Starting all day reward training-what to feed?

What do you mean by 200reps of the various behaviours?  Is that 200 each, or altogether?  And is that an end goal, or a daily one?  Either way, I don't understand why that is important for your puppy to achieve?  Sorry for being thick. 

The rewards need to be variable or they will lose efficacy.  (The dog will know what's coming and get bored of them... like if you got a $1 every time you used a fruit machine, you wouldn't keep going back for as long or as often as you would for a machine that sometimes gave $5, sometimes gave $10, sometimes gave more... and sometimes gave none at all.)

Does she like toys?  Why do all her rewards have to be a treat of some sort?   Why not use "Life rewards"?  So, she wants to go through a door, she sits, you open the door.  She wants her dinner, she has to down/stay until released or you pick the bowl up again...

 Honestly, if you can reward with play or something else (like Chuffy mentioned) I would. That seems like a lot of repetitions for a young pup and a lot of treats! Ari, to this day, has to do something for us to get what she wants. She wants a scratch, she has to sit. She wants to go out, she has to sit for her leash and wait patiently at the door. She wants dinner, she has to be in a down-stay until we say OK. She wants me to throw the toy, I might make her do "push ups" (fast repetitions of sit and down) or she needs to "touch" something.

I always keep my high value food rewards for really tough behaviors to train with her (such as coming when called in a distracting environment). What's considered high value for your pup may be different (after all one of Ari's highest value rewards is plain spaghetti!). I always cut up my treats very small, just a taste really. I like using reduced fat turkey hotdogs, lean chicken, cheese, and yup even pupperonis. All of those I can cut up into very small pieces. Ari has a very sensitive stomach and tolerates all those well.

During times we were heavily training, I would even use her kibble as a reward. Then again I always (when formally doing training, not just spontaneous training sessions), trained her when she was hungry to keep her focus on me and on the food.

What do you mean by 200reps of the various behaviours?  Is that 200 each, or altogether?  And is that an end goal, or a daily one?  Either way, I don't understand why that is important for your puppy to achieve?

Sorry, that was confusing (I asked him the same thing!). He said that 200 repetitions of varying behaviors (ie 25 sit, 25 down,25 stay,25 leave it=200 reps) for 3-4 weeks will form new habits for her fear/trust issues. In other words, after that period of time with that much consistency, she will trust me more than mother nature, and look to me for instructions, if that makes sense. Again, he is all about rewarding, no punishment.

As for the food vs praise, yes---you are right, certain rewards don't have to be food. I just haven't figured her out yet. When we first got her, honestly all it seemed she wanted was food to achieve any tricks! She does like her tummy rubbed, but I don't see much reaction with the "good girl! great job!". And....given her stomach being possibly sensitive, I want to be mindful of treats. But yes, I agree that 200 food bits is a lot! (though I did 25 kibble bites this morning, and still have most of her 1/2 cup still available, so it is possible

Some options (beyond using play or other rewards OTHER than food), take a portion of her regular meal aside and use that kibble as reward.  (did someone already mention that?)  Also, Charlie Bears are only 2/3 calories apiece and they come in 3 flavors.  They sell them here on dog.com, but also every big box pet supply store (although not all three flavor - liver, cheese, turkey)

 I don't think it will make her trust you more than mother nature.  It's good practise, but remember, once you've achieved all that indoors, you have to start over and do it in your garden, your street, your local park, your local pet shop....  Just cos she will listen unfailingly at home doesn't mean she will listen the same when you take her for a walk.... That also needs to be taught becuase dogs don't generalise well.  "Sit at home" is not the same (for the dog) as "Sit before we cross the street".

jillyrg

Sorry, that was confusing (I asked him the same thing!). He said that 200 repetitions of varying behaviors (ie 25 sit, 25 down,25 stay,25 leave it=200 reps)

I think your maths a little off That would only be 100. You'd have to do 50 reps of each to do 200 reps total each day (unless you add more behaviors)

IMO, 200 is WAY to much. I wouldnt even do 200 reps with Bailey, it seems a bit much to ask of a 4month of pup. And I think you'd actually get more out of it if you did several short training sesions each day (5mins long each) and did maybe 5reps of each behavior (mixed up, so the dog doesnt just figure out the order and actually has to think ) and do it maybe 10 times a day. If you ask the pup constantly all day to do behaviors, even if you give a food reward the dog is more likely to become BORED with the training (after so many reps, it becomes boring and the dog gets uninterested)

I didn't read the previous posts, if I repeat anything mentioned already, sorry.  I don't think it's necessary to be rigid with a training plan.  I tend to keep training sessions very short and sweet, interspersed with play time.  You can teach a puppy just about all the behaviors you want just in the course of interacting daily.  It's common to think to yourself "time to train" which means that you may not be thinking about training at other times.  Every time your dog approaches you, say "good here".  Dogs do most of the things we "teach them", just being dogs.  They sit, they lay down, they stop barking, etc.  Reward all those things you want even if you aren't formally training.  Training a dog is never something you do and then it's done.  It has to continue for a lifetime if you want a well behaved dog.  You might enjoy reading about clicker training.  It's very fun and most dogs love it and learn very quickly.   http://www.clickertraining.com/basics 

ETA that I apologize.  I just saw that this post is in nutrition.  I read the first part and totally got lost in that and ignored the actual question. lol  I use Charlie Bear Treats, my dogs love them and they are lo cal.

I think your maths a little off That would only be 100. You'd have to do 50 reps of each to do 200 reps total each day (unless you add more behaviors)

IMO, 200 is WAY to much

Wow, that was an emarrassing mistake! (yes I did learn addition as a child). Anyway--I am just repeating what the trainer said, although my mind was thinking "that is a LOT of food to give a dog!" and my orig post was more to ask what foods are good frequent reward foods without being overly caloric or upsetting to her tummy. Someone mentioned that dogs don't generalize-and yes, he mentioned that as well. (bald man doesn't=man in hat, Mommy in sweats might be different than Mommy in heels/perfume). But my first goal is to get her comfortable with us. He said she is "motion sensitive", so she jumps when things are shifted/moved/and that includes people! Also she seems very afraid of certain men.

Personally, I like the idea of giving her a bite of something when a threatening situation/person is ahead to help distract and calm her. On a walk today I had tiny bites of string cheese, and a dog she normally freaks out at she just cruised past. In addition I noticed her tail (which curls up when she is playing and bouncing around) was in it's happy position. I think it was happy, at least! And the only variable between this and other walks (tail low, ears back) were the treats.....

 I have two toy sized dogs, and do quite a bit of training with them (though they are adults, and one has a much higher activity tolerance than they other). Their kibbles are donut shaped, and I break them into 1/4s. They can get FOUR treats (OMG FOUR!) and it's only one kibble. That makes 1/2 cup of dog food go a LONG way. I will mix in one or two Wellness Softbites, or something similar, torn into 1/12s or something VERY small. They only need to *taste* it for it to be a treat.

 IMO, thats way to much reps for a 4 mo old Tootsie, who is five, would shut down if I did that. Also, 1 1/2 cups of food a day for your pup is a lot.

 Jennie I have to ask.. what kibble are you feeding???

tiffy

 IMO, thats way to much reps for a 4 mo old Tootsie, who is five, would shut down if I did that. Also, 1 1/2 cups of food a day for your pup is a lot.

Maybe I am missing something here--on the bottom of the Wellness bag it says to feed 2 cups to dogs 3-4 months (10lb) and 1 1/2 cups to them when 5-7 months. She is around 4 months,and eats closer to 1 or 1 1/2  of the kibble. Why would 1 1/2cups be too much then?

  My current bag of food says 1-2 cups a day for a dog weighing 16-30 lbs. OMG! If I fed Toots that amount of food, she'd weigh 40+ lbs. She gets 2/3 of a cup, broken up into two meals, am and pm. Its also 352 kcals per cup. She weighs 25lbs and I want her to lose about 2-3 lbs. Your pup, when shes full grown will probably be small, not more than 30lbs I'm guessing, but with a mixed breed who knows. How active is your pup?