Question
I usually use this little treats to teach my dog when he's behaving properly or when learning some trick and they work really well, he loves them.
When I take him outside to play (I usually take him on weekends to throw a frisbee) I want to reward him for catching the disc on the air or if he obeys when I tell him to stay. But in these cases he completely looses interest on the treats and won't eat them. The only thing in his mind is the frisbee and nothing else (it was difficult to teach him to stay and not run right away every time the disc is flying).
He obviously gets overexcited about the disc (we only let him play with it outside), but why would that make him reject the treats? I have tried to use the throwing of the disc instead as a reward, but it is much simpler to use the treats.
Answer
If a dog is too excited by something (either positive or negative) he may refuse a treat that he would normally accept. You can think about it this way:
You're walking down the street and see a quarter. You might bend down and pick it up. But what if you also see a $100 bill a few feet down the road? You're much less likely to pick that quarter up. At this point for you it's essentially lost its value.
The same thing is happening with your dog and the frisbee. He is so excited to see the frisbee that he simply doesn't care about the treat anymore.
So what are you to do? First, remember that you already have a frisbee which you can use to reward his actions and has a very high value for him. You can use it by asking for the behavior and rewarding by giving him permission to play a game of frisbee. Sometimes though that may not be feasible.
Another thing you can do is increase the value of the treat and show your dog he can't get the frisbee unless he gets the treat first. Let him cool off a bit until he's mentally willing to get the treat. As soon as he does, let him go get the frisbee. Eventually you'll have a dog willing to work for both treats AND frisbees!
Answered By - jeffaudio