responding to commands without treats

[rissarene]

Sky is a BC mix, 10 1/2 weeks old.
She started learning "sit" and "come" at probably about 7 weeks old (we adopted her at 5 1/2 weeks old... I don't think she had any time with her mother, which I believe has not been helping our nipping problems! But that is another matter...). She was doing really well with both commands! Lately, however, if I do not have a treat for her (we have been phasing those out), she either will not come, or once she gets a foot away and I praise her, without a treat, she jumps back from me. Same with sit - if I don't have a treat, she'll sit for a split second but as soon as I go to pet/praise her, she backs away.

She still sits/comes to me with a treat.

Suggestions?

[RuffMuttK9z]

At 10 weeks old she should be getting a reward for each and every good behavior you ask for and she complies with. Carry treats with you at all times if that is what she likes best. For some puppies toys are a good reward as well. This is a very critical time in her life for her to learn to trust you and bond with you. It seems as though she's already learning that when you ask her to do something you don't always deliver a reward. That equates to a lack of trust in you. That's really not a pattern you want to continue or you'll have much bigger problems later on. For now, reward her for every behavior you ask for. And do so for the next several weeks to months.

[joe]

Just as an add on. when you are doing recalls it's a good idea to withhold the reward until you have one hand on the collar. you need your pup to learn to come and be able to allow you control. coming, grabbing a treat and running or backing off is just not acceptable.

[rissarene]

well, I went back to giving a treat everytime and so far so good... but then again she always obeyed when I did have a treat. I have tried toys, too, which works sometimes... she prefers edible rewards. It was in the middle of experimenting with other rewards (including seeing if we could use praise/play sometimes instead of the treat everyime) that the problem began. I guess I worded my first post differently than I meant to... she doesn't run away from me, just backs up a foot or two, and sniffs around for the treat. I sure hope it is not a mistrust thing, as she has never shown signs of not trusting me or my husband before. I do understand your point, though, and see the value in continuing to give treat/toy rewards for a while...

Joe, thanks for the add-on. Thankfully she does not run/back off after she has gotten her reward, only sometimes backed away if I do not have one. I like the adding on of holding her collar though - I hadn't tried that yet, but it sounds like a good idea so that she knows I am in control.