Hello all, Im new to here and am really hoping you can help - you seam a nice bunch


I brought a cocker spaniel before Christmas, he came from a small house with lots of other spaniels (15 others) he had no toys to play with or much room to run about in, he was never walked or trained. But he so loving has a great temperament and great with other dogs!

When i first got him i tried to start training him, but he was not interested in treats at all, he wouldn't take them from your hand, or even acknowledge he has seen or smelt them. I tried all types of treats and even fresh chicken and cheese - but no interest. When your with him he just wants to jump up you and hug you. But if you leave the treats on the floor and leave, he will eat them.

So i tried toys, i work in a pet shop and i swear i tried every toy in the shop. He doesnt even make eye contact with the toys, ive tried playing with them myself and with other people infront of him to try and gain his interest, squeaking them, throwing them, rolling them, just touching them on his nose to try and gain some attention but nothing... all he wants is attention from me.

So I left it until now... ( which i know was an awful mistake! he is now 2 years and 5 months old.) We have 4 acres of land and he is off lead so gets plenty of exercise and love. But ide love to enter him in agility or work him in some way as he is soo fast!

But i cant even begin to think of doing that until he can at least Sit or walk on a lead!

Sorry it was so long.

Any ideas would be appreciated.

Thank you.

Hi there,

My mum had a similar problem with her rescued Whippet X - he had been shut in a shed and then lived in kennels so had no idea how to play or anything...he didn't even know how to run bless him!

What my mum did was get him to mix with other dogs so they could show him what to do. I have to say he was never much of a 'player' so to speak but once he realised he could run there was no stopping him!

Are there any dogs that you could invite round for a 'play date' so he can watch and learn from a dog that knows what to do? Sounds like he has no idea what to do with the toys and in my experience dogs learn far quicker from each other. Any issue that we have had with our terrier, Basil, we have sorted out pretty much by getting other dogs to show him how to behave?

Sorry, this is all I can think of, but I am sure there will be others along soon who are far more knowledgeable than me!

That's a good idea. I Know some dogs that may be able to help, he is soooo submissive tho around other dogs he just drops to the floor and rolls on his back! Bless his heart!

ill give that a try though for sure. I'm sure he will enjoy meeting other dogs again, even if he doesn't learn anything.

Thanks for your help... Fingers crossed

Awww, its not really "submissiveness" to the other dogs it's appeasement, he learnt that if he posed no threat by surrendering, that he didn't get trouble.

Now what you could do is use the reward you do have "praise" the "jump up and hug", to begin training him very patiently. Your praise is the reward and you can mark with a "yesss!" what pleased you, then give the praise.

So for instance if he smells a stick or finger with tasty smelly stuff on it, then you reward him, give him permission to try little things.

Your dog might be very poorly socialised with humans, at the stage he would have learnt quickly (8-14 weeks old puppy). At first reward the smallest responses from him, you want dog to learn that doing something for you, is rewarding.

Hopefully soon he'll be sniffing and taking food from your hand, and enjoying it.

The dogs behaviour is motivated by something. If you have been just allowing him to run off and sniff for 'free' then this is a wasted training opportunity.

This is obviously something he wants so use that and have him earn access to this for training exercises.

Plus I think its important to teach him to be food and toy motivated. Biologically all dogs (all animals) are motivated by food so no more feeding food from bowls (I hate food bowls) and start having him earn each piece of his dinner from your hand and for training behaivours.

This can be paired with teaching toy motivation. You can teach him to play with food dispensing toys for example, teach him to tug a sock stuffed with his food, teach him to take a toy (and eventually play with it, fetch it, gut it and so on) in exchange for food.

Teaching your dog to play with you is a most rewarding experience for both of you.

Jean Donaldson's Culture Clash (I think) has a piece on teaching toy motivation.

He sounds like a worried little fella so boosting his confidence is primary. Practicing things like T-touch and simple bonding exercises (like playing) are important. Just brining him out and allowing him off leash to run around and have fun away from you is kinda defeating the purpose. I'm not suggesting that you stop him doing this but think about how much fun and interaction he has without you

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Anne, owned by Rufus & Tripod

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"I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts." - John Steinbeck

"If you don't want your dog to bite you, don't be an a**hole to him." ~ Dr. Ian Dunbar

I have two lhasa apsos and my girl was not too motivated by treats or toys either. When I enrolled them for their level 1 obedience, the trainer suggested that we not feed them their evening meals until after we get back home from class. This way, the dogs are a bit hungry. This seemed to work. With a combo of really tasty treats that they would otherwise not get plus lots of praise, my dogs went through their training classes quite successfully. Treats do not and should not be the only reward expected during training.

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Clint Cora, Owner Of Indoor Litter Box Trained Lhasa Apsos

You're just so ruthless! I love it

It has, that section came in really useful when Roxy came to live with us. All her notes stated that she wasn't interested in food or toys. It did take a while but after a while she started coming round & showing an interest. It really helped knowing how to start her interest & then build on it

She now plays ALOT & with everything. She isn't as food motivated as Toby (he loves his food though) especially when out & there are distractions, but for training sessions at home it was a question of trying lots of different things to see what she likes.

Not sure if thats a good thing Rob

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Anne, owned by Rufus & Tripod

Pet Central site & blog
Join us on FaceBook & Follow us on twitter

"I've seen a look in dogs' eyes, a quickly vanishing look of amazed contempt, and I am convinced that basically dogs think humans are nuts." - John Steinbeck

"If you don't want your dog to bite you, don't be an a**hole to him." ~ Dr. Ian Dunbar

Well..... I've been working on what you said and Believe it or not Bracken now eat his dinner from my hands!! I also introduced a Kong tonight - It took him a while to work the Kong out , i sat with him batting it around for abit but he soon got it, he's an intelligent little guy. I thought it may be a step into bringing toys into it? I'm going to see if I can maybe make or find some more toy/food dispensing things and make him work for his meals. No more food bowls!

He seams to reallllly lack in confidence, he is constantly diving onto his back and rolling over .... any ideas on making him more confident??