I'm trying to clicker train Jinx - but, she has the attention span of a gnat if that! She isn't food motivated nor toys. She will repeat an action 3 or 4 times and then wanders off. She is fed her dinner through training so should be hungry (it's raw pork) and occasionally Nature's Menu treats. I tried today to introduce a plastic mat for her to eat off etc - but just wanted her to stand on it first. I put it on the floor, she sniffed it (c+t), she sniffed it again (c+t), she walked away and lay down. I placed a treat on the mat and she refused to look at ai, eat it etc. What am I doing wrong? We keep training sessions short (about 1-2 mins) with a mixture of treats, playing with toys, cuddles, good girls every time she seems to go off the boil, but she has no 'oomph' - no wanting to do it, to find out what we want etc - how do I get that in her?

I'm desparate to get her walking nicely on the leash and have tried clicker and treat but she is SO uninterested in the food or toy and so much more interested in the rest of the world. I tried today inside and she just lay down after 30 secs of me skipping round the room treating her. She looks at me with those big eyes and sighs. How should I go on? How do I get her interested? I can't get any more animated without actually turning into a cartoon!

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Oof, that's difficult! (sounds like my horse during some sessions.. "This is all way too much bother.. I'll be over there if you want to come and just stuff treats in my mouth")
What breed is Jinx? Is there anything she does get really interested in? Going out for a walk, sniffing or something? It's possible to use those things as rewards, though it's a lot less handy than food or toys..

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It's not easy for a monkey to think like a dog

My cat Tijgje shows off his tricks

She's a Border Collie!

She's only 11 weeks old so hasn't quite grasped walks yet - hence the fact I'm keen to get her walking nicely before she learns bad habits. I've had BCs before and never found them this 'unresponsive'. I used to struggle to keep up with them in the learning stakes - she's much more like the BC/flat coat cross I had as a kid. Lovely temperament but a little slow. Having said that she isn't slow - she has learnt a lot considering how little time she will train for (sit, down, give, paw, come, hup (jump over someting), jump, wait, take it (for food), paid for (for toys), off, go empty (for wees), outside, ball) - but anything that takes more than 5 secs at the moment she's not interested in: I was really looking forward to doing 'shaping[ with her -- but at the moment can't see it happening.

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Wow... all that by 11 weeks old? She sounds like Einstein!

My little monster learned sit, down and stay and then went on some kind of training strike! To be fair, she's the other sort of Border, though

Well, this is a guess, as I haven't studied dog development, but my guess is that her attention span will increase as she gets older.
And your biggest job right now is to make sure the clicker training remains a positive experience for her.

When she loses interest, what happens if you try to do one of the commands that she already knows well?
It sounds like she's doing _great_ for just 11 weeks!!

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Ahh, thought she was an adult. At 11 weeks it doesn't sound all that unusual really

You can build toy drive (someone posted a brilliant description a few weeks of how to, but I can't find the link right now) so you'll have something to reward her with:

Playing with Prey Drive: The Key to Attitude and Enthusiasm in Performance Dogs - The Dog Athlete
Building Toy or Ball Drive | German Shepherd Breed

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It's not easy for a monkey to think like a dog

My cat Tijgje shows off his tricks

Ah, yes I remeber the thread -- looks like another trip to pets@home (yippeeeeeee) to find a special toy and make it her own special toy AFTER I've made it mine. She does have a strong toy drive (as in that article you posted) I'm not sure how to make that the reward for 'shaping' etc - I'll go and research some more - thanks ArwenLune

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please look at my website - www.finesthourcats.webs.com - for gorgeous GCCF registered RagaMuffins

What do you feed her other than tit-bits and treats when training?

My guess is either she doesn't have the right nutrients inside her to give her the energy or the training isn't at the right pace for her.

She has her dinner for training - she's fed raw - I measure it out and chop most of it up small (all bar the stuff with the bone) and use that as my treats; it's what my trainer said to do. She has skinners working puppy left out to graze on during the evening (not that she eats it) and then gets her meat with bone. Offal etc once or twice a weelk as a meal. I've also got a load of Nature'sInstinct (complete balanced mince) that I give her. I'm fairly certain she is getting everything she needs - but if you can think of a supplement I can give her as well, then I'd be grateful to know about it. She is growing at a rate of knots at the moment too!

I've had a reasonable training/ play session today - every 3 click and treat I've got out the tugga toy and played with that for 20 secs or so and then back to click and treat for another 3, then toy etc. We managed a good 5 mins that way. Hopefully, this is the way to go. I've got to carry on with the lead work too -- as my back is bad at the moment and I can't be managing the pulling.

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please look at my website - www.finesthourcats.webs.com - for gorgeous GCCF registered RagaMuffins

Where is she getting her carbs, vitamins, fibre, and minerals from?

If she isn't touching the complete food which has all of the above in and then some, I would suggest mixing in a bit fo the mince food with a bit of the complete food to two or three meals a day. Hold some back if you want to use it as tit-bits but once she has eaten remove the bowl.

If we give access to food all day whenever they want there is no incentive to work, there is no need for them to even bother doing anything as they have the means to survival right there when they want it. If you put the mixed food in a bowl, make her sit and wait, let her eat and then as soon as she walks away from the bowl remove the food then you are controlling the resource, she is getting a lot of nutrients and energy inside her that she can use for a longer period of time rather than just getting the odd bit for doing this and that but the energy amount she will get from tit-bits will not be enough to keep her concentration levels up.

If you were training a kid would you feed sweets, crisps and chips every so often and leave a plate of nutritious veg and pasta ont he side in case they want some? No. You'd make them eat full meals to keep their stoves burning which allows them to get the energy they need to learn. Sweets, crisps and chips are high value food items to a child which is why they are given as a treat. Raw meat and bones are high value food items to a dog which of course they are going to choose over the complete dry food everytime. Mixed in with the dry complete food creates a full all rounded meal.

If a carnivorous animal makes a kill or needs nutrients other than that which can be found in meat they will eat the stomach contents of the kill or they will eat grass. Dogs are fairing ont he verge of omnivore so they need and can handle vegetation based nutrients, vitamins and minerals to fuel their bodies.

Try mixing in the raw and complete to make two to three small meals for a week and see if or how fast you notice the difference in your dog's attention span, energy levels and willingness to learn.