Treats

Apart from when his medication (Fluoxetine) decreased his appetite and made giving him his meds challenging, he's always been very food motivated.

Which is a relief as it makes training and behaviour modification so much easier.

Like most fearful and reactive dogs, he won't eat if he's over-threshold. He will also choke and splutter which is not pleasant. So there are times when the treats just won't work, no matter how high value, and we just have to get out of there.

One of George's most stressful environments is just outside the house - the walkway from the door to the car. It's a fairly narrow space and he is on high alert as soon as we step outside.

He will do an immediate shake-off when we reach the house/car which also shows how difficult he finds it.

I am wary about giving him treats in this space as we have had a couple of worrying choking incidents (one very frightening).

We are currently trialling a wooden spoon smeared with xylitol-free peanut butter which helps a little. It wouldn't work if we bump into anyone, and sometimes he is too alert to his surroundings to be interested, but I am hoping that it is slowly showing him that good things can happen in this scary space. The licking also helps to destress him once we have made it in the house.

In his teenage class (a while back now!), they tasked us with trying to figure out which foods our dogs really value. Not what we think they will, but what they actually do.

To do this, our homework was to put a small amount of different foods in a muffin tray, and see which ones they go to first. I did a few rounds and a grand final - it was a fun task!

Based on this and other observations over the years, I think I have a pretty good idea of what George considers to be high value.

His tastes have changed over the years. As a puppy, he adored frozen kongs stuffed with peanut butter, greek yoghurt, banana, soaked kibble…but he hasn't been interested in them at all since he was about 8 months old. Which is a shame as they are very good enrichment and kept him occupied.

I try to mix it up a bit so that it's not boring (although possyum is pretty consistent) and balance the situation against health. For example, at the vet he tends to get lots and lots of peanut butter. That's OK as it's such a stressful situation but I try to avoid fatty, sugary foods all the time.

These are the top 5 treats for George:

• Possyum (possibly unique to New Zealand)
• Peanut butter (must be xylitol-free as xylitol is toxic to dogs)
• Cheese
• Carrot
• Tuna

He adores homemade dog biscuits with carrots, apples (he can take or leave the apple), and rice flour.

There are lots of other things I think he would absolutely love but is not allowed - he seems obsessed with the smell of garlic bread and Big Macs 😆

I don't use a lot of store bought treats, partly due to the expense but also due to the choking issue - I like them to be soft and small enough that I can make them really tiny and I haven't found a good one of those yet that he really loves.

Although he does currently like Yours Drooly Venison, Lamb and Kiwifruit - perhaps also only in New Zealand!

There are lots more ideas that we can try. I'd love to get a super super high value treat that would work in a high stress situation.

More experimentation required. I'm sure George won't complain!