with it on recall. It worked, his recall went from zero to 100% within days. I found it important to let him enjoy his run and exploring sniffs without recalling too often. When I did call him it was in earnest, a 'full blown' recall with huge praise and reward. If he was called back from every puddle he became frustrated and didn't want to come back (which was what his previous puppy walker had been doing)
My one Lab's reward is a tennis ball, if I offer him a treat or the ball he will refuse the treat, he only wants the ball.
Yes @Boogie we have this - it's always in my bag but think I might start taking into the garden and when I just call her to come in, I will let her have it. Red has one off lead walk with DH each day and he now takes kibble in his treat bag (this is a huge change for him ). I am doing the majority of training at home and I do a lead walk each evening (she is brill on her lead). I want to get a strong Recall trained that we can both use when necessary.
Both Tilly and Cooper love Mrs. Hubbards assorted biscuits, and are happy to work for them. I tried sliced salami, and while they like it, I don't think they like it any more than the biscuits, and they are cheaper and easier to carry.
I have to say @selina27 I don't always want to go out particularly if the weather is inclement but it has become part of our routine and she settles well when we get home. Last night I made a big fuss of her and told her how much I loved walking with her - we had a perfect 30 minute walk and she passed several people, some with dogs on leads and a whole group of boys sat on their bicycles chatting loudly .
I've used pro fibre for a while with Rory and its improved his bouts of colitis no end. Its slowed his gut down and his repeated diarrhoea became less.
Yes I have pro fibre @SwampDonkey which I used a few months ago when Red had all those diarrhoea issues. I find pro kolin very good at soothing an upset tummy but will remember the pro fibre.
When he recalled we had a game of tug and chase the rabbit but I never let him run off with it as I'd already popped his lead on. Then the tuggy went in my pocket and his lead came straight off again. I did this about four times every walk. No other calling him back until he'd got over his 'I don't want to come back' ideas that he'd built up from being constantly called away from every puddle.
Ah no @Atemas, I didn't mean I don't like taking her out, just that Cassie is not what I'd call "brill on a lead", not bad, but not brill ...because I haven't trained hard enough I absolutely love taking her out and enjoying the countryside where I am so lucky to live, I get up in the morning and so look forward to it, it's just the best thing.
That's nice as you probably have lots of opportunity for off lead walking. We live in a beautiful village so open countryside all around - close to a big city which has it's advantages but unfortunately some disadvantages - tend to get lots of fly tipping and other unsocial things at times - urgh! Red was a nightmare when I first started taking her out on a lead - can't believe how far she has come in such a short time . I know that I have a lot of work to do regarding Recall as she becomes so easily distracted .
Hi Atemas, have been searching for 'diarrhoea' on this forum and you are the closest I got - sorry, you look like you should know your stuff. Could I ask how you treat your Red when he has diarrhoea? My 5 month pup has just had her first bout and I don't know what has caused it, possibly some plants she was nibbling or something she picked up in the street. It was evening when she had the bout and lost probably all she had in her tummy. There was no blood or vomiting so I am not too worried but I did not know what to do about it. For breakfast - 12 hours later - I gave her some white rice and oven cooked chicken breast, just a small portion, instead of her usual dried kibble. Then a bit more a few hours later, this prompted her to do her first poop of the day which was half solid, half runny - an improvement to the water she passed in her last try. She has had as much water as I could persuade her to drink and has been a bit subdued but not too bad. Am I doing the right thing and is there anything I can do to make her feel better? And at what point should I take her to the vet?
Hi there, sounds to me you are doing the right things. Just give her a bit of time, keep on with the rice and chicken for another day, and see how she gets on. Mostly these things are cleared up within 48 hours, just like humans with an upset tummy. Oh, and remember to keep up with the worming tablets... Dogs (especially labradors) pick up and eat the grossest things...
