# Puppy classes/treats/diarrhea



## mooselips (Dec 4, 2011)

Hi everyone,
Well, Bridget went to her second puppy class at Petsmart yesterday, we practiced leash walking.......she did pretty well, (but we have been practicing alot in the park.)

Anyway, my problem is, these treats. You're suppose to reward them for everything according to the trainer, and Bridget will take all she gets!

Then, we pay for it later, with loose stools. I ended up giving her Pepto Bismol after 2 poops...and she still was up at night with diarrhea.......

Can't we reward with hugs, and excitement, instead of all those treats?

This isn't working too well for Bridget, OR me. 
I just don't remember rewarding my past dogs like this continuously........


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## inge (Sep 20, 2009)

I had the same thing with Tess as a puppy. Worse, we also did things where the other owners gave her a treat, their treat...What worked for me, was telling everyone she was allergic to something and we were in the proces of finding out, so would they please treat with my treats, or just stroke her and tell her she was a good girl. I took her kibble as treat, and cooked chicken in really tiny pieces. That worked. I still have the problem with Tess getting treats at the hospitals that I have not vetted beforehand. That still gives her diarrhea, sometimes.


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## BriGuy (Aug 31, 2010)

What were you using for treats? I like to use really small pea sized treats, so even though you may be treating often, it isn't really a lot in total. Sometimes things like cheese can cause stomach problems too.

I've had good luck with cut up chicken, or even salmon that I dry in the oven myself. Charlie bear treats are also high up on Cookie's list.


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## Walnut_the_Nut (Jan 25, 2012)

We started our puppy with Puppy classes at 9 weeks with Dog Training Toronto and Obedience using Positive Reinforcement. Our pup had a blast, but immediately got the runs (REALLY BAD) for a few days.

I'll make a long story short and recommend this based on our experience:
*Dont use store bought treats for puppy classes*. We gave on average 50-60 treats per class. That's a lot. Our puppy learned a lot, but also got sick for almost a week. 

*Solution:* Boil chicken breast, break up into small pieces, and use that instead. He enjoyed it even more than than the most expensive, all natural treats we could find in the store. 

Using the solution above, allowed us to participate in the following 4 classes with no issues at all!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

BriGuy said:


> What were you using for treats? I like to use really small pea sized treats, so even though you may be treating often, it isn't really a lot in total. Sometimes things like cheese can cause stomach problems too.
> 
> I've had good luck with cut up chicken, or even salmon that I dry in the oven myself. Charlie bear treats are also high up on Cookie's list.


^ Seconds this. 

For Jacks I had maybe 2 types of treats that we used that first year. You are going to be using a LOT of treats, and they need to be something that your pup can stomach. 

Cheese is a pass for puppies for me. It's really all I use for Jacks now he's 4, but we had a bad ordeal with collitis with a previous golden puppy thanks to cheese at class. 

When Jacks was little I used puppy biscuits (small pieces, break in half) at class. These biscuits in large quantities aren't going to hurt anything. Meanwhile, I used other treats in small quantities at home until I was sure which ones weren't going to be a problem. And even there, break into very small pieces.


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## Lil_Burke (Aug 14, 2010)

The same thing happened with Sawyer too. Every week at training he had runny poop afterwards from all the treats. I actually had success with cheese though. I shredded it and then froze it so it didn't stick together. the shreds are pretty small but good enough for him. Every pup is different on what their stomach will tolerate I think.


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## Sammy&Cooper (Dec 28, 2011)

I use coopers kibble in place of treats for training. I had the same problem with loose stools after all the treats at training sessions. luckily he really likes his kibble and is happy to receive it as a "treat" lol


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## mooselips (Dec 4, 2011)

Bridget is "on" to her kibble and knows some things taste better....

Maybe the cooked chicken......
But I'm betting by the time the one hour class is over, she'll devour 4 whole chickens.!


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## klke (Apr 24, 2009)

We had stomach/diarrhea issues with our puppy from 10 weeks on. We only use praise for teaching and it works great. She is 5 months old now.

She is on a grain free diet so I bought some grain free treats the other day. We were trying to teach her something and had the treats and she didn't listen at all. She was only looking to eat. So we decided to stick with praise for training and have treats for just being good


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## Jige (Mar 17, 2011)

I dont train using alot of treats. I train with praise. I have been called out for this saying that it will take longer to train cause dogs love to work for food. Well I can tell you that I dont have any issues with my dogs learning things. I praise or I have a ball and I toss that after we finish an exercise. 

In fact I just found a treat BaWaaJige likes ( or should I say he found a treat). We were at the pet store and mary had all these boxes of treats sitting around. Jige passed them all up but went crazy for the veggie baked treats.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

> I dont train using alot of treats. I train with praise. I have been called out for this saying that it will take longer to train cause dogs love to work for food. Well I can tell you that I dont have any issues with my dogs learning things. I praise or I have a ball and I toss that after we finish an exercise.


^ And I train with praise (praise parties) too. 

The only thing is that if you are attending a hour long class, it doesn't take long before you get WORN OUT and pretty shrill. Or not praising with the same gusto you did at the beginning of class. Using treats (appropriately) allows you to be consistent and timely about rewards even when you really are running out of energy. 

In puppy class, you can expect to use 1/2 to a full bag of treats. If you are working the entire hour. If this class is a lot of talking, you probably are going to use less than that. Unless you are using treats to keep your puppy from backscrambling his way over to the other puppies (even toys won't stop that if you have a really outgoing dog). 

The higher the level of obedience class, the less treats you should be using.


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## Calistar (Dec 13, 2011)

Had the same problem and switched to kibble with no problems. Ask others not to give him treats and explain why. Everyone understood and was cooperative.


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## mooselips (Dec 4, 2011)

Well.
UP ALL night with diarrhea.
Thank goodness she lets me know when she needs out.
3 times during the night.
Poor little pup.

This a.m. I saw some bloody mucus in her stool, took sample in, Vet thinks maybe she still has some roundworms in there somewhere and put her back on Metro. This time for 10 days.

Please everyone give a quick prayer this fixes this little girls problems.

Thank you.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Is she the one that had roundworms before....


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## Jige (Mar 17, 2011)

> The only thing is that if you are attending a hour long class, it doesn't take long before you get WORN OUT and pretty shrill. Or not praising with the same gusto you did at the beginning of class. Using treats (appropriately) allows you to be consistent and timely about rewards even when you really are running out of energy.


I dont have that trouble I can go for hours acting stupid. Anyone that knows me will agree with that. 
Once my dog understands what I want and I have praised accordingly. I make alot of eye contact with my dogs. Both Vendetta and Jige get just as happy with a smile now as they did when I threw the praise party. you shoudl see Vendetta getting happy when I wink at her.


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## MikaTallulah (Jul 19, 2006)

I use a different kibble type for Buddy at training. He eats Proplan so any other food is a treat him. I also use freeze dried liver and chicken as super high value treats.

At home he gets trained throughout the day- No treats- Just lots of praise.


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## mooselips (Dec 4, 2011)

Yes, she is the one with the roundworm history.
Vet said he didn't see any, but thought a longer trial of the Metro would help, and clear this up once and for all.

(cross your fingers)
Today, we went for a walk, she's coming along nicely.
VERY few treats just praise party.......


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## klke (Apr 24, 2009)

If they don't find anything wrong with her stool sample, you may want to try a grain free diet. Our puppy was on Science Diet puppy when we got her at 7 weeks. At 12 weeks she started having loose stools and going out every couple hours in the middle of the night too. After 3 stool samples and nothing showing up, the vet suggested a low residue food for a month to get her stomach to settle. The food worked within 2 days. We then weened her off that food and switched to Taste of the Wild puppy and have had no problems. She is also on a probiotic from our local feed store. She is 5 months old now.


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## dexter0125 (Mar 20, 2011)

I went through training at PetSmart as well. I enjoyed it because the trainer was fantastic..but she wanted us to use "high value" treats all the time and my dog's stomach couldn't handle it. 

I ended up mixing kibble and Charlee Bear treats in a ziplock bag and kept a handful or pocketful with me all the time. I took low fat string cheese with me for heeling, but that was it. He was just as happy to have a piece of his food as he was to have the string cheese. Now when we practice training, since we are on our own, I use a tennis ball as his reward. Again, he's just as happy to get a tennis ball and is just as willing to do ALL of his commands for the ball as he was for food.


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