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Pupforum presents your training questions answered by professional dog trainers.
TD Yandt wears many different hats in the Canine world. You may find her at Clicker Chicks' Pet-Centric Boutique teaching obedience or conformation handling. She might be out working with Service Dogs in Training as a volunteer and the founder of AASK; Animal Assistants Inc.. You're also likely to find her in the conformation ring lead in hand or standing just outside it with her camera. TD is a certified trainer with Animal Behavior and Training Associates Inc. and a mentor with the Animal Behavior College. Her new book, on clicker training the family dog, will be out early in 2006. You can read more about Tobi-Dawne and her Canine family at noselicks.com.
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[Edit]
11/3/2005
My 11 week old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is scared to eat out of bowls and plates. He will eat from my hand or a spoon, but would rather starve than eat from his bowl. I have never heard of anything like this. It gets tiring having to spoon feed him every time it's time for him to eat. He longs for his food when it is in his bowl, but he is scared to death of it. What can I do to make him not be so scared? Thank you! (cali_gal_83, California)
Without knowing more, or being there to observe this behavior I can't really begin to evaluate his fears. You are right in that this is a really unique problem. This could have a huge range of triggers though, so without knowing more I'm very hesitant to offer a treatment plan. The trigger could be the colour of the bowl, its shape, its reflectiveness, its texture... How many different bowls or plates have you offered him dinner on? Have you tried different shapes? Different colours? Bowls of different materials (stainless, plastic, glass, etc.)? What about flat objects - like a placemat? Will he eat from an egg cup? What about a sunday dish? It could also be the context in which his bowl is offered... when do you feed him? Is it near your own meal times? Before you leave for work? Is it possible he's linking his finishing his meal from the bowl with something negative happening (like you going away)? There are far too many variables in place here for me to really figure out what's going on.
That said...
The best advice I can offer is to use a clicker and treats. Click and treat for any interaction with your bowl of choice. Click and treat if he'll look at the bowl. Click and treat if he'll step towards the bowl. Click if he'll touch the bowl. Click if he'll lick the bowl. (etc) Doing this should help calm his fear, and hey! You can just use his meal
to reward him.
I wish you the best of luck, and if this doesn't help - I'd highly recommend seeking the help of a behaviorist or trainer in your area; someone who can be there to observe the situation fully.
Dear Readers:
One of the best things you can do for your new puppy is to take him to a puppy kindergarten class. It is all too easy to allow a new puppy to remain within his comfort zone, but by doing so you may be setting yourself up for problems later on.
Separation anxiety, fear biting, and aggression are some of the main reasons given to shelters when people surrender their dogs. The sad thing is that in almost all cases, these problems could have been avoided had the dog had proper socialization and training as a puppy.
Puppy kindergarten classes aren’t so much about training your puppy as they are about teaching him that the world is an okay safe place to be. Your new pup will be exposed to a variety of other dogs, several new places, and a plethora of different people. Classes typically run on a six or eight week schedule and are well worth the nominal fee.
Allowing your pup to meet and play with other puppies in a safe setting helps him to learn how to properly communicate with other dogs. Interacting with others, both people and dogs, in a safe and supervised environment is a step in the right direction at the beginning of a lifetime of learning. Teaching your pup that there is nothing to be afraid of sets you, your puppy, and your whole family up for success.
This months featured article in the newsletter gives some wonderful training foundations for any animals who may have recently joined your family.
Take care, and take time for your pets.
TD Yandt
Dog Trainer and Photographer
As a trainer, handler, and Canine photographer, Tobi-Dawne Yandt's goal is to positively impact the lives of pets and their people by providing an education on individual species, their proper care, and the use of operant conditioning to enhance the human-animal bond. You can learn more about TD, and her animal family, at www.noselicks.com.
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